Real Talk – Pitch It ‘Til You Make It

During April’s Real Talk, we’ll hear firsthand from tried-and-tested founders who have pitched their business ideas countless times before and persevered. George Cook and Gabriela (Gaby) Isturiz are ready to share their pitching victories, hiccups, and nightmares. Not every pitch ends with a million-dollar investment, and our featured founders—who these days are more often on the receiving end of pitches—know what it takes to resist giving up and move forward.

Our chat will break down approaches for creating captivating pitches, ways to boost your confidence before delivering presentations, and storytelling strategies that our guests have picked up along their journeys.

At Real Talk, entrepreneurs set the agenda. When you register, send us your questions in advance, and our guests will discuss them during the live session.

After the talk, participants working on pitch presentations can stay to get personalized feedback about their pitches. Spots are limited for the personalized feedback sessions, so sign up early.

Featuring

George Cook is a self-described small business enthusiast. As a sixth-generation community banker, George grew up in Western Pennsylvania and saw firsthand how the disappearance of community banks was limiting small business owners from getting the loans they needed to make their businesses thrive. This inspired him to co-found Honeycomb Credit. He is passionate about using technology to make banking more affordable, accessible, and fun. George earned his MBA from The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Gabriela (Gaby) Isturiz is a serial entrepreneur, innovator, experienced CEO, and founder of two high-growth successful SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) technology companies that were ultimately sold to Fortune 500 companies. Gaby possesses a unique combination of passion, curiosity, and discipline, making her one of the few women in STEM who has led bootstrapped companies to successful exits.

In 2012 Gaby founded Bellefield Systems, the global leader in time tracking and compliance technology for lawyers, recognized as the #1 legal timekeeping solution for 5 years in a row worldwide. Under her disciplined and decisive leadership, Bellefield experienced over 3,500% growth within 6 years, positioning it among the top fastest-growing companies in Western Pennsylvania. In December 2019, Bellefield was acquired by Roper Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: ROP) (Aderant division), a constituent of the S&P 500 ®.

A native of Caracas, Venezuela, Gaby earned her MS Information Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh and her BS in Computer Systems Engineering from the Universidad Metropolitana in Caracas.