HATCHpitch 2017 in review

During SXSW 2017, instead of our usual pitch competition, we held a gathering of HATCH pitch alumni, judges, and mentors. We wanted to test a hypothesis - that the HATCH community adds tremendous value to alumni (past finalists) in addition to new startups. We found that when startups face a roadblock, some of the best advice comes from people who were in their shoes, a few months before. 2013 finalist, Paul Kwiatkowski, said “I came to support HATCH and I had no idea I would leave with some great insights I can apply today. This was great value. You need to tell more people.” It’s advice like this, that can only come from experienced founders and mentors, which makes the difference between success and failure.  

Each year, HATCH pitch becomes better at facilitating these conversations to help founders like you through their toughest times. This also becomes an opportunity for HATCH alumni to give back to the entrepreneurship community and say “thanks” for the help they got along the way.