Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Season 3 Episode 4: 'It's the Uber of Pooper' On this episode of our weekly streaming pitch show, the investors find promise in some well-researched products and get downright grossed out by others.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Entrepreneurs are always developing ways to help people better meet their basic needs, and it's often up to investors to decide whether a new idea will improve our quality of life. Humans are highly adaptable creatures, but we're also creatures of habit.
Every week on Entrepreneur's weekly pitch show, Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch, entrepreneurs get a mere 60 seconds to pitch a panel of four notable investor judges on their business, product or service. While the judges sit listening via livestream in an upper-floor boardroom, each contestant delivers their spiel inside of the ascending Entrepreneur Elevator as the clock and floor number tick upward.
When the buzzer sounds, the entrepreneur waits for the judges to convene and vote: Will the doors to the boardroom open for negotiations, or will the entrepreneur be sent down with no further chance of shaking on a deal?
Related: Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Season 3 Episode 3: Circus Act or Class Act?
On this episode, an everyday product gets an internet-of-things upgrade. Later, two different entrepreneurs try to convince the judges that you can (or should) eat a substance you'd normally steer clear of -- or spit out. Speaking of eating, even babies have to do it, and one contestant presents a solution for when supplies are scarce.
Guest judges on this week's show include Lindsay McCormick, an AR and VR tech investor, sports broadcaster and advisor and partner with ePlay Digital Inc., along with Dawn Lafreeda, who is the owner of 82 franchise Denny's restaurants.
The lucky entrepreneurs who advance to discussions with the panel of investors deftly answer questions about product safety, functionality, price point, market scope and more. They make the case that they've done their research, have a meaningful mission and are ready for funding.
In some cases, an entrepreneur's request is too ambitious. Other times, the product isn't differentiated enough -- or on the opposite end of the spectrum, it's downright out there, in the judges' minds.
Watch the negotiations go back and forth and see who seals a deal by streaming this week's episode of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch above.
Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch in partnership with Sports 1 Marketing streams Wednesdays on entrepreneur.com. Follow Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch on Facebook, YouTube and IGTV.