[SemanticFog]

In general I think pay-to-pitch is highly suspicious, but I'm sympathetic to Graham Lawlor and Ultralight startups. He charges a small fee to cover expenses and make sure people are moderately serious. There's no way he's getting rich off of it. Pizza is included. The feedback and exposure are well worth the minimal cost. If the fee still bothers you, then just don't pitch there.

[lawlorg]

Thanks SemanticFog, I appreciate the kind words.

Running good events is very time consuming, more than people often realize. And yet my landlord continues to "prey on" me by demanding that I pay rent. Somehow, he fails to see comrade Calacanis' logic that everything should be free...

Graham Lawlor - Ultra Light Startups

[mindcrime]

Are you in the event planning business or something? Isn't the idea for investors to make their money via return on the investment they make in startups?

That said, charging enough to cover the cost of pizza and what-not, that seems reasonable. But any outfits that are charging more than a nominal fee are highly questionable to me.

[lawlorg]

Yes, planning events (Ultra Light Startups) is a full-time job for me. I need to cover pizza, etc - and my rent...

[evgen]

If you are playing a valuable role to investors by providing them access to interesting new startups then they should be the ones paying you, not the startups.