Sep 20, 2023 · 24m · the-pitch
"Startup Funding Secrets: Will This Golf Tech Pitch Convince VCs to Invest?"
Dan Hershberg · 11m spoken Howie Diamond · 3m spoken Al Bsharah · 1m spoken Josh Muccio · 1m spoken Beck Bamberger · 1m spoken Jillian Manus · 52s spoken
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gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
Dan Hershberg pitches the Amateur Golf Society on The Pitch, securing $250,000 in provisional venture commitments until a shocking governance discovery reveals that a private equity firm holds majority board control.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Josh holds 10.1% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Josh as informed peer 6.3 Guest teaching 3.9 Guest disagreement 2.4 Josh pushing back 5.4
speaking balance: gold is Josh, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 13:38 Dan defends quick flip strategy over building a massive standalone entity
Dan dismisses traditional VC founder motivation expectations by arguing that his low equity is fine because he intends to build the company quickly and flip it rather than run it for decades.
Hardest push from Josh ▶ 21:07 Howie confronts Dan on board control and vulnerability to removalHowie bluntly pushes back after learning PE controls three of five board seats, warning Dan that institutional investors cannot invest if the founder can be voted out tomorrow.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 6:21 Dan explains the course monetization and promotional barter modelDan educates the investors on why crowded public courses agree to partner with AGS, explaining how they provide high-end drone footage and capture ancillary food and beverage revenue.
Josh holds their own ▶ 12:42 Al breaks down the dilution math of Dan's 20% stakeAl applies VC discipline to dismantle Dan's capitalization structure, proving that starting at only 20% equity leaves Dan unmotivated after subsequent financing rounds.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Josh as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Josh pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dan Hershberg Introduces the Amateur Golf Society | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | Dan delivers his opening pitch for the Amateur Golf Society. Howie pushes immediately on whether the concept is venture-backable, prompting Dan to explain the post-pandemic golf boom and monetization mechanics. | |
| Product Architecture, Membership Tiers, and Course Economics | 5 | 5 | 1 | 3 | Dan methodically explains his membership pricing tiers, the course booking software integration, and how courses receive free media and secondary spend revenue. The investors listen actively and draw analogies to ClassPass and OpenTable. | |
| Origin Story, Traction Metrics, and Expansion Model | 6 | 5 | 3 | 5 | Dan shares the origin story of spinning the concept out of his craft brewery during COVID lockdown. Bec challenges Dan on whether scaling to new cities requires heavy boots-on-the-ground staffing, which Dan disputes by citing automated viral referral loops. | |
| Cap Table Complications and Private Equity Debt Conversion | 7 | 3 | 2 | 7 | The investors uncover that Dan converted $2M in brewery debt into a 35% equity stake for a private equity firm, leaving Dan with only 20% founder equity. Howie and Al push hard on future dilution and long-term founder incentive. | |
| Long-Term Scaling Vision, Valuation, and Bec's Pass | 7 | 4 | 4 | 7 | Dan explains his plan to rapidly scale to 35 markets and flip the company, prompting Howie to question his venture alignment. Bec announces she is passing due to operational overhead skepticism and a messy cap table. | |
| Use of Funds Discussion and Investor Commitments | 6 | 3 | 2 | 4 | Dan details how the $1M will be used to expand into 3 to 4 new markets via digital marketing and influencers. Despite previous concerns, Howie, Al, and Jillian offer verbal commitments to fill out the round based on Dan's pitch tenacity. | |
| Governance Discovery: Private Equity Controls the Board | 8 | 3 | 3 | 8 | In a last-minute inquiry, Howie discovers that the PE firm holds three out of five board seats, giving them full voting control to potentially remove Dan. The investors express serious concern regarding governance and insist on contract protections. |
Statements from this episode (16)
Hershberg: Amateur Golf Society doubled membership and tripled engagement before raising $1M
“After two years of proof of concept, we saw membership double, and we saw engagement nearly triple, so I'm here in front of you guys today raising one million dollars to help us take AGS National”
Hershberg: US golf participation grew nearly 20% following the pandemic
“Well, I think when you look at the amount of golfers across this country, golf has really experienced, I think, a renaissance as a result of the pandemic, so the growth in the game is nearly 20% from what it was prior to the pandemic”
Hershberg: Amateur Golf Society closes 85% of courses pitched
“Close rate is about 85% of the courses that I talk to.”
Hershberg: Amateur Golf Society takes a $5 cut per booking
“We monetize the membership revenue, and then we take a five dollar cut of every Greens fee booked by our members.”
Hershberg: Amateur Golf Society has reached 620 members in two months
“We've only really been open for two months, and we have about 620 members right now, and our average field size is closer to 160.”
Hershberg: Amateur Golf Society projected to reach around $200,000 in 2023 revenue
“Total revenue this year is probably going to be somewhere around 200,000 dollars, would be my guess.”
PE firm forgave $2M in brewery debt for AGS equity
“What they did, so they basically forgave two million dollars worth of debt that was owed to the, to them from the brewery to set the valuation, and then that's how we kind of got things started. So they didn't put any new money into it for this particular roun…”
Amateur Golf Society founding team retains only 25% equity
“Ah, 25%. So it's 20 for myself and then five percent for my COO.”
Hershberg: Amateur Golf Society is designed to scale quickly and get flipped
“We've built this business in a way where because of how efficient it is, how asset light it is, and because of the opportunity for acquisition, in my mind, I'm trying to build this as quickly as I can and then flip it.”
Hershberg: AGS will cash flow $30M annually at 2,500 members per market
“So if we look at every single AGA in the country, of which there are 58, if each one of those markets has an AGS tour in it with 2500 members. This business is cash flowing thirty million dollars a year.”
Bec Bamberger passes on Amateur Golf Society citing operations and cap table
“So I'm out because I have problems with like the event space and how much it takes to be like on the ground. So that just gives me the thought of, oh, this is going to take a lot for you to do that. So I see it less of a tech play. And then the second thing th…”
Diamond: Amateur Golf Society could reach $100M enterprise value at $30M revenue
“Typically, if someone says they're looking to build something really quickly and flip it, I would be out. But at a three million dollar price point, and with what you need to achieve to get to that thirty million dollar revenue mark, which I think could transl…”
Bsharah doubts Amateur Golf Society will hit exit targets in three years
“Like, I don't feel like you're going to get there in three years.”
Hershberg: Private equity controls three of five Amateur Golf Society board seats
“So there's five board seats. There's three for the private equity guys, one for myself and one for the group of fellow Cornellians.”