Identify your funding options
Assess investment readiness, understand available sources of capital, and weigh their trade-offs.
The real challenge
A great pitch deck
is only the entry ticket to the funding game.
You need to understand whether your startup is investable, which funding source fits your business model and ambitions, how to find the investors, how to talk to them, and what makes your pitch credible and attractive to the people deciding if you should get the money.
The Pitching Masterclass - the industry standard since 2013 - teaches you how to stand out from the competition, pitch investors and raise the money you need - so you can get on with building your dream.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Watch the trailer
What you’ll learn
Master your fundraising pitch.
Understand the funding game
Learn what investors look for, how early financing rounds work, and how to find and contact investors.
Create your three pitches
Develop your high-concept pitch, elevator pitch, and pitch deck, and understand how they are all connected.
Build a plausible pitch deck
Explain the problem you are solving, your solution that is solving it and how, your team, customer problem, solution, market, competition, milestones, and funding ask.
Make your case credible
Show what supports your pitch at your current stage - from team cohesion, customer conversations, LOIs, and early tests to traction and business metrics. Be clear about what you know, what you assume, and what you still need to validate and why.
Prepare to present
Learn pitch-performance techniques and how to prepare for investor conversations. (Live workshops add individual feedback and coaching.)
SOME OF OUR HAPPY ALUMNI
Masterclass aftermath.
“The Pitching Masterclass taught me how to present my metrics and look smart to investors. Saved us from making mistakes!”
Became fully financed by business angels and exited to MediaMarktSaturn (Ceconomy Group).
“I was at YCombinator and this is 100% in-line with what they taught me there!”
Serial Founder · YC2016 · Pitching Masterclass alumnus, live workshop remote
“The Masterclass was essential to being accepted to Wearable World. I can't recommend it highly enough!”
Wotch went on to be accepted at Wearable World in San Francisco, the world's leading hardware accelerator.
“Taking the Masterclass gave us the confidence to raise a solid round.”
Studydrive went on to raise $2.2 million after taking the course and exited to StepStone.
Pitching Masterclass alumnus
Cognigy went on to raise around $169 million and later exited to NICE for around $955 million.
Alumni like evopark, MySchleppApp, trackle, Vytal, foodforecast, and taxbutler went on to pitch on Germany’s version of Shark Tank / Dragons' Den.
The online course for individual founders
Get the knowledge.
Raise your round.
Continue building your dream.
Work through the theoretical part of the Pitching Masterclass at your own pace, then apply it to your own startup's pitch deck and funding round.
Over two hours of video lessons, downloadable slides, pitch-deck guidance, startup metrics, examples, and additional content (constantly being updated - for free) you can return to as your fundraising develops.
199 € *Includes 19% German VAT
Individual course access.
See our live workshops for adding individual feedback and coaching.
You can watch the first 13 chapters FOR FREE
- no purchase or registration required.
TL;DR
Knowledge at your fingertips. On-demand.
Before you raise: investment readiness and funding options
Investment readiness, the current funding landscape, sources of capital, and the trade-offs of different funding paths.
Fundraising: investors, financing rounds, and outreach
What investors are looking for, how the early rounds game works, when to raise, and how to find and contact investors.
Your pitch: three formats and a complete deck structure
High-concept pitch, elevator pitch, pitch deck, slide guidance, and the contents of your investment case.
Go deeper: metrics, presentation techniques, and resources
Startup metrics and KPIs, pitch-performance guidance, additional resources, downloadable slides, and a real pitch-deck example from AirBnB.
BASED IN EUROPE · SERVING WORLDWIDE
Let’s bring our
live workshop
to you.
Already part of a program?
Perhaps the incubator, accelerator, or entrepreneurship program can arrange our live workshop, video-course access, or both for you and all the other teams?
Looking for pitch training at work?
Perhaps your employer can arrange our Corporations & Organisations Edition workshop or arrange for video course access for you and your colleagues to help with winning support for projects, changes, or customer proposals?
Looking for training for others?
Training for the people you support.
Startup programs & educational institutions
Help founders or students prepare for reality.
Pitching Masterclass live workshop, cohort video course access, and follow-up support for startup support programs like incubators, accelerators, universities, and colleges.
Startup Programs & EduCompanies & organisations
Help employees or members build the case and get the buy-in.
Training for innovation, teams, projects, changes - anything that needs a positive decision from stakeholders to move forward.
Corporations & OrgsEvents & pitch competitions
Raise the quality of the pitches on your stage.
Applicant dealflow support, applicant vetting and selection support, quality assurance, participant preparations, pitch content & performance coaching, event support like pro MC services & startup liaisons.
Here to win a pitch event or competition yourself? Start with our comprehensive guide on how to win.
Events & CompetitionsWho am I (to teach you)?
Real experience
makes the difference.
“[...] one of the most important people in the German startup scene.”
I’m Vidar Andersen. My experience includes 30 years of pitching for money and attention, pitching my own startups to top international investors, on stage internationally, and pitching corporations and GOs successfully for millions in contracts, and teaching over 3,000 startups how to pitch to date.
My own pitches have won awards internationally, my educational work on pitching has been featured and recognised internationally by leading business publications, and I have been speaking and teaching at universities from Stanford, to RWTH and KIT, to Cambridge.
Some of the people I've pitched in person include Gary "Vee" Vaynerchuk (IYKYK, Investor), Don Dodge (Microsoft Ventures, Google Ventures), Steve Blank (father of the Lean Startup, Angel Investor), Robert Scoble (Tech Blogger Legend), Lori Greiner (Investor, Shark Tank), Yossi Vardi (Mensch, Legendary Israeli Investor), Mike Butcher (Mr. TechCrunch Europe), Zach Klein (Founder Vimeo, Investor), Ben Parr (Ex Mashable), Robin Wouters (TNW, Tech.eu), John Bradford (TechStars London), Daisuke Minamide (Investor, NTT DoCoMo, CyberAgent Ventures), Lars Hinrichs (Founder XING, Investor), Christian Thaler Wolsky (Investor, Wellington Partners, Paua Ventures), Christoph Janz (Mr. SaaS Metrics, Managing Partner Point Nine Capital), Daniel Waterhouse (Partner, Balderton), Kurt Müller (Partner, Target Partners), Philipp Möhring (SeedCamp, Angel List), Gilad Novik (Investor, Horizon Ventures) and many more.
I created the original Pitching Masterclass in early 2013 as a co-founder of Rheinland Pitch, Germany's largest startup pitching event. It has evolved through years of working with founders, startup support programs like incubators and accelerators, government programs, universities, and corporate customers.
Expect plain no-nonsense language - just telling it like it is - based on the current reality of the investment climate, technology and market situation.
More about me →Not sure where you stand?
Are you ready to raise?
Start with the investment-readiness assessment to help identify what needs attention before approaching investors.
Take the readiness assessmentANSWERS
Frequent questions.
What does the Pitching Masterclass Video Course contain?
Over two hours of video lessons cover funding options, what investors look for, finding and contacting investors, the three connected pitch formats, and building your pitch deck. The course also includes startup metrics and KPIs, pitch-performance guidance, downloadable slides, examples, and additional resources. See the course preview and full index of contents.
Can I take the course without being part of a program?
Yes. Our live workshop format is geared towards programs and institutions, but individual founders can access the online course independently of an incubator, accelerator, or educational institution.
Which startup stages is it suited for?
From idea-stage through early-stage startups, and potentially up to Series A. Apply the methods to your stage and fundraising needs.
Does the online course include feedback on my pitch?
The online course is self-paced learning. Individual feedback and coaching are available through live workshops and booked follow-up sessions. Your startup support program, educational institution, or employer may be able to arrange a live workshop for you and your peers. Let’s bring our live workshop to you.
Can my program arrange a workshop for our teams?
Yes. Explore the programs and education edition, or introduce our workshop to your organisers.
Does the course guarantee investment?
No. It helps you understand fundraising and prepare a credible pitch. Investment also depends on your business, evidence, investor fit, and market conditions.
What about pitch training for employees in companies or organisations?
Our Corporations & Organisations Edition helps employees build convincing proposals, prepare for difficult stakeholder conversations, handle objections, and win support for projects, changes, and customer proposals. Participants work on real cases, learn presentation templates and a repeatable process, and receive individual feedback and coaching in the live workshop. Video-course access and follow-up sessions are also available. Explore the Corporations & Organisations Edition.
Can you provide individual support for project pitches, tenders, or grant proposals?
Because of my 30+ years of experience also pitching and winning millions in projects, contracts, and grants, I also get hired to help with high-stakes project pitches and grant proposals—to make sure the pitch deck, the read deck, and the pitch performance are of the winning kind. Send me an email and let’s talk about how I can help you win.
Is the Pitching Masterclass just for startups?
No. The founder edition focuses on pitching investors and raising startup funding. Our Startup Programs & Educational Institutions Edition helps incubators, accelerators, universities, and colleges prepare their teams. The Corporations & Organisations Edition helps employees and members build convincing proposals and win stakeholder support. We also offer pitch preparation, coaching, and support for events and competitions. Explore the available editions and formats.
What about using AI? Does the Pitching Masterclass cover this?
Yes. The Pitching Masterclass covers how to use AI—and how NOT to use it—in depth, with up-to-date guidance for preparing your pitch. Learn where AI can help, where its limitations matter, and how to avoid relying on generic output, invented facts, or claims you cannot defend. The content is regularly updated as AI tools and capabilities develop.
We are based in another country. Does it make sense for us to book your workshop?
Yes. We are based in Germany and serve customers worldwide. We can deliver a live workshop at your premises, at an off-site venue, or remotely via Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or another agreed platform. We’ll discuss your location, time zone, participants, and preferred format to find a practical arrangement. The online video course is also available for learning on demand, with or without a live workshop.
Let’s find the right fit
Tell us what you're looking for.
Looking for training for a team or program?
Need individual help or coaching with your pitch? Something else?
Let's talk and see if we can help.