Glenn’s feedback

Q: How to get the pitch audience interested in prompt if they are not homeowners?

• GK suggests to invite audience to imagine they are the target customer: where I am, what energy rates apply to me, what it would cost (add $ impact)
• Create a dire situation and explain the dilemma of choice:
• “Imagine you are a California Bay Area homeowner who bought a home in the last fall, assuming you were going to pay $100 per month but your bill for heating in the winter tripled in the winter due to a natural gas shortage. You can barely afford the mortgage payments, and now you are faced with the dilemma of shivering or spend $400 that you didn’t budget for”

Q: How to convey a plausible team to build the product?

• Moonlighting interns from the Computer Science department and collaborators from the Doerr school are a viable team to leverage

Q: How to frame value of the product to audience?

• Explain confusion of choice and how we can help:
• “Can add a solar panel system for $50,000, with tax credits that pay off in 10 years, or add insulation, with an undefined payback period”
• “We help you find the solution that fits your budget while also cutting your CO2 usage”

Colin’s feedback

Q: How to get the 60-second pitch audience interested?

Colin’s suggestion: The presentation could be a recruitment to join staff of the startup.

• This is a great idea because it helps address the challenges above by getting the idea to hook with an audience that aren’t yet homeowners
• The call to action could be to ask students to join the team to build this idea
• Follow up: Framed pitch in terms of a new startup, with the call to action of inviting group members to join the team.