New Enterprise Forum exists to coach startups, help perfect their investor pitches, and connect entrepreneurs with investors. We do that through our signature showcase presentation pitch coaching. If you are an entrepreneur seeking capital and have a viable product, scalable business, investable company, and are a coachable founder, NEF has a proven coaching process to help you.

This process will provide you with a ten-minute investor slide and oral presentation and the opportunity to present the deck at a NEF forum meeting to the investment community.

In addition, we will help you craft a written executive summary that will be sent to the NEF network of investors - those who recognize the add-on value that NEF provides and have asked to receive information on those who have successfully completed the NEF coaching process. 

Entrepreneurs will be required to sign a Participant Release Form to allow NEF to promote final presentation materials and video for NEF marketing purposes as a condition of receiving a NEF coaching team.

Applying to get coached is as easy as emailing your Executive Summary to our Program Committee Chair at: programchair@newenterpriseforum.org.

Please note that, due to legal restrictions, Executive Summaries and other materials marked “confidential” cannot be accepted.

Application Criteria

The criteria used to assess the suitability of a company to be coached by NEF include:

1. Viable Product - Initial or impending revenue with sufficient confirmation of value in the marketplace.
2. Scalable Business - High growth potential with a large addressable market(s) and the potential for an exit in five years with an above-market rate-of-return for investors.
3. Investable Company - Business readiness to talk with investors and a team (and/or set of advisors) with the skills and experience to deliver on the business plan.
4. Coachable Founder - NEF wants to work with founders who are open to feedback, want to succeed and work together with us to help make that happen.

Please note that retail operations, consulting firms, restaurants, service/recreation organizations, and other limited growth businesses are typically not considered for coaching.

The Acceptance Process

After the Executive Summary is reviewed and the business is determined to meet the high-level NEF criteria, you will be invited to give a three-minute pitch to the NEF Program Committee with questions and answers to follow. Based upon this brief pitch, the Committee will poll its members for approval, and, if approved, for volunteers to be on the startup’s coaching team.

How The Coaching Process Works

Once a NEF coaching team is assembled, it meets with the entrepreneur four to eight times over a two- to four-month period to hone the entrepreneur’s 10 Minute Pitch until it is determined that it is ready to present to investors. At that time, the entrepreneur will be invited to deliver their pitch at our monthly NEF Forum as a Showcase Presenter.

Although there are frequently investors in the attendees at a NEF Forum, the objective of this presentation is to allow the entrepreneur to practice their presentation in a “real,” but relatively risk-free venue, get the reaction of the audience as representing the likely reactions of investors and hear and field the questions that arise.

The quality of the entrepreneur’s presentation will, however, be evaluated by the NEF Program Committee members in attendance and a recommendation made, at the next NEF Program Committee Meeting, whether the entrepreneur’s Executive Summary should be forwarded to the NEF’s investor network.

If you have any questions regarding this process, please contact the NEF Program Committee Chair at: programchair@newenterpriseforum.org.