[ad_1]
By Laura Kobylecky, Special Writer, Silicon Hill News
PentoPix Winner of the 2023 SXSW Pitch Awards In the Entertainment, Media & Content category. PentoPix Also won the “Best In Show” award in this competition. PentoPix uses AI-assisted technology to convert text into 3D animation.
The SXSW Pitch showcases innovators and tech industry pioneers from “indie tech companies to trailblazing start-ups” (1). The event featured 40 interactive technology companies in 8 different categories. The startups were pitched in front of a jury.
I interviewed Volha Paulovich, Co-Founder and COO PentoPix, to talk about her experience at the Pitch Awards. When asked for the briefest summary of her company, she said: “PentoPix is an AI-assisted platform that brings creativity and efficiency together by converting scripts into 3D animated videos for storyboarding and pre-production “
She was very excited about winning Best of Show at the SXSW Pitch, saying, “It’s surreal; Not expecting the best from happening.”
Paulovich found the SXSW Pitch Awards to be a unique experience. She explained, “I pitch almost every day … I didn’t think too much about it, and then the coaches started and we completely changed everything, which is great because it never happened, and I’m really happy We did it.
The process of the SXSW Pitch involves some hands-on training. Paulovich describes the process, “Every startup has a coach that we meet with a few times.” There is a set number of meetings “We have a minimum, I think, of two, but you can do more… …I did more, of course… maybe four times. The experience also includes a coach who “can guide you through the process of the day or how to better structure your presentation, with a few comments on the slides Leave a comment, how to prepare for Q&A.
Paulovic likened the experience to that of an athlete and spoke highly of her coaches, calling them “absolutely amazing” and calling the overall experience “something new and different.”
According to Paulovich, the SXSW Pitch experience is unique in the startup world, “and this level of support is rarely seen in startups, especially when it comes to pitching.” Audience Selling”. For these early-stage startups, “their job is to figure out why your startup isn’t working,” which means “you don’t really hear honest feedback because everyone is so critical.” The SXSW experience means having a coach who “sees you in a whole new light,” an added value Paulovich describes as “amazing.”
When asked what she learned from her SXSW Pitch experience, Paulovich described how she and her team “started to tailor things to the people we met, and it gave us this understanding.” She reflected: “There’s always someone who doesn’t deserve it, and that’s okay. We’re not gold coins, so everyone loves you.”
She emphasized the value of targeted pitches, saying that “there are certain categories of funds to invest in, and everyone has investment criteria, and it’s okay if you don’t match. It’s not the end of the world; we have to get on with it, and that’s understandable.” That wisdom comes from “being exposed to so many different industries and so many different startups, being exposed to so many different investors.”
Winning this award has had a profound impact on Paulovich and her company. “Now, since we won, we’re thinking about bigger, bigger scale,” she said. According to Paulovich, the SXSW Pitch Awards are “top prizes.” The award inspired her team’s vision that “we’re doing something, we’re doing great things, not that I didn’t believe it before, but now we have this external validation.”
External validation led to some more immediate changes. Paulovich explained, “Honestly, I was going to go on vacation after South By, but now, I don’t want to do that again.” To continue all the conversations we started, to connect with all the people we met, and to do so much more.”
The motivation here is not just winning awards. Paulovich found attending SXSW in Austin exhilarating in so many ways, saying “overall, just being here in Austin, it provides that level of motivation and inspiration.” It makes people believe that “we can do this. We’re going to achieve all these great things and milestones in the future,” and this “fights all the mental health issues and all the negativity that building a startup can involve.”
The experience at SXSW seems to have inspired Volha Paulovich, co-founder and COO of PentoPix and winner of Best of Show at the SXSW Pitch, and perhaps that inspiration will be shared by others.
[ad_2]
Source link