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Mar 3, 2025 · 48m · the-pitch

#40 Three Startups Enter. Only One Will Leave.

Jillian Manus · 10m spoken Michael Hyatt · 8m spoken PK Banks · 4m spoken Josh Muccio · 4m spoken Dan Roycroft · 3m spoken Scott Stephan · 1m spoken
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Recorded live at Gimlet Fest, this special episode of The Pitch features three startup founders pitching HoneyFi, C-Blocks, and Open Bottle to venture capitalists Jillian Manus and Michael Hyatt before a live audience vote crowns the winner.

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 14.5% of the talking time here. How this is scored →

Josh as informed peer 3.8 Guest teaching 2.4 Guest disagreement 2.4 Josh pushing back 4.2
05100:0015:0030:0045:002:06–12:39 · Josh as informed peer 4/10 Rami Pitches HoneyFi to the Investors Rami delivers a polished pitch for HoneyFi, addressing questions regarding competition from Honeydew and Mint. The investors test his customer acquisition strategy and low burn rate while Rami defends his organic traction and banking background.12:47–25:33 · Josh as informed peer 5/10 PK Banks Pitches C-Blocks Cryptocurrency Starter Kit The panel challenges PK Banks on the regulatory viability, randomness, and potential gimmickry of C-Blocks's physical crypto starter kits. PK draws on his hedge fund background to defend the product as an educational on-ramp rather than an investment vehicle.25:40–39:05 · Josh as informed peer 4/10 Mid-Show Teaser and Intermission Dan and Scott pitch Open Bottle and encounter strong pushback from Michael Hyatt regarding their $20 to $25 per glass price point and mass market appeal. The founders defend their initial Buffalo metrics before clarifying that cheaper price points are also available.39:07–41:41 · Josh as informed peer 3/10 Investor Deliberation and Audience Polling Josh recaps the three startups while the investors poll the live festival audience to gauge real-world demand. The conversation remains lighthearted and banter-driven as Jillian and Michael debate the market viability of each pitch.41:49–46:44 · Josh as informed peer 3/10 Final Investor Decisions and Audience Vote Jillian backs Open Bottle while Michael selects HoneyFi, creating a split decision between the two investors. Josh brings in the audience cheer vote as the ultimate tiebreaker to declare HoneyFi the winner of the live pitch competition.2:06–12:39 · Guest teaching 3/10 Rami Pitches HoneyFi to the Investors Rami delivers a polished pitch for HoneyFi, addressing questions regarding competition from Honeydew and Mint. The investors test his customer acquisition strategy and low burn rate while Rami defends his organic traction and banking background.12:47–25:33 · Guest teaching 4/10 PK Banks Pitches C-Blocks Cryptocurrency Starter Kit The panel challenges PK Banks on the regulatory viability, randomness, and potential gimmickry of C-Blocks's physical crypto starter kits. PK draws on his hedge fund background to defend the product as an educational on-ramp rather than an investment vehicle.25:40–39:05 · Guest teaching 3/10 Mid-Show Teaser and Intermission Dan and Scott pitch Open Bottle and encounter strong pushback from Michael Hyatt regarding their $20 to $25 per glass price point and mass market appeal. The founders defend their initial Buffalo metrics before clarifying that cheaper price points are also available.39:07–41:41 · Guest teaching 1/10 Investor Deliberation and Audience Polling Josh recaps the three startups while the investors poll the live festival audience to gauge real-world demand. The conversation remains lighthearted and banter-driven as Jillian and Michael debate the market viability of each pitch.41:49–46:44 · Guest teaching 1/10 Final Investor Decisions and Audience Vote Jillian backs Open Bottle while Michael selects HoneyFi, creating a split decision between the two investors. Josh brings in the audience cheer vote as the ultimate tiebreaker to declare HoneyFi the winner of the live pitch competition.2:06–12:39 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Rami Pitches HoneyFi to the Investors Rami delivers a polished pitch for HoneyFi, addressing questions regarding competition from Honeydew and Mint. The investors test his customer acquisition strategy and low burn rate while Rami defends his organic traction and banking background.12:47–25:33 · Guest disagreement 4/10 PK Banks Pitches C-Blocks Cryptocurrency Starter Kit The panel challenges PK Banks on the regulatory viability, randomness, and potential gimmickry of C-Blocks's physical crypto starter kits. PK draws on his hedge fund background to defend the product as an educational on-ramp rather than an investment vehicle.25:40–39:05 · Guest disagreement 3/10 Mid-Show Teaser and Intermission Dan and Scott pitch Open Bottle and encounter strong pushback from Michael Hyatt regarding their $20 to $25 per glass price point and mass market appeal. The founders defend their initial Buffalo metrics before clarifying that cheaper price points are also available.39:07–41:41 · Guest disagreement 2/10 Investor Deliberation and Audience Polling Josh recaps the three startups while the investors poll the live festival audience to gauge real-world demand. The conversation remains lighthearted and banter-driven as Jillian and Michael debate the market viability of each pitch.41:49–46:44 · Guest disagreement 1/10 Final Investor Decisions and Audience Vote Jillian backs Open Bottle while Michael selects HoneyFi, creating a split decision between the two investors. Josh brings in the audience cheer vote as the ultimate tiebreaker to declare HoneyFi the winner of the live pitch competition.2:06–12:39 · Josh pushing back 4/10 Rami Pitches HoneyFi to the Investors Rami delivers a polished pitch for HoneyFi, addressing questions regarding competition from Honeydew and Mint. The investors test his customer acquisition strategy and low burn rate while Rami defends his organic traction and banking background.12:47–25:33 · Josh pushing back 7/10 PK Banks Pitches C-Blocks Cryptocurrency Starter Kit The panel challenges PK Banks on the regulatory viability, randomness, and potential gimmickry of C-Blocks's physical crypto starter kits. PK draws on his hedge fund background to defend the product as an educational on-ramp rather than an investment vehicle.25:40–39:05 · Josh pushing back 6/10 Mid-Show Teaser and Intermission Dan and Scott pitch Open Bottle and encounter strong pushback from Michael Hyatt regarding their $20 to $25 per glass price point and mass market appeal. The founders defend their initial Buffalo metrics before clarifying that cheaper price points are also available.39:07–41:41 · Josh pushing back 2/10 Investor Deliberation and Audience Polling Josh recaps the three startups while the investors poll the live festival audience to gauge real-world demand. The conversation remains lighthearted and banter-driven as Jillian and Michael debate the market viability of each pitch.41:49–46:44 · Josh pushing back 2/10 Final Investor Decisions and Audience Vote Jillian backs Open Bottle while Michael selects HoneyFi, creating a split decision between the two investors. Josh brings in the audience cheer vote as the ultimate tiebreaker to declare HoneyFi the winner of the live pitch competition.

speaking balance: gold is Josh, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)

0:00 · Josh 67.2% · guest 32.8%0:00 · Josh 67.2% · guest 32.8%3:00 · Josh 1.9% · guest 98.1%3:00 · Josh 1.9% · guest 98.1%6:00 · Josh 0% · guest 100%6:00 · Josh 0% · guest 100%9:00 · Josh 1.3% · guest 98.7%9:00 · Josh 1.3% · guest 98.7%12:00 · Josh 14.9% · guest 85.1%12:00 · Josh 14.9% · guest 85.1%15:00 · Josh 0.7% · guest 99.3%15:00 · Josh 0.7% · guest 99.3%18:00 · Josh 2.5% · guest 97.5%18:00 · Josh 2.5% · guest 97.5%21:00 · Josh 1.3% · guest 98.7%21:00 · Josh 1.3% · guest 98.7%24:00 · Josh 19.6% · guest 80.4%24:00 · Josh 19.6% · guest 80.4%27:00 · Josh 0% · guest 100%27:00 · Josh 0% · guest 100%30:00 · Josh 0% · guest 100%30:00 · Josh 0% · guest 100%33:00 · Josh 0% · guest 100%33:00 · Josh 0% · guest 100%36:00 · Josh 7.8% · guest 92.2%36:00 · Josh 7.8% · guest 92.2%39:00 · Josh 28.2% · guest 71.8%39:00 · Josh 28.2% · guest 71.8%42:00 · Josh 4.8% · guest 95.2%42:00 · Josh 4.8% · guest 95.2%45:00 · Josh 79.1% · guest 20.9%45:00 · Josh 79.1% · guest 20.9%48:00 · Josh 100% · guest 0%48:00 · Josh 100% · guest 0%
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 19:28 PK rejects pump-and-dump characterization

PK directly rejects Jillian's framing that C-Blocks is an irresponsible trading scheme, explaining that the product intentionally avoids coin speculation and trading facilitation.

 Hardest push from Josh ▶ 17:22 Michael attacks C-Blocks as an unsophisticated gimmick

Michael forcefully challenges the premise of selling physical keys loaded with randomly generated cryptocurrencies to unsophisticated retail consumers.

 Biggest teaching moment ▶ 8:44 Rami details Mint's structural limitations

Rami educates the panel on why Intuit cannot integrate true banking features into Mint without cannibalizing its lucrative bank enterprise relationships.

 Josh holds their own ▶ 37:44 Josh refocuses on before-and-after restaurant sales

Josh cuts through the circular pricing argument to drill into the essential business metric of whether the platform actually generated new incremental revenue for restaurants.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
ChapterTopicJosh as informed peerGuest teachingGuest disagreementJosh pushing backWhy
Rami Pitches HoneyFi to the Investors 4324 Rami delivers a polished pitch for HoneyFi, addressing questions regarding competition from Honeydew and Mint. The investors test his customer acquisition strategy and low burn rate while Rami defends his organic traction and banking background.
PK Banks Pitches C-Blocks Cryptocurrency Starter Kit 5447 The panel challenges PK Banks on the regulatory viability, randomness, and potential gimmickry of C-Blocks's physical crypto starter kits. PK draws on his hedge fund background to defend the product as an educational on-ramp rather than an investment vehicle.
Mid-Show Teaser and Intermission 4336 Dan and Scott pitch Open Bottle and encounter strong pushback from Michael Hyatt regarding their $20 to $25 per glass price point and mass market appeal. The founders defend their initial Buffalo metrics before clarifying that cheaper price points are also available.
Investor Deliberation and Audience Polling 3122 Josh recaps the three startups while the investors poll the live festival audience to gauge real-world demand. The conversation remains lighthearted and banter-driven as Jillian and Michael debate the market viability of each pitch.
Final Investor Decisions and Audience Vote 3112 Jillian backs Open Bottle while Michael selects HoneyFi, creating a split decision between the two investors. Josh brings in the audience cheer vote as the ultimate tiebreaker to declare HoneyFi the winner of the live pitch competition.

Statements from this episode (5)

Assertion Partly supported
PK Banks: 70% know about cryptocurrency but only 5% own any
“In developed economies, 70% of people know about cryptocurrency, and yet only five percent own any.”
PK Banks Mar 3, 2025 ▶ 13:05
Opinion
Jillian Manus: Utility Tokens Are the Path to Success for Most Companies
“I think utility tokens are dope. I think they are exactly where all companies should be, and I think tokenizing is going to be the path to success for a lot of companies”
Jillian Manus Mar 3, 2025 ▶ 22:29
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Michael Hyatt: 98% of Cryptocurrencies Will Eventually Be Washed Out
“I think that cryptocurrency in general is like, I think a like good 98% of it's gonna get washed out, and I think you know that as well.”
Michael Hyatt Mar 3, 2025 ▶ 22:49
Opinion
Michael Hyatt: Average Consumers Won't Use Apps to Reserve High-End Wine
“What you're describing is a niche subset of the wine. You have to really be into wine to do what you're doing to, like, look at your phone, find an app, find a bottle. The average person's not going to do that. The average American consumer does not do that.”
Michael Hyatt Mar 3, 2025 ▶ 32:23
Insight
Hyatt: Early-stage investing is betting on founder likability and pivot ability
“The number one thing you look for in these startups, because they're very early stage, is can they, can you work with them, and can they pivot? All companies pivot, no matter what, they'll pivot, all these companies are going to pivot five times, but can you w…”
Michael Hyatt Mar 3, 2025 ▶ 39:16
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