Pitch on the Lift: The First Tahoe Startup Ski Bus

After the success of the Santa Cruz Startup Surf Bus back in August, we knew we would have to do it again when our Tahoe location opened. We invited entrepreneurs, founders, and investors to leave San Francisco early on a Saturday morning for a weekend of powder, pitching, and partnerships.

There was plenty of business on the agenda, but first: play! 

We started by hitting the slopes at Sierra Resort. The way up was for pitching and the way down was on skis and snowboards. 

Then we spent time relaxing and warming up at Outsite Tahoe. 

The next round of pitching started before dinner. Ten founders had the chance to pitch some of Silicon Valley's best investors; Tristan Pollock and Sheel Mohnot of 500 Startups. 

Three founders were then selected for additional Q&A and recording for The Pitch podcast: FuelPanda, AstroPrint, and Belong. 

Afterward, everyone enjoyed a delicious Swiss dinner, plenty of drinks, and time in the hot tub at Outsite Tahoe. 

The next morning, breakfast was hearty home-made bagels, and we packed up to head back to San Francisco. 

Unfortunately, the snow had other ideas... 

After driving down from the mountains through the snowy weather, we enjoyed lunch at The Urban Hive in Sacramento before dropping everyone back off in San Francisco.

Many thanks to our partners for the Startup Ski Bus: GoodPeople and Startups.co for lift passes and equipment, RallyBus for transportation, snacks from KIND Snacks, Feastly for food, and GetOutfitted for ski clothing.

Words: Annie Brown