Getting started with PitchLab

Programs sign up; founders are invited

The person who signs up for a program becomes its admin and invites the founders. Founders do not sign up on their own: they create their account from the invitation email their program sends.

A project is a team

Each founding team works in a project. The founder who creates it owns it, and can add teammates from the same program as collaborators. A team can have up to 5 people: the owner and 4 collaborators.

Who can see your work

Your program's admins can see every pitch and report in the program. Other founders cannot see yours, unless you add them as a collaborator or send them a share link.

1. Create your account

Go to Sign up, enter your name, email and a password, accept the Terms of Service, and select "Sign up". Confirm your email address from the message we send you.

2. Set up your program

After signing in you are asked to "Set up your program". Enter the program or organization name, choose a type ("University or college" or "Accelerator or incubator"), add your website if you like, and select "Create program". You become the program's admin.

Not a university or accelerator? Email hello@pitchlab.academy and we will set you up.

3. Get a license

Without a license, your program is on a trial: one pitch analysis in total, and no Q&A simulation or Mirror.

To buy one, go to Admin, then Billing, and choose "Buy a licence". You pay by card on Stripe's secure page. Card purchases of center licenses are reviewed within five business days, and show as "Under review" until then. Larger plans are sold on invoice or purchase order: contact us.

4. Invite your founders

Go to Admin, then Users. Under "Invite a teammate", enter each founder's email, choose the role "Founder", and select "Send invite". Each founder gets an email with their invitation link. A pending invitation can be sent again with "Resend".

Invite founders at the email address they will sign up with: an invitation can only be accepted from that address.

5. Run an event (optional)

Go to Admin, then Events. Enter an event name and, optionally, a date, and select "Create event" (this uses one of your event credits).

Select "Open entries", then enter teams with "Enter a team". When entries close, select "Start judging": each entry's score is locked at that moment. Download the briefing pack for judges with "Download judge pack".

Record what the judges decided under "Results" (1st, 2nd, 3rd, honorable mentions and awards) and select "Save results". When you select "Complete event", each team sees its own result on its project page.

6. Follow progress

Admin, then Pitches lists every pitch in your program. Admin, then Analytics shows completion, improvement between attempts, practice use and more, and can be exported as CSV, JSON or PDF.

1. Accept your invitation

Open the invitation email from your program and follow the link. Select "Create account" (your invited email address is filled in) or "Sign in" if you already have an account. Confirm your email address, then select "Accept invitation".

Signed up without the link? After signing in, select "Joining as a founder? Use your invitation link." and paste the link from the email.

2. Create a project

On your Dashboard, select "New Project", enter a project title (usually your venture's name) and select "Create". Your pitches, reports and practice sessions live in the project.

3. Record or upload your pitch

In your project, select "New Pitch" and give the attempt a title. Then either:

RECORD in your browser with camera and microphone, or microphone only: "Start recording", then "Finish", then "Use this recording".

UPLOAD a file: video (mp4, webm or mov) up to 500 MB, or audio (mp3, wav, m4a, ogg or webm) up to 100 MB.

You can attach your deck (PDF or PPTX, up to 50 MB). It is kept with the attempt for your reference and is not part of the evaluation yet. Select "Submit pitch".

Aim for 9 to 12 minutes, the length of a real first meeting with an investor. Going outside that window costs up to 15 points; a recording stops at 15 minutes.

4. Read your report

Analysis takes a few minutes, and we email you when the report is ready. The report gives a verdict ("Ready", "Conditional" or "Not ready"), scores for Structure, Clarity, Completeness and Defensibility, where you lost the listener, your top issues, how well you covered each part of a pitch, the questions to expect, and objectives for your next attempt.

Select "Export PDF" to download it. Select "Share" to create a public link to the report; you can include the recording and transcript, and "Stop sharing" at any time. Anyone with the link can read the report.

5. Practice

These need your program to have a license. On a pitch, open:

"Q&A Simulation": answer the questions an investor is likely to ask, by voice or in writing, and get scored on your answers.

"The Mirror": four rounds where you pitch for 30 seconds, hear how a listener understood it, and take 60 seconds to refine.

6. Improve and try again

From a report, select "Record Attempt" to record your next attempt. "History" compares two attempts side by side, and the project's "Timeline" shows your progress across attempts.

7. Add your teammates

Your teammates need to be in your program first: ask your program admin to invite them. Then, on a pitch, open "Collaborators", choose a teammate under "Select Team Member", choose a role and select "Add Collaborator". A Viewer can see the pitch and report; an Editor can also change the title and deck.

A team can have up to 5 people: you and 4 collaborators. Someone already on the team can be added to any of its pitches; to add someone new to a full team, remove a collaborator first.

Settings

In Settings you can change your display name, email address and password, and choose which emails you get: when an analysis is complete or has failed, a daily next-steps digest, a weekly digest and organization invitations.

Deleting your account

Under "Delete your account", select "Delete my account", type "delete my account" to confirm, and select "Delete my account permanently". This cannot be undone.

Deleting your account removes your recordings and the decks you uploaded, the transcripts of them, your Q&A and Mirror recordings, your name and email address wherever we hold them, and your sign-in.

It does not remove the pitches themselves: their scores, findings and reports. Those stay with the organization whose program you were in, and no longer name you.

Contact us

Email hello@pitchlab.academy, or use the contact form. Founders: for questions about your program, invitations or licenses, ask your program admin first.