# AI Founders Connect Frankfurt - Pitching at Google

Got selected as one of five founders to pitch at AI Founders Connect Frankfurt, coached by Gleb Maltsev. A few thoughts on why pitching matters.


So this was a fun one: I applied for a spot at AI Founders Connect Frankfurt and got selected as one of five founders. It was a guided pitch competition at Google, organized by Daniel Pietschmann and Daniel Gerald Orbegoso Barrantes - who had already left me deeply impressed at their last event.
Gleb Maltsev coached us through the day and the event pretty much centered around him. I had met Gleb at the Bundeswehr Cyber Innovation Hub hackathon in Berlin - an event that has burned itself into my memory as a really special one. He said something back then that I keep coming back to: “When you ask for advice, they give you money. When you ask for money, they’ll shower you in advice.” Still chewing on that one.
All five founders did really well. Everyone nailed their 3 minutes to the second. It was great to see some real energy around here.
My own pitch was… kind of underprepared. I had put the slides together that morning. We’re in the middle of launching Smart Inference and I hadn’t really figured out how to frame it yet. But opportunities to pitch at Google in front of a coach like Gleb don’t come around often, so I went for it anyway. And it went well!
On the way home I was already rethinking the whole framing. Do people get that we’re building more than one product? Is that confusing them? I updated the deck the next morning.
Big thanks to Daniel Pietschmann and Daniel Gerald Orbegoso Barrantes for putting this together, Vera for hosting us at Google Frankfurt, Gleb for coaching us, and Karen Gru for the photos.
Oh and the pizza was excellent. Still trying to figure out where they ordered from…
Cheers, Paul