99 Second Pitch @ Founders Live Seattle

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Participating in the Founders Live pitch competition was one of the best experiences we had as a team. For many, Founders Live is a great community for entrepreneurs to get together and hear about new and innovative ideas. For NASTEA & Co., it was the first time the company was introduced as a local startup, and not just a class project.

My favorite part of the night was when Nick, the founder of Founders Live, asked me “what made you guys want to turn this class project into a startup?” Without prepping for this question, I knew exactly what flipped the switch for us.

In between the first and second quarter of the Creating A Company class, our team had the opportunity to pitch to people outside of The University of Washington campus which allowed for a better transition from the ideation stage to selling. We would bring samples and educate others on what a dirty chai is and how adding white coffee to our product made it unique.

Remember that time when you would bring your homemade chocolate chip cookies to a potluck and it was an instant hit? You went home with an empty tray and 20 smiles that told you those cookies made their day? That was it for NASTEA & Co.

Smiles and compliments after sips has what motivated us to turn this class project into a startup.

We have gotten positive feedback from our customers on how drinking NASTEA & Co.’s white coffee dirty chai has made their day. So I started asking myself, what if more people get to try our product and we can put smiles on more people’s faces? And so the adventure begins.

Our victory at Founders Live brought us encouragement, connections and resources that gave the the confidence to move forward with our company. The amount of energy that this community provide is especially inspiring for a student startup like us who are still navigating where we see our company moving forward.

-- Kathy

 
Karin Soyama