A few weeks ago I wrote about my first big pitch, and how it was full of regrets. No rehearsal, too much confidence, numbers I couldn't remember, and a pitch that ran out of time before I got to the business model. If you haven't read it, it's here: First time on a big stage: confidence is not preparation.
This post is the other half of that story.
On 28 October, at the NUTECH campus round of the Zindigi Prize, I presented with two teams. VIYLSA won first place. Our second project, Minemark, came third.
Two positions in one competition. I still have to say it out loud to believe it.
This time, I didn't trust confidence
After the first pitch, I made myself one promise: I would never walk onto a stage again without rehearsing.
So this time we started early. We knew the format: four minutes per team, two minutes for each presenter. That isn't much time. Every sentence had to earn its place.
We divided the work, fixed who would say what, and cut everything that didn't need to be there. The VIYLSA deck went through more versions than I can count.
8:30 for a 10:30 start
The event was meant to start at 10:30. We were there at 8:30.
Last time I sat through around 35 pitches without practising once. This time, those two hours were the most useful part of the day.
I practised with both teams, one after the other. We put a timer on, started it, and ran the full pitch. Then again. And again. Every time someone went over two minutes, we cut a line and tried once more.
By the end, we weren't just finishing on time. We were finishing calmly, with a proper close.
And something else happened. With every run, my fear got smaller. The rehearsal didn't just fix the timing. It lowered my stage fear more than anything I had tried before.
Fourth and fifth
Our two teams were presenting fourth and fifth, back to back. No long wait this time, and no time to get nervous.
When I stood up for VIYLSA, I could feel the difference immediately. I knew the numbers. I knew our survey results. I knew what each slide was about without turning around to read it.
Last time, I kept looking at the screen. This time, I looked at the judges.
Aena was brilliant, and so was everyone else on both teams. We had gone through the evaluation criteria beforehand and made sure every point was covered: the problem, our 360° virtual tour solution, the market, the business model, and what VIYLSA has achieved so far.
The technical side worked too. No frozen demo, no lost minutes.
The questions
Then came the judges' questions. At my first pitch, there was no Q&A at all. This time there was, and honestly, I was ready for it.
We answered every question, and walked off the stage feeling we had tackled them all. That feeling is very different from the walk back I wrote about last time.
Waiting until 2 PM
We finished presenting around 11. The results were at 2 PM.
Three hours is a long time to wait when you care about something.
We waited patiently, or at least we tried to look patient. Somewhere in our hearts we knew it had gone well. We kept telling each other that one of our two projects might come first. We just didn't know which one.
Second runner-up
They started with the second runner-up.
It was Minemark.
We were the happiest people in that room. We went up on stage, received the certificate, and came back down with our hearts still racing, because there were two positions left and VIYLSA hadn't been called yet.
And the winner is
Before announcing first place, they asked the audience to guess.
Then they said it: VIYLSA.
We couldn't believe it. We were shouting. All of us went up to the stage together, and the photos started and didn't stop for a long time. We were handed one of those giant cheques, Rs 30,000, so big we could barely hold it straight.
When we finally walked out, we kept looking at each other. We actually did it.
Coming back the same day
When we came back that day, everyone at university was congratulating us. Our group chats were full of messages too. Friends wanted photos with the giant cheque, and even people we didn't know came up to say congratulations.
And of course, everyone connected to us in any way is now asking for a treat. It's coming soon, InshaAllah.
What changed between the two pitches
The idea was the same. VIYLSA was the same. What changed was preparation, and that preparation is what lowered my fear:
- Rehearse with a timer, every time. Two minutes feels long until you actually run it.
- Rehearsal is the best cure for stage fear. Every practice run made the real one feel less scary.
- Arrive early and use the waiting time. Last time I wasted it. This time it was where the pitch came together.
- Know your numbers by heart. Survey results, market size, pricing. If you have to look at the slide, you don't own it yet.
- Talk to the judges, not the screen. The slides are there to support you, not to read from.
- Map your pitch to the evaluation criteria. Judges score what they asked for. Make it easy for them.
- Prepare for the questions too. The pitch gets you noticed. The answers show you understand your business.
A founder lesson, part two
My first pitch won nothing. But it taught me exactly what to fix.
My second pitch won VIYLSA the NUTECH campus round of the Zindigi Prize, with Minemark in third. The win takes VIYLSA to the next stage, the regional round, and this time I already know how I'll spend the morning before it: with a timer.
If you're a founder who just had a bad pitch, I hope this gives you some hope. The regret is useful. Use it to prepare for the next one.
Alhamdulillah. It was all worth it.
Aena Habib
Saqlain Abbas