Ride-sharing service Uber clearly gets a kick out of dreaming up headline-grabbing marketing stunts – it has, after all, been known to test on-demand ice cream trucks, send kittens to offices, and deliver Christmas trees at a moment’s notice.
And now, for one day only, the company is giving “entrepreneurs, dreamers and visionaries” a chance to present ideas to investors from Google Ventures – the Web giant’s investment arm – in a 15-minute ‘UberPitch’ inside one of the startup’s chauffeur-driven cars, though you’ll have to be in the Silicon Valley area to make use of the tantalizing offer.
“Whether you spend your weekends hacking together a product or are still plotting out your perfect pitch deck – UberPitch is your chance to get in front of some of Silicon Valley’s most accomplished investors,” Uber’s Spencer Rinkus wrote in a post.
Anyone with an awesome business idea simply has to request the UberPitch option in the cross-platform Uber app between 11am and 3pm on Wednesday, April 9.
Provided a car’s available, you’ll be collected at your designated pick-up point by an Uber vehicle with a Google Ventures investor waiting inside, eager to hear about your idea for the next big thing.
You’ll need to have your spiel finely tuned and ready to go, as you’ll have just seven minutes to explain your plan as you drive around Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Menlo Park, home to some of the world’s most successful tech outfits.
Once you’re done, the investor will spend the next seven minutes offering feedback, during which you’ll quickly learn if your idea has potential for development or should be placed neatly inside a trash can and forgotten about.
Rides are free and will start and finish at your pick-up location.
“There are thousands of strong ideas, but just six investors for UberPitch, so demand will be high,” the company said on its website. “If you don’t secure a pitch on your first attempt, keep trying! Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
