## 🔷 What It Is:
The Startup FounderTable is a closed-circle club for early-stage founders to practice fundraising, refine pitch narratives, and get real-time, peer-to-peer feedback on everything from storytelling to market sizing — without the pressure of a real investor in the room.
It’s a safe space to fail forward before going live in front of VCs.
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## 🎯 Why It Exists:
- Founders rarely get honest feedback before pitching.
- Most decks don’t get a second look — but you don’t know why.
- You need reps, refinement, and real feedback, not just theory.
- Great fundraising is a craft — this is your gym.
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## 🧠 Core Activities
### 1. 💼 Mock Pitch Practice (Core Format)
- 1 founder does a 5–8 min pitch (deck optional)
- 20 minutes of group feedback
- Storytelling flow
- Clarity of problem/solution
- TAM / GTM / Metrics gaps
- What’s missing from an investor lens
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### 2. 📜 Pitch Teardown Sessions
- Pick famous or real-life decks (e.g., Airbnb, Dropbox, Y Combinator formats)
- Break down what worked, what didn’t
- Reverse-engineer great fundraising storytelling
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### 3. 🎙️ One-Liner + Hook Drills
- Each founder shares:
- Startup one-liner
- Why Now
- Big Market Hook
- Group scores and helps sharpen each part
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### 4. 🎯 Objection Handling Rounds
- Everyone plays "VC"
- Ask hard questions like:
- “Why now?”
- “What if Google builds this?”
- “How is this a venture-scale company?”
- Founder answers → Group gives feedback
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### 5. 📊 Metric Checkups
- Each founder shares:
- Key traction metrics
- Burn & runway
- CAC / LTV / Churn (if applicable)
- Group points out red flags or missed strengths
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## 🔐 House Rules
- No actual fundraising during meets
- Everyone contributes — no spectators
- Honest but kind feedback
- All content stays confidential
- Respect time limits and structure
