▸ The First 4 YEARS: THE FUNDRAISING BARRIER

In 2014, I founded Pitch Creator in Baltimore City. For the next four years, I volunteered to teach in-person courses at a local incubator. My focus was on helping Baltimore entrepreneurs break through the fundraising barrier and create new, high-quality jobs.

The results exceeded my expectations. Founders won prize money in pitch competitions, secured funding at demo days, and successfully closed Seed and Series A funding rounds.

▸ Ripple Effect: A Virtuous Cycle

Over time, I realized there was an even larger benefit to the work we were doing. Each time an entrepreneur in Baltimore broke through the fundraising barrier, they became a visible role model and mentor for other founders in the community. The power of this virtuous cycle is difficult to describe, but it still gives me goosebumps today.

▸ THE NEXT 4 YEARS

To reach more founders, Pitch Creator transitioned from in-person classes to online courses. The goal was to create an online course that taught the fundamentals of raising capital so mentors, advisors, and coaches could focus their time on advanced topics and pitch refinement.

▸ TODAY: CLOSING THE FUNDRAISING GAP

Today, Pitch Creator is focused on closing the fundraising gap. Less than ~1% of new businesses in the U.S. receive funding from angel investors and venture capital funds, primarily because those investors target highly-scalable startup business models.

Pitch Creator empowers the founders of the other 99% of companies by focusing on two core pillars:

1) Bootstrapping as long as possible.

2) Raising outside capital when appropriate.

Thank you for reading and for your interest!

- Jason Tagler, Founder