The View from the Office.

I spent last night in the basement of The Whiskey Cellar, a bar in the East Village, listening to pitches by half a dozen startups.

The meetup was put on by Derun Events and coordinated by Trent Westwood, an accountant, who has managed the Manhattan group for the past two years. It cost $20 to attend. 

Typically, half a dozen founders get up and pitch, each for about five minutes. Trent said he tries to keep everyone on track by signaling when people run over (note: everyone does.) He said he used to allow longer presentations but the audience’s attention waned. 

The quality and depth of the presentations varied considerably, but that is also the charm of an event that’s a tenth of the price of dinner at Balthazar and way more educational. 

It’s low-key inspirational to pile into a windowless cellar and hear random people make Shark Tank-style appeals to solve problems you didn’t know existed. 

It re-affirms your belief in New York City as a talent magnet. It’s also inspirational to see people with day jobs drag themselves out on a Wednesday evening to pursue a long-shot passion. 

One presentation I enjoyed came from Shane Zhang, co-founder of Empath Legal, a company that’s created an AI assistant that helps lawyers evaluate potential jurors from a trial pool. 

I also spoke with Alain Beltran, CEO of Kamioi, which facilitates investing in fractional shares of the companies where you are making consumer purchases. Think: buy a coffee at Starbucks, top it off with a $1 worth of equity.

Everyone who spoke, including Shane, ended by asking for money to help scale.

Almost everyone mentioned AI as a key feature, though that is probably more a reflection of the moment we are living through than the event itself. 

The attendees mingled over drinks before and after the presentations. They were mostly founders, though there were some VCs and scouts, one of which sat next to me. 

Xenia Musl said she was there to report back to a friend who is a VC. 

She had to leave early, but before departing she asked: “Are you a founder or investor?” 

Founder, I said. 

“Send me your deck,” she responded. 

And with that, she was gone. 

She had barely said a dozen words to me. 

It might have been the best pitch of the evening.