Elevator Pitch Competition
Apr 22, 10:23 AM by Eric Allen
Last night I participated in RPI’s first ever Elevator Pitch Competition. Pitches were limited to exactly 90 seconds, which was really tough for this idea. Even so, I won “best presentation style” for the Ideas category! There were a lot of great pitches, and I’m glad I got to be part of such a cool event. I wish I could participate next year!
The context: I’m pitching to an investor with a portfolio of internet and alternative energy companies looking for new opportunities to reinforce your existing companies.
The personal carbon offsetting business is growing like crazy. Were talking about $700 million a year in voluntary offsets, growing at over 80% per year The market has moved so fast that consumers are now faced with a bewildering number of choices, and minimal regulatory oversight. I can buy offsets from an organization like TerraPass, but I have no idea exactly what they’re going to. What do we do about the confusion? Often, nothing.
Conservation Marketplace changes all of that. Instead of blindly throwing their money at vague “offsets,” consumers come to an online marketplace where they can fund other individuals to make lifestyle changes to reduce their carbon footprint. For example, I could fund you to switch from driving to work to taking your bicycle.
By reducing confusion, Conservation Marketplace gains access to a huge segment of the market that is currently underserved. With the potential for hundreds of millions of dollars per year in transactions on the site, conservation marketplace can generate high-quality web traffic for advertisers looking to gain access to green-minded consumers.
Conservation marketplace pairs people who want to pay off their ecological guilt with people who are willing to make lifestyle changes, given a little push. It is a web service that cuts out the inefficient middlemen of an existing, proven market, with exceptional advertising potential.
Somebody is going to get the brand for personal carbon offsetting. Let me make it be you.
What do you think? I’m still iffy on the idea, but I did get some positive feedback. Accountability, of course, is the hardest part of this.
Oh, and videos will be posted soon. I’ll tweet a link when they go up.
