I first realized I was a pitch junkie at the 2006 Israel Venture Conference hosted by the then WolfBlock Law Firm in Philadelphia. 

I experienced this amazing energy every time I heard another entrepreneur’s story and his/her vision for how this business was going to be the next 100x return. 

What struck me the most while listening to the Israeli entrepreneurs’ presentations was the conviction with which these entrepreneurs spoke about their life long dream to start their business. Really, if it’s anything that an entrepreneur must possess – it is undying belief and dedication to his/her product/service.

But regardless of this fervor, most did not sell the audience. And even though I was excited thinking about the potential of their patent-pending technologies, I found myself dozing along with the professional venture capitalists who were clearly assessing whether or not it was worth their time.

As I’ve heard countless pitches since then – from my classmates, to Israeli entrepreneurs, start-up non profit professionals – ranging from 30 seconds to 15 minutes – I’ve realize that it is an art to put together the perfect pitch.

And I am by no means an expert. I still struggle with my own presentation skills, but after sharing a bit of wisdom last Thursday night at the NYC Fellowship Pitch Slam (check out pictures and video here) I’ve come up with the following additional suggestions to master the perfect pitch:

What really separates a non-profit from a for-profit besides a legal classification and mission statement?  

What is the difference between a social enterprise from an enterprise that is socially responsible?   

There are so many buzz-words thrown around these days, and the distinctions between their definitions is not so clear.  At least to me...

I'm not curious about classifications or metrics, like the ones B Corporation (www.bcorporation.net) is establishing.  Although I am incredibly impressed with the change this organization is effecting, I'm particularly interested to identify the overlap between these business to determine whether collaboration and mind-sharing opportunities exist.

Specifically - how do we tap into the culture of innovation and start-up experience of our Israeli and Jewish communities, and allocate this collective knowledge towards the "social-entrepreneurs" among us?  How do we prove that the relationship is mutually beneficial, and that just because a non-profit professional is not expressly working to expand the "bottom line" he or she may know a thing or two about development, sales and bringing in hard cash?  

There is an amazing concept emerging in Philadelphia called Missioneurs which hits the nail on the head.  Check out www.missioneurs.com.  

Founded by Blake Jennelle, a peer of mine from Philadelphia (and all around action-oriented change maker) Missioneurs is "a community of mission entrepreneurs separated for decades by the types of organizations we lead. Now we're coming together around our common sense of mission and hard-nosed entrepreneurial approach. We're why people. Together we can solve any how."

The idea for this weeks' blog post comes courtesy of one of the Boston Steering Committee members, Josh Plavner. 

As we approach the official end of the first CJP/PresenTense Boston Social Entrepreneur Fellowship, and the big Launch Night event, the fellows are starting to get anxious about funding and support for the their projects.  The Launch Night event is one way for the fellows to meet potential investors and partners,  but it's only one opportunity.  The fellows' follow-up strategy for people they meet at Launch Night and beyond is key to their success, both in terms of effectively managing stakeholders and in presenting a professional image for the fellow and his/her venture. 

Go Fund Me is an innovative approach to online fundraising.  Their user-friendly, eye-catching website helps individuals, companies, and organizations create fundraising strategies and then spread the word and collect money.