The short of it: the first-ever Unpitch happened yesterday at hack/reduce, and it. was. awesome. 

The long of it: the greater Boston startup community came together yesterday for Unpitch, a no-pressure networking event where the area’s top investors provided lunch and thoughtful advice to entrepreneurs from Boston, Texas, Montreal, and New Jersey, just to name a few. 

If you’ve been following Unpitch, you probably already know that it came about as a reaction to a pay-to-pitch event we won’t bother to name here. In order to highlight how supportive this community is of its entrepreneurs, the New England Venture Capital Association teamed up with a great group of founders, investors, and other community organizations to offer an event with one simple goal: to support, rather than exploit, the amazing entrepreneurs who are the lifeblood of our innovation economy.

With 30 investors from firms like Flybridge, Spark Capital, and Launch Angels on board to cover lunch, we sorted through 375 inspiring applications, selecting 70 entrepreneurs to attend the first Unpitch. 

Among startups in attendance was Weft, a company new to Boston from the West Coast that offers “air traffic control for cargo.” Marc Held, Weft’s founder and CEO, saw Unpitch as the perfect way to “show the transparency and welcoming nature of the Boston startup industry.” 

Also at Unpitch was Jessica Beck, co-founder of Alfred, a company that promises to be “everyone’s personal assistant” and is “passionate about giving people back their time.” For Beck, “Unpitch was an inspiring show of giving time by the Boston startup community.” 

Feedback from yesterday’s event has ranged from positive (“it’s an essential event, but we wanted to know more about investors beforehand”) to downright effusive (“it was all perfect!”). Of the 30 guests who have offered feedback so far, only one has said he wouldn’t attend Unpitch again.

Did we absolutely nail it the first time around? Of course not! But the good news is this: our first try accomplished its goal of providing real support to entrepreneurs, and we’re going to do it again. Details are in the works, and we encourage you to stay tuned and snag your chance to be a part of the next Unpitch, and the one after that.