Preparing for Demo Day at a Startup Accelerator

Startup accelerator programs generally host cohorts of entrepreneurs for a few months and conclude with a celebratory event called “demo day.” During this event, entrepreneurs deliver a short presentation of their companies in front of an audience that includes potential investors. This article expl...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Publicado no:URI:https://journals.openedition.org/rac,
Autor principal: Rosental, Claude
Formato: Article ou chapitre numérique
Idioma:Anglais
Publicado em: Revue d’anthropologie des connaissances 2024
Assuntos:
Acesso em linha:Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Descrição
Resumo:Startup accelerator programs generally host cohorts of entrepreneurs for a few months and conclude with a celebratory event called “demo day.” During this event, entrepreneurs deliver a short presentation of their companies in front of an audience that includes potential investors. This article explores how these entrepreneurs prepare for demo day as part of their curriculum at one Israeli startup accelerator. Based on ethnographical observations of the preparation process, it shows how pitches come to life in a collective and iterative way under the guidance of coaches in communications, and how the latter’s practical advice and approach involve techno-rhetoric, use of a template and problem-solution schema, as well as common marketing tools and registers. It thereby sheds light on the nature and amount of resources invested in some of the dynamics of the demonstration society.