Matt Hunckler: Threads Startups Together Through Verge HQ

Matt Hunckler Episode Information

Matt Hunckler is no stranger to being an entrepreneur. He started off his journey as a DJ and progressed towards digitizing old media, so it’s no surprise he runs one of the most successful startup communities in the second tier startup cities with Verge HQ.

After building up a successful web design business through outsourcing and learning about the right way and wrong way to sell a business, Matt would go on to be at the forefront of an industry that would soon explode. Unfortunately, when he and his partner started their Birch Box style business, it was right before the tech explosion that would help launch companies doing the exact same thing to prominence.

Sometimes being one of the first doesn’t equal success. Find out how Matt feels being so close to something that would later explode and bring in big investors and whether he would rather have continued down that path knowing what he knows now.

Deciding to shutter a promising company, Verge was created to help bring together a community of entrepreneurs that, until now, had no real place to connect in a city that was on the verge of a startup boom.

Since creating Verge, Matt Hunckler has become an expert on the art of the dreaded Pitch. Using his THREAD method, he has helped hone the pitches of several entrepreneurs and created an environment to allow them to thrive in the Venture Capital (VC) world.

The THREAD method can be described as:

TARGET:
Target your vision and who you are approaching

HOOK:
Hook the audiences’ attention

RAPPORT:
Build a connection with your audience

ESCALATION:
Begin to stack the pieces of your business and really deliver the hook

ASK:
Ask the Venture Capital firm to invest

Pro Tips #1: Be Specific About Your Ask
- How Much
- What Valuation
- What Purpose
Pro Tip #2: Shut Up
Oftentimes people don’t know when to stop talking and give the VC a chance to sense weakness or find a problem with your company.

DROP ANCHOR:
Leave something behind that creates an emotional connection to your pitch.