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Founder and CEO

Sim Desai

Thirty-five of the most promising startups will battle it out in the group rounds of PITCH. In this round, seven of them will fight for a chance to move onto the semi-final. Competing startups will have three minutes to pitch, followed by a three-minute Q&A with our judging panel. 

Meet our judges: 

Alexis Williams | Self
Rutvik Deepak | GO Ventures
Jenn Henry | VentureUs Fund
Praveen Varshney | Varshney Capital Corp
Sim Desai | Hiive

PITCH Group 2

For decades, equity compensation in startups has followed a reliable playbook: employees receive stock options, betting on a future IPO or acquisition. But as companies stay private indefinitely, that promise is eroding and so is the loyalty, alignment and incentivization that founders expect from equity grant recipients. Founders must rethink how to make equity feel tangible by creating liquidity programs that enable employees to unlock value on an ongoing basis. Sim explores these emerging approaches to keeping teams motivated. And remaining competitive for the best talent with public tech companies who are offering liquid equity compensation.