The Product-Focused Founder
SVB Crisis, Community, Computer Vision
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Episode Drop
#107 Terrascope: A Computer Vision Tale is a story about a boy who spends all his time developing a solution that he never has time to discover his customer. So the host of a podcast issues a challenge. It is up to Kehan to prove himself worthy of investment!
Vol. 1 Issue 8
This issue of The Pitch Insider is dedicated to the many people affected by the run on Silicon Valley Bank. It was terribly appropriate that last week’s issue The Anxious Founder went live as many founders experienced circumstances over which they held little to no control.
This quick read from Elizabeth Yin about leadership during crisis is excellent practical advice. It seems like common sense, yet so many companies fail to do this simple task well: communicate!
The startup community was in chaos last weekend, but what struck me is how many people were checking in. “How are you? Have you been affected?”
I really love community.
Even if your community can’t fix anything… they can be in the mess with you. And just knowing you’re not alone makes a huge difference.
Founders gotta stick together.
Just as Josh challenged Kehan in Episode #107, I’m going to challenge you.
Will you reach out to one person today who may need support?
It can be anyone and you can offer anything.
Send a word of encouragement to a friend
Do a task that normally falls to your partner (ahem, the dishes Josh)
Babysit for the couple that never gets a date night or the single mom that needs some time alone
Send a note of thanks to an investor or mentor
You are only as strong as the community around you.
Build it today so the next time there’s a bank run… you have someone to run to.
Terrascope
Terrascope is using AI on satellite imagery and that seems way less scary than chat bots that want to be human. I know it’s not real but my mind flashes to every movie where AI tries to take over. (Though, I am a huge fan of mem.ai - mostly because it organizes all my docs for me.)
Terrascope’s computer vision certainly seems investable. However, the lack of focus on customer acquisition/closing deals made this a pass for investors. Do you think Kehan’s pivot makes him more investable now?
I think Kehan is a great founder. He had the humility to listen to feedback and pivot. Investors said he was overly product-focused, but Kehan’s obsession with product made Terrascope good enough to close his first big deal.
You hear him reference his ability to overcome adversity at the end of his pitch. What you didn’t hear is how he got deported or withstood a founder break-up. It’s not bravado when Kehan says, “You’ll all be IN at some point!” I think he can pull it off.
Coming Up Next
It’s time for an After The Pitch episode!!! Long-time listeners will love this update!
The Pitch Deals
The following are open deals from The Pitch Syndicate. Click the company name to learn more and apply:
Tether - U.S. incorporation complete. Exciting updates coming soon! (Listen to Ep. #102)
Dressd - Clothing rental company using local pickup & targeting sororities. (Listen to Ep. #104)
Dotcal - Hundreds of signups for dotcal.co after last week’s episode! (Listen to Ep. #106)
Invest in all these deals + more through The Pitch Fund!
On Social
Video clips from all of Season 9, including Terrascope, are on Tik Tok, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Help us get to 1,000 followers on Tik Tok so we can put our link in the bio.
Shout Out
Shout out to Rich Smith for a lovely phone call yesterday. He gave me the idea for a listeners meetup location in San Diego. A brewery! (Fun fact: Josh brews beer. During The Pitch hiatus we started dreaming about & designing a brewery that could also host pitch events.)
Rich thanks for chucking all your ideas our way to help make The Pitch more successful.
Cheers!
Lisa