The Burlington Free Press

The following is an excerpt from the Peak Pitch event covered by the Burlington Free Press.  To read the complete article, click here:  Make Your Best Pitch Count

The pitch. It’s the life blood of entrepreneurs, and if you’re shy about telling your company’s story to potential investors, you better get over it fast.

“There’s a process you have to go through to raise money,” said Cairn Cross, a founding partner of FreshTracks Capital, a venture capital firm based in Shelburne. “You need to pitch a lot, and you need to pitch to a lot of people. You get a lot of nos.”

FreshTracks was one of the sponsors of the Vermont Peak Pitch 2011 event last week, an event that brought together aspiring entrepreneurs and investors at Sugarbush Resort in Warren to take the lift ride together and ski back down. It’s on that six-minute ride up, and on top before the ski down, that entrepreneurs have the ears of the money folks to sell their ideas. It was the first time for the annual event at Sugarbush.

 “It allows them to get over their fear of telling people about their businesses,” Cross said. “It also allows them to refine their pitch, because they get some feedback. Maybe somebody says, ‘You’re asking for too little money, or too much money,’ or ‘I don’t understand your product, what are you talking about?’”

Cross, whose firm has invested $11 million in Vermont companies and is in the process of investing another $14 million, also likes the informal atmosphere of Peak Pitch.

“This is such a fun way to do this networking thing,” Cross said. “It’s not a cocktail party, and it’s random. That’s what’s kind of neat about it. You really can switch it up.”