FreshTracks Road Pitch hits the road a second time

Bob Bloch, of Charlotte, runs an entrepreneurship program called BYOBiz (Build Your Own Business) at Champlain College. He hopped on his motorcycle for a second stab at FreshTracks Road Pitch last week.

FreshTracks Road Pitch is a multi-day motorcycling ride where motorcyclists with investing, and business savvy, stop in small towns to listen to entrepreneurs pitch their business concepts. Thirty riders made eight stops throughout the state to hear about 45 new business pitches. Stops were made in towns from Grand Isle to Bennington.

“What’s great about this is it’s a way for entrepreneurs to get feedback,” Bloch said. “They may get an investment, sure, but they really get valuable pointers on pitching a business idea, and that is really the most valuable thing.”

Bloch provided advice, others connected the entrepreneurs with resources, some may eventually invest.

Road Pitch was founded in 2014 by Cairn Cross, co-founder of Shelburne-based FreshTracks Capital. “We proved the Road Pitch concept by riding 500 miles through Vermont stopping in various towns and listening to more than 30 pitches,” he said of the inaugural year.

FreshTracks Capital is a venture capital firm with 30 portfolio companies. Some of the firm’s most notable Vermont investments include EatingWell, Vermont Teddy Bear, Draker Energy, Quirky, Ello, Bridj, Faraday, and SunCommon.

Bloch said small start-ups in Chittenden County are surrounded by support of all kinds. “It’s an ecosystem of entrepreneurial support,” he said. “In some of these outlying areas where we visit, that just doesn’t exist. This is one small way to bring some of that support to other areas in the state.”

Dynapower’s Peter Pollak of Shelburne also took to the road. For him it’s about riding and listening. “I am here to educate,” he said. “This is about matching entrepreneurial spirit together with people who have the means to guide them, share experiences with them, and hopefully get them going in the right direction.”

Founder Cross said he had twice as many riders, and one more stop, this year. It was Pollak’s first Road Pitch ride. “I am glad to have him,” Cross said of the new addition. “A lot of these riders started a business and they know what it’s like, and that’s really the best type of people we can have listening to pitches.”

Also new this year were Riders Choice Awards. Winners received a Vermont Teddy Bear Biker Bear, and a check for $450, courtesy of the State of Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community, Key Bank, and Gallagher Flynn, Cross said.

Middlebury seniors Terry Goguen and Anna Clare Smith are entrepreneurs who created a mobile app to keeps kids safe while driving. JoyRyde, a Shelburne-based company, offers safe driving points and rewards for driving phone free.

Goguen pitched JoyRyde to the FreshTracks road crew and won. In a week’s time after the pitch a partnership was formed with the Vermont Youth Safety Council was formed.

“They liked the new approach to keeping kids safe in a fun, game-like manner,” Goguen said.

Goguen said even though he practiced his pitch 15 times before he presented, he learned how to do it better next time. “I need to add more about financial projections, and go in-depth about how we make money.”

Cross was pleased with the quality and diversity of the pitches this year. “We listened to pitches from startups and established companies in a variety of industries, from consumer products and food and beverage, to software and media, to industrial and advanced manufacturing,” he said.

Contact Lynn Monty at 985-3091 or Lynn@WindRidgePublishing.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/VermontSongbird.