The Two-Minute Lightning Pitch
Released on 06/03/2014
[Jake] I'm Jake and today we'll deliver
two-minute lightning pitches
to a room full of Silicon Valley heavy-hitters,
with 100-K on the line.
This is Teen Technorati.
It's the moment of truth.
All our hard work has led to this.
Now, we've just gotta control our stage fright
long enough to convince the judges our projects
are worth funding.
If the tension backstage was electricity,
we could light up the city.
I have two minutes to share me and what I love to do.
All you remember is someone that came up with a solution
to a problem that's always been there.
I have here a Snapdragon 800 processor
and I can honestly tell you
that I don't even scratch the surface
of what this device can do.
Last year, I was scheduled to graduate, but unfortunately,
my lung literally exploded.
I created Docbot and I want to bring
computer-aided physician diagnosis
into the clinical setting.
I'm Catherine Ray and I'm going to fix everything
that's wrong with wheelchairs.
Here's an entirely separate set of actions
that will lead us down a path of prosperity,
a path of peace, a path where we're decreasing the tension
that's occurring in society.
Neil Armstrong's small step is screaming
for another giant leap.
Mars could be our small step.
TYKE is a small robot which has infra-red camera sensor
to go next to a body and find out if it's dead or alive.
I want to make education fun for everybody.
We've made learning addicting with our platform.
We've gamified education.
Come hit me up to learn more.
We launched Finish a little bit over a year ago
and we've been blown away by our user's response.
And we're hugely honored to win the Apple Design Award,
at last year's WWDC.
Almost everybody in this audience knows
at least one person they cared about
who is now dead from cancer.
I'm using automated high-throughput drugs screening
to analyze hundreds and thousands of small molecules
for drug candidates that could prevent cancer.
I'm sure the Thiel Fellowship can help me out
with this project, thank you.
So this is what Bambina is.
It tracks vital signs, relays that information to parents
so that they are able to take action
and care for their child in an innovative way.
Thank you for all your support.
I don't remember being on stage
and I don't know what I said.
So I guess, maybe, I'll just have to watch a video after,
because I really have no idea what just went on up there.
If you want to come see my prototype,
if you want to learn more about what we're doing,
please come talk to me, thank you very much.
I feel it went well.
It was really nerve-racking at first,
but as soon as I got that first sentence out
it just all seemed to fall into place.
I've never done speaking at all, in public,
so I feel like I did pretty well.
I am passionate about improving the human condition
by using current technologies to enable those in need.
Thank you.
Although I did stumble once or twice and I perhaps was
more serious than I intended to be
just because I was trying to get through it.
I think that I did well.
I was expecting a couple more laughs on those jokes
but I guess this isn't the laughing crowd.
Gas was 35 cents a gallon and a computer took up the size
of a reasonably priced apartment in San Francisco.
Tough crowd, these tech-industry big-wigs
and now we're about to spend some quality time with them
in the Mentor Matches.
I'm glad the pitch is over
but I'm really excited about the Mentor Match,
because I can't wait to show them what I've been working on,
the ideas I have and just meeting people.
Because these people have done amazing things
with their lives,
and I have something to gain from their experiences.
[Jake] Whose idea would you invest a 100-K in?
Hit us up in the comments and subscribe to the WIRED channel
for more Teen Technorati.
2014 Thiel Fellowship Documentary Series Teaser
Meet the 2014 Thiel Fellowship Finalists
The LEGO Challenge: Creative Problem-Solving
Getting Over Stage Fright
Tensions Rising: Final Run-Throughs & Pitch Preparations
The Two-Minute Lightning Pitch
The Thiel Fellowship Finalists Go One-on-One with the Mentors
The Thiel Fellowship Finalists Leave S.F. & Head Back to Reality
20 Teens Win $100K: Announcing the 2014 Thiel Fellows
Classical Toddler Music