Frequently Asked Questions

Our mission is to empower and connect entrepreneurs by providing strategic and accessible resources.

Goals:

• Library: Establish an online library for entrepreneurs to access free information on topics vital to business-building.
• Community: Establish an online platform for any and all entrepreneurial/business questions to be answered.
• Events: Establish events at which entrepreneurs can gain knowledge from those with experiences and expertise to share.

We are currently working on building out our Playable Media, Community, and Events Departments. Within the next 3-6 months we expect them to reach a MVP stage at which point our efforts will turn to scaling and will put a greater amount of focus on feedback data processing. We also see ourselves working with school districts in the future to create programs for students to build businesses and potentially working with local small business associations to help create jumpstarter programs guided by industry professionals.

Having funding would allow us to get consulting sessions by skilled industry professionals who can guide our teams in the right direction. It will also allow us to give out scholarships and other prizes to individuals participating in our programs. Going forward we are looking at starting to collect donations from our thousands of readers and to apply for grants. If you would like to donate and further our mission, you may do so here

We currently have an information library with hundreds of articles covering topics from business plans to extrinsic versus intrinsic motivation (varied levels of detail). We are also looking into expanding our library to cover news events but purely through the perspective of how the event is affecting businesses and populations. We also have a community server that is meant to serve as a ‘fill-in-the-blank’ platform for community members to help each other with more specific problems. We are looking for ‘resident’ entrepreneurs who can help individuals get questions answered that are specific to their industry. We are also working on setting up events that cover speaker series and competitions where individuals can interact and collaboratively learn. We intend to base future programming off of student demand at that point, once our initial programs reach a build-out stage.

We are currently working on building out our teams to have more permanent team members who can more heavily contribute. Once our internal structure has been more so stabilized, we will focus on creating more engaging content. We recognize that a larger organization doesn’t mean a more effective one. Our goal is to have a team of dedicated individuals who heavily contribute to the organization. A few departments like Written Media may be scaled much more heavily due to the fact that we can almost never cover every single article possible and there are always more questions to answer.

Yes, everyone, including leadership, is an unpaid volunteer. Although volunteers may not see a direct monetary benefit from their time, our team members choose to volunteer with Pitch Labs to feed their intrinsic desire for community service while gaining entrepreneurial knowledge. We do provide staff perks
that come with longevity in all roles and though many of our volunteers are all over the globe, the ones based in the United States are eligible for PVSA credit/awards as well.

Note: Per federal program rules, only U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents (i.e., green card holders) may be awarded the President’s Volunteer Service Award. Our apologies, H4 visa holders are not eligible for the award.

We encourage thinking about Pitch Labs as a complement rather than a substitute to organizations such as DECA or FBLA. Organizations such as DECA and FBLA teach vital individual soft and hard skills. Based on such learning, Pitch Labs is enabled to help further develop such skills by helping young entrepreneurs develop full-scale businesses.

Some key points:

1. Pitch Labs is based on helping provide mentorship and resources for business development, while DECA and FBLA prioritize individual growth and development.

2. Our competitions are free to compete in and don’t require registration or other fees to be passed onto individual competitors (our sponsors have so far been able to cover all of them)!

3. While DECA and FBLA frequently offer events where competitors are given case studies and are then asked to respond, Pitch Labs works to localize concepts and competitive events by putting them in the context of an individual’s own community and journey.

4. Our resource library is free and accessible to anyone from anywhere, while most other organizations charge fees to access theirs.

5. Pitch Labs focuses on learning through real-life experiences while other organizations tend to help students develop their skills through conceptual activities.

If you are on an OPT you may be able to volunteer with Pitch Labs. However, do consider that volunteer positions at Pitch Labs do not meet the 20 hour per week requirement listed on the USCIS website. We recommend checking in with the USCIS to see if you are able to volunteer at Pitch Labs for just a few hours a week while on an OPT (their decision may vary based on your situation). We are unable to provide any guidance or legal advice regarding this or other matters. If you choose to try and volunteer with Pitch Labs while on an OPT, we recommend that you obtain written permission from the USCIS. Pitch Labs is not responsible for reporting any individuals work and will not provide legal guidance or advice. This message is not legal advice.

Feel free to contact us via email or on our community Discord server