The ability to record (and edit?) the pitch before sending it to investors seems like a great way of leveling the field between natural public speakers and terrible ones.
Obviously public speaking is a great skill to have, but having so much money and time hinge on a 10 minute speech you can simply flub (through nervousness, poor sleep, etc) can't possibly be the most efficient way of allocating startup capital.
I think you’re onto something. It takes time to get used to public speaking and even when you’re moderately good at it, there’s always some initial anxiety and nervousness.
If the point of demo day is to explain your idea in an efficient and understandable way, it seems like video would be the way to go.
I think there’s a lot of benefits to meeting in-person, some of which are hidden and you can’t anticipate. A lot of deals have probably been done due to serendipity and chance in the hallways so I wouldn’t want to discount them entirely.
But I like this. It feels like at the very least, there’s an opportunity to experiment with something new.
Obviously public speaking is a great skill to have, but having so much money and time hinge on a 10 minute speech you can simply flub (through nervousness, poor sleep, etc) can't possibly be the most efficient way of allocating startup capital.