How I was able to pitch CavnessHR twice on David Meltzer's Two Minute Drill TV Show

The above is from when I pitched CavnessHR last year on David Meltzer Two Minute Drill TV Show. At that time the TV show was getting started and I believe David and his team were doing their version of beta testing it.

For this article, I want to cover how I able to pitch CavnessHR not only this time. But a second time and the results.

I first became aware of David Meltzer, his background and what he does from seeing his posts on social media and listening to his podcast. The Playbook I was drawn to what he was doing and started communicating with him across Social Media. I believe we had a great back and forth during this communication.

As you know, I help out at Bunker Labs especially in Seattle. One thing I do is run the weekly huddle for our Veterans in Residence cohort. That involves bringing in speakers. So the light bulb went off in my head and I decided to invite David to be a speaker. I knew the odds of David saying yes would be low. With his engagements and everything else, I was sure his available time is limited.

But going back to the words of Wayne Gretzky. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take and he agreed. Of course, we had to work things out because of his schedule. Plus he could only speak for about 20 minutes. Well, David ended up speaking for an hour and answered everyone's questions they had on various subjects.

It was around this time that I found out about David's new TV Show the 2 Minute Drill and that they were taking applications for it. I applied, figuring the competition would be tough. So I was a little surprised when I was selected. But then I was not surprised. If that makes any sense. I don't know if all the things I did with David helped me to be selected. But I am sure it did not hurt.

I was one of 10 people selected to pitch. I probably practiced at least 100 times. Because I knew this was a great opportunity. I ended up finishing 3rd. David had some positive things to say about the pitch. To include how as part of NYU Future Labs I had been vetted and that would make it easier for people to want to invest in CavnessHR His one criticism was that I did not have an ask. But overall, it was a very positive experience and I learned a lot.

I soon learned a few months after this, that David Meltzer's 2 Minute Drill was going to up the stakes so to speak. The show would now be on BloombergTV and Amazon Prime Video. There would be a cash prize for the winner. There would be a panel of 4 judges to include David.

I applied again to pitch and since I was already on the show before I was not sure if I would be accepted for a second time. After waiting some time, I was informed that I had been accepted to pitch again.

This was around February I believe. The pitch would be on March 29. So this was one of the mistakes I made. For some reason, I thought the March 29 pitch was live or at least would be on TV soon after that. I based this on the first pitch being recorded live. The actual TV show episode with my pitch did not come on until August 13.

During the March and April time period, I was doing a crowdfunding campaign for CavnessHR. I spent some time during my pitch talking about the crowdfunder and my ask of people was to support it. I was blasted by one of the judges for trying to turn my pitch into a crowdfunding ad. If I would have realized the episode was not going to appear for another 5 months. I would of left anything about the crowdfunder out of my pitch and would have approached the pitch way differently.

I was also blasted by another judge for not being rah rah enough. Of course, I am biased, but I believe I showed the same amount of emotion as most of the other people pitching. But then again, I have never been a rah rah type of person.

I also received some criticism from David on items that from my point of view he gave me credit for on the first pitch. So that was a little confusing. One positive, is that I was able to answer all their questions during the question answer question. I remember one judge saying something like I wish you would have said that during the pitch. I remember thinking to myself. Actually, I did, you must not of been paying attention to my pitch.

For this pitch, I also practiced around 100 times. But the outcome was completely different. Which just proves my point that pitches are like resumes. If you do them for 25 different people. You will receive 25 different opinions.

The outcome for my pitch this time was not as positive as the first one, but like the last time I learned a lot.

I want to thank David and his team for these opportunities. I really appreciate it. What are your experiences with pitching.

Below is my pitch from August 13. How do you think the two pitches compare.

Finally, we will soon be fundraising at CavnessHR. To learn more about our fundraise and what we do at CavnessHR just reach out to me.

CavnessHR: Focus on your business, we've got your HR!