Cereal Funding for Saturday Startups
Details
You know those Saturday morning feelings?
Cereal in the bowl. Cartoons on. Nowhere to be. Anything feels possible.
That's the energy we're bringing to funding for Saturday Startups (those apps and side ideas we build on Saturdays).
Cereal Funding is a live online pitch event where founders each get 4 minutes to pitch their idea and 4 questions from the crowd — then every attendee votes, the ballots are counted live, and the founder with the most votes wins fundes from ticket sales.
No judges. No panel. No venture capitalists.
Just founders, a crowd, and a bowl of whatever cereal you've got nearby.
Here's Exactly How It Works:
🥣 You buy a ticket — a portion goes directly into the prize pot. The more people who show up, the bigger the check the winner takes home.
🎤 Four founders pitch — 4 minutes each. One idea. Any stage. Any niche. Business, side project, creative venture, community idea — if you need seed money to make it real, this is your stage.
❓ The crowd asks 4 questions — no softballs. We want to know if this thing actually works.
🗳️ Everyone votes — one ticket, one vote. The idea you believe in most.
🏆 The winner is announced live — and walks away with the full pot.
📣 Past winners check back in — every session opens with a 2-minute update from a previous winner. Where did the money go? What happened next?
The Rules Are Simple:
✔️ Pitchers get exactly 4 minutes — a timer is on screen the whole time
✔️ Pitchers answer exactly 4 questions from the audience
✔️ No slides required — talk to us like a human
✔️ Your idea must be real — something you built or close to done
✔️ Cereal is encouraged but not mandatory — we just think it helps
Ticket Breakdown:
Every ticket sold contributes directly to the prize pot. We keep a small percentage to cover platform and operation costs. The rest goes to the winner. You'll see the pot grow in real time as registrations come in — so the earlier you share this, the bigger the check gets.
🎟️ Pitcher Ticket — $15 (includes your spot in the pitch queue application + audience vote)
🎟️ Audience Ticket — $10 (includes your vote + front row seat to the chaos)
🎟️ Superfan Ticket — $25
🎟️ Sponsor Ticket — Contact Us (name in the credits + newsletter shoutout)
WE WILL EMAIL YOU A LINK FOR YOUR TICKET RSVP.
A PAID TICKET IS REQUIRED TO ATTEND.
Who Pitches:
We select 4 pitchers from applications submitted before each session. You don't have to be polished. You don't have to have a deck. You just have to have an idea worth funding and the guts to pitch it to a live crowd.
The only requirement is that it's real and you're ready to move.
Why This Works:
Detroit SOUP — the original inspiration for this format — has helped launch countless small businesses for over a decade using exactly this model: a small entry fee, four pitches, four questions, one vote, one winner takes the pot. We took that proven format, moved it online, made it global, added cereal, and removed every piece of friction that kept it local.
The Newsletter:
Every session we publish The Saturday Startup Bowl — a free recap of all four pitches, the vote breakdown, the winner's story, and what they're doing with the money. Subscribe to follow the journey between sessions and get notified when applications open for the next round.
Format: Live Zoom — link sent on registration
Duration: 90 minutes
Frequency: Monthly
Cost: $10 audience / $15 pitcher application / $25 superfan
The fund is live.
As registrations come in, the prize grows. Share this page and watch the number go up.
👉 Register now — voting spots are limited and pitcher applications close 7 days before the event.
About the Host
Kev has spent 14 years helping make ideas worth joining. Across platforms reaching 100M+ users (PagerDuty, Liquibase, and others), Kev has built communities, spoken globally, and helped technology earn trust rather than just attention. You can learn more at the links below: