Frank Erschen

Frank Erschen is a well-known coach/mentor who helps develop and refine pitches. He uses The Artful Science of Pitching™ and VEGaS™, methods he created based on his roles as an investor (knows what investors need), entrepreneur (knows it’s like to pitch with imperfect conditions), educator, and advisor/director in the start-up space since 2006 … backed by 25 years of corporate experience (IBM, BMO) He has worked with dozens of cohorts and over 1,000 companies. His best estimate is that he’s formally critically reviewed 7,000 pitches, give or take and maybe double. His proven approach works with all industries, all stages.

The roles contributing to his success as a pitch coach include: He’s held almost all C-level roles in start-ups – co-founder, chair, CEO, CFO, CIO, Chief Strategy Officer – and has raised well over $40M in these roles. As an angel, he manages a robust portfolio of investments and was named by Golden Triangle Angel Network 2011 Angel of the Year and 2013 Community Builder of the Year. He is a member of the investment committee for the Laurier Start-up Fund. As an educator, he is a member of NACO Academy where he authored the module on mentoring and has delivered modules on angel investing, valuation, due diligence, and other subjects. He has guest lectured at several universities, colleges, and innovation centres, and contributed to A Practical Guide to Angel Investing (Gedeon, Steven A., NACO, 2016). Frank typically delivers his services through various accelerators, incubators, and programs throughout Canada.

His pitch philosophy is simple: “A pitch is a surface-level story about your business plan. The dots needs to connect not only on the surface, but in multiple levels below the surface. When the dots don’t connect, my role changes from pitch coach to business coach and we fix the business first, the pitch comes second.”

Frank has an honours business degree from Wilfrid Laurier University, attained the ICD.D through Rotman, and has completed a joint executive program by Ivey and Kellogg. He is a past director of Powernoodle, Top Hat, Wilfrid Laurier University, Angel Investors Ontario, and the Canadian Hemochromatosis Society (Richmond, BC) and advises several companies. Frank hates speling mistakes.