Skip to content

Day 4: Pitching Investors — Pitch Day

Lesson Overview
Time 50 minutes
Objectives Polish the team pitch from Day 3; deliver a 2-minute investor pitch to the class playing the role of investors; give and receive peer feedback using a star/wish format
TEKS d(3)(I), d(4)(F)
Deliverable Final 2-minute team pitch + peer feedback received from at least 2 other teams
Materials Business plan outlines and draft slides from Day 3, printed peer feedback "Star + Wish" forms, timer, projector

Warm-Up (5 min)

WARM-UP: When you watch Shark Tank or a real business pitch, what makes some pitches work and others flop? List ONE thing each.

Take 4 student responses. Capture the patterns: confidence, clear numbers, knowing the customer, having a real answer to "how do you make money," practiced delivery. These are the same things investors look for.

Activity 1: Polish + Practice (12 min)

Teams take 12 minutes to polish their pitch deck from Day 3. They should:

  • Make sure each of the 5 sections is clear (Value Prop, Target Market, Product/Tech Plan, Revenue Model, Budget Ask)
  • Decide who delivers each section (every team member must speak)
  • Practice the pitch ONCE through with the team, out loud, with a timer
  • Time check: pitches should be 2 minutes max

Facilitation Tip

Some teams will spend 12 minutes adding decorations to their slides instead of practicing. Set a hard rule: "By the 6-minute mark, your slides are DONE. The rest of the time is practice out loud." Practice is what makes a pitch good.

Activity 2: Pitches to the Investors (25 min)

Teams take turns pitching to the class. Each pitch is 2 minutes max. The teacher (or selected student "investors") sit in front and listen.

Pitch order:

  • Set the order randomly (draw team names from a hat) so no team has an unfair advantage
  • After each pitch, the "investors" ask 1 quick question (e.g., "How will you reach your first 100 customers?" or "What if a competitor copies you?")
  • The team has 30 seconds to answer

After ALL teams have pitched, do a class vote on which pitch was the most convincing. Vote by show of hands or sticky notes.

The peer feedback form ("Star + Wish") goes to each team after the vote:

  • Star: What did you do well? (1 specific thing)
  • Wish: What would I change to make the pitch stronger? (1 specific thing)

Each team should receive feedback from at least 2 other teams.

DOK 3: Looking at the pitches you heard today, what are 2 things that separated the strongest pitches from the weakest ones? Use specific examples.

Activity 3: Work Ethic Reflection (5 min)

Source: TEKS d(4)(F): work ethic, integrity, dedication, perseverance

Connect the pitch experience to work ethic. The pitches that landed well were the ones where the team was prepared, on time, and focused. The pitches that flopped often had a team member who didn't show up, didn't practice, or wasn't paying attention.

Quick whole-class discussion (3 minutes):

  • What did you do to PREPARE for today's pitch?
  • What does work ethic mean for an entrepreneur specifically?
  • Why does perseverance matter MORE for entrepreneurs than for employees?

Then each student writes one sentence in their notebook:

  • "The work ethic quality I demonstrated today was _____." (Examples: dedication, preparation, teamwork, perseverance, integrity)

Exit Ticket (3 min)

EXIT TICKET (Trade-off / Dilemma Analysis) · Printable PDF:

Your team has 12 minutes before pitching. You see TWO problems in your slide deck:

  • (A) Slides look plain (no colors, no logo, no images). Could polish for 8 minutes.
  • (B) One team member has not practiced their section out loud. Could rehearse them for 8 minutes.

Pros of picking A (polish slides): _____________

Pros of picking B (practice the teammate): _____________

My team's choice (A or B): __

Quality list: preparation / dedication / teamwork / perseverance / responsibility / reliability.

Which work-ethic quality matters MOST in this decision, and why is it the right one over the others? (d(3)(I), d(4)(F))

My quality: _____

Why: ____________

Submit your team's final pitch slides + at least 2 peer feedback forms with this ticket.

Differentiation

  • Support: Provide a pitch script template with sentence stems for each section: "Our business is _. Our customer is . We make money by . We need $_ to . The reason you should invest is ."
  • Extension: Watch a 5-minute Shark Tank pitch as homework. Use the same 5-section framework to analyze: which sections did the entrepreneur cover well, and which did they miss?
  • ELL: The pitch can be delivered in English, Spanish, or bilingual. Many real Texas pitches are delivered bilingually. Pair with bilingual peers if needed for translation support.