For a few months I've been contemplating bringing the VatorNews contributors together for a small gathering. For those who know me, however, you've heard me say that I'm not the type to often host parties, let alone an event. 

But recently, Adeo Ressi, Founding member of TheFunded.com and TheFunded Founder Institute, and I decided to jointly host a small and exclusive 300-person event, called Juice Pitcher. The name "Juice" came up while I was shopping in the fruit section of Whole Foods. 

Adeo thought there was a void in the market for frequent gatherings where young startups could showcase and present their story.

“It can be extremely difficult for an early-stage company to get the exposure it needs,” said Adeo. ”The Juice Pitcher was formed to democratize access to both investors and the media in Silicon Valley.”

I think he's right.

After all, from the very beginning, Vator has always been about giving startups exposure.

 

Through the Vator.tv community, where companies utilize their profiles to broadcast their videos (which are distributed to YouTube and other video partners) or post short updates (which are distributed to Twitter), I see their stories often.

Vator competitions are also about democratizing the process, as Adeo puts it. We've hosted competitions in which the voting is a crowd-sourcing process. Those who are recognized are not chosen by a few judges, but by you the audience.  

We also decided to use Vator's open competition platform to find the 10 companies to pitch. Learn more or enter by going to the Juice Pitcher Competition page.

 

Our combined communities are in the tens of thousands. Adeo and I wanted to bring them together over time and acknowledge some of the up-and-coming seed to early-stage startups making a difference. 

That's why we are launching Juice Pitcher.

Our inaugural event, which is on the evening of Oct. 6, will include keynotes from rock star CEOs Aaron Patzer of Mint.com (just acquired by Intuit for $170 million) and Munjal Shah of Like.com. We're also holding a special Vator Box show, which is our version of Siskel & Ebert meets American Idol. That show will be called Juice Box. 

We plan to be filming a lot as well. So, we'll capture a lot of the activity in video. 

If you are a startup looking for great exposure, this is your shot - apply today. We hope to see you there.

Juice Pitcher, a unique startup pitch and networking event taking place on Tuesday, October 6th at the Microsoft campus in Mountain View, CA. That evening, 10 of the most promising early-stage companies, as selected by their peers on the open Vator.tv Juice Pitcher Contest, will present their businesses to an audience of over 300 investors, founders, and members of the press. Juice Pitcher guests will also be treated to drinks and informative talks by two leading Silicon Valley CEOs - Aaron Patzer of Mint.com, and Munjal Shah of Like.com. The deadline for founders to apply to the contest is September 30th, and ticket sales to the event are open to everybody at http://juicepitcher.eventbrite.com.