As a lot of us have trouble finding jobs in existing companies, many of us start businesses. In fact we start more of them, and are more successful than any other age group. Part of the process is founder fundraising. Traditionally this takes place in a board room, or on a Skype call, where the founder presents a deck with their vision for world domination.
Then there is Polar Bear Pitching, fundraising of a more … extreme kind. Think Shark Tank, but in a hole in the ice in the Bearing Sea in Oulu Finland. I was told about it by a friendly man dressed in a full-body bear costume outside of the ME Conference in Stockholm, where I was invited to speak last week. A hole is chain-sawed into the ice, then a large metal cage is placed in just in case the pitchee has a cardiac arrest and the body needs to be retrieved. For the duration of three to six minutes, the entrepreneur pitches while standing in arctic waters. Ah, those fun loving Finns, making the best of their surroundings. According to the bear costumed man, the funding rate is an industry high of 3%. Check out here to see videos of spectacle.
