Now entering its seventh year, the PitchIT accelerator program– supported by IT Nation– is a worldwide competition committed to incubating growth among ConnectWise’s startup integration partners in the managed service provider (MSP) space.
Channel Insider sat down with IT Nation’s Vice President of Communities, Sean Lardo, to discuss the competition, its benefits to the channel, and the program’s future.
PitchIt offers development, mentorship, and more to selected participants
ConnectWise PitchIT has attracted over 150 participants so far, with the organization selecting 26 companies below $2 million in annual revenue. The companies’ business viability, digital footprint, and market presence are evaluated throughout the competition.
These 26 companies then participate in a 16-week business transformation course and receive mentorship from industry experts covering sales, marketing, branding and messaging, product security, and pitch development. Judges from the industry, vendors, and podcasters across various MSP communities then evaluate the participants’ progress.
Ultimately, three finalists are selected and paired with a dedicated coach to refine their pitch before presenting it at IT Nation Connect, which takes place in Orlando, Florida, every November.
The program helps vendors understand their messaging and positioning, making it easier for MSPs to understand their products. This leads to strategic partnerships and integrations among vendors.
Further, the program helps vendors grow, which benefits MSPs and the channel. It also allows large companies—like ConnectWise, the organization that runs IT Nation—to find startups to acquire, making the competition a valuable opportunity for vendors.
The selection process of the PitchIT Accelerator Program
During the selection process, Lardo says that companies are segmented based on the type of business they’re performing to organize who is applying for the program.
“Whether they’re a cybersecurity company, an AI company, a business enhancement company, we’re hoping for the variety of the companies to be there because MSPs need everybody,” Lardo said.
Startups looking to participate must have below $2 million in annual revenue, but they also cannot have received any Series A or B funding from anybody. They could have received seed funding because it’s an investment, but major series funding disqualifies a potential participant.
Further, the evaluation process involves reviewing potential participants’ websites, digital footprints, and reviews to ensure they have a quality mark and can scale.
“This is not a concept competition, this is actually people doing the business already,” said Lardo. “They have partners that are using them– whether that’s five or 500 is irrelevant to us. We’re looking for people that actually invest to grow to have staying power in the space because these MSPs are looking for vendors that they can trust and rely on to grow their business.”
Collaboration with IT Nation
IT Nation is a global community of peers, thought leaders, and experts committed to helping organizations grow their business and elevate the IT ecosystem.
The program leverages that community to provide vendors with exposure and networking opportunities.
“The hardest part for most of the startup companies is that they might have a great product or a service, but they don’t have enough exposure to grow,” said Lardo. “When we went to the drawing boards to recreate this a few years ago … we broke down the way in which IT Nation can act as a vessel for these vendors to catapult them and get them some quick advancement.”
Lardo also said that the organization has “been blessed with a lot of very good friends in the space who are experts in their field” and have volunteered to act as cameo coaches for them.
That concept, added in a recent restructuring, came from the reality singing competition show “The Voice.”
“I didn’t even know it existed. My mother was watching it, and I asked, ‘what is this?’ And I started watching and she explained it to me, and I was like ‘oh, so they have a head coach and a cameo,’ and that’s sort of where the concept came into play,” Lardo explained.
Every week of the 16-week competition, IT Nation welcomes industry leaders who are practitioners in their space of what they’re teaching. It’s a collaborative process with the larger MSP community, kicking off with interviews and podcast shows, recordings, or live streams occurring in mid-May. Every week, there is something for contestants to participate in– whether that’s being interviewed or coached for speaking engagements.
“If you’re familiar with Matt Solomon and Kevin Lancaster from The Channel Program, we have a partnership with them, and we do what we call the Battle Royale,” explained Lardo. “For Battle Royale, we are bringing all 26 vendors on to do a virtual live pitch, and they get voted on through a survey sent out to the partners that watch. Based on the survey responses, that goes to the grading of them possibly moving forward as a finalist.”
The contestants in the Battle Royale get five minutes to pitch, so they have to be finite and concise in their approach. Additionally, in the 16 weeks, they can access educational pieces on how the contestants can position their words and address what they do.
Future developments and global expansion
Going forward, Lardo says the program aims to increase global exposure in regions like EMEA and APAC. Last year, the organization had six different companies– three from EMEA and three from APAC– that competed. One of those companies from EMEA was a second-place runner in the competition last year.
“We want to get more boots on the ground in those regions to really get more of the vendors involved there, and also the MSPs because you’re looking at extremely fast-growing sectors of the globe that weren’t as mature as North America, but are maturing rapidly now and need that help,” said Lardo. “Those vendors need help with exposure, so you should start seeing a lot more over the next two years here of us being there.”
Lardo encourages MSPs to support and follow the vendors, as many are MSP owners themselves. For those looking to participate in the competition themselves, Lardo reiterates that the program is free to join and that vendors receive valuable exposure, mentorship, and networking opportunities by just being involved.
“It’s a way for vendors to get exposure, learn some things, and meet a ton of people just like you. It becomes its own peer group,” said Lardo. “It’s been so fun watching these vendors get together and collaborate and watch them grow together.”
Initiating growth through various programs has been significant in growing the channel and helping organizations of all sizes scale and establish relationships. Read more about Protect AI’s new partner program to drive enterprise security.