We are doing our Outlander Pitch 2021 Final today. Outlander, defined as a foreigner or a stranger. What an appropriate name given our niche (hospitality) and our age (let us leave it at “older”). As a finalist, F3TCH (a minority & veteran-owned business) is one of five finalists which means we have a 20% statistical chance of winning the $100,000. Not to be pessimistic, but that also means an 80% chance of losing which makes one think about what this really means?
The truth is that it is impossible to really vet an idea, or a team, in five minutes (the allotted time) with another five minutes of Q&A. So, it is a true sales pitch. The prize for the winner is important and meaningful. Don’t get me wrong, it would be great to win, but as far as our goals go, we need to stay on task. Three weeks ago, we were moving towards our goal, this contest has not changed anything. Of course, winning accelerates us, but just as true is that not winning keeps us on our path.
Like most things we all face, we assign an emotional value to events and we should really only treat outcomes and results as consequences to decisions. Less emotion is often helpful. Sure, some outcomes are desired because they are important, but did they get us any closer to our goal? We did not start the company to enter pitch contests but to serve our industry. Sometimes it's easy to forget that with the prize in our sights.
Today is going to be fun, win or lose. We have prepared, and are preparing because we can control our preparation and are grateful (and humbled) we are even a finalist. More importantly, this process has reinforced our belief that we have to keep working at it, that we cannot rest and sit back and wait, but keep purposefully moving towards our goals as a company. Personally, I am going to enjoy the five minutes and the nerves and the mic. I love what we have built and love talking about it.
And to our fellow finalists, best of luck. The truth is that any of these companies is worthy of that prize. If you win, make it count and you can count on F3TCH cheering you on.