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'Do You Like the Taste of Making Money?' Investors Weigh In on Crazy New Food Biz Pitches. On the food-focused season 11 premiere of 'Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch,' contestants serve up new business opportunities to our board of investors. Will they dig in?

By Dan Bova Edited by Jessica Thomas

Key Takeaways

  • A great pitch explains what you are doing and why you are doing it.
  • Explain who your customer is and what your sales traction is to date.
  • Investors want entrepreneurs who are all-in on their business.

Welcome back to the elevator. Going up!

Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch returns for its 11th season, and we're challenging the best of the best startup founders to bring their A-game to our board of investors, who are hungry to sink their teeth into the next big thing.

As long-time viewers know, this is how the show works: Contestants step inside our elevator and have just 60 seconds to pitch their company to a camera. Our investors are from the boardroom, and if they like what they hear, the elevator doors open. The entrepreneur then steps inside a pressure cooker for an intense negotiation that (fingers crossed!) ends with a life-changing investment. If the investors don't like what they hear? The elevator goes back to the ground floor, and the entrepreneurs leave empty-handed. The only thing higher than our penthouse boardroom is the stakes!

In this kickoff episode, three food entrepreneurs try to tempt investors with tasty deals. Will the board bite or do a spit-take? There's only one way to find out — press play and let the games begin!

Binge the last season of Elevator Pitch here

Season 11, Episode 1 Board of Investors

  • Marc Randolph, co-founder and first CEO of Netflix, master of scaling
  • Kim Perell, CEO of 100.co, serial entrepreneur and investor
  • Dhani Jones, Former NFL player and serial entrepreneur

Season 11, Episode 1 Entrepreneurs

  • Marilyn Yang of Popadelics, ultra-crunchy mushroom chips
  • Emanuel Storch and Mike Pease of Blackbird Foods, an artisanal producer of plant-based pizza, seitan and wings
  • Amin Bahari of Elite Sweets, the Better-For-You Donuts™ with 8g protein, 3 net carbs and no gluten

How to watch

Season 11 of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch is presented by Amazon Business. New episodes stream on Wednesdays on Entrepreneur.com and EntrepreneurTV. Follow Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch on Facebook, YouTube and IGTV.

Dan Bova

Entrepreneur Staff

VP of Special Projects

Dan Bova is the VP of Special Projects at Entrepreneur.com. He previously worked at Jimmy Kimmel Live, Maxim, and Spy magazine. His latest books for kids include This Day in History, Car and Driver's Trivia ZoneRoad & Track Crew's Big & Fast Cars, The Big Little Book of Awesome Stuff, and Wendell the Werewolf

Read his humor column This Should Be Fun if you want to feel better about yourself.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

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