Pitch Practice with fnInvestor John Propst (July 17, 2025)
Virtual · Zoom
Scale, Lead & Lifetime Members Only:
Watch, Pitch, Learn: Join fnInvestor John Propst, Head of Incubator Program at Nexus NeuroTech Ventures, for a virtual pitch practice where you’ll have an invaluable opportunity to fine-tune your pitch, learn from the investor’s perspective, and potentially open the door for further conversations.
Key Event Details:
- Pitching Opportunity:
- RSVP & Selection: While RSVPing is necessary, spots are not guaranteed. Only three founders (Scale, Lead & Lifetime Members) will be selected based on criteria set by the investor. The selection will happen a week before the event.
- Pitch Format: Each selected founder will have three minutes to pitch their startup. This is your chance to deliver a concise, impactful pitch—essentially an "extended elevator pitch." Time is limited, so make sure you focus on the core elements of your startup’s story, value, and vision.
- Mandatory Dry Run Requirement: Before the event, you'll need to complete a dry run of your pitch with Aaron Ganek, a pitch deck expert and startup advisor. This is a critical step to ensure you're prepared and confident going into the pitch practice session.
- Feedback: After each pitch, you will receive five minutes of feedback (3mins from the investor, 1min from Kevin Holmes, and 1min from one of your peers). Take notes and ask clarifying questions, as this could provide invaluable insights for refining your pitch moving forward.
- Post-Event Follow-Up:
- If there’s mutual interest, you may have the opportunity to connect with the guest investor to dive deeper into your pitch and explore potential next steps with your startup.
- Not Ready to Pitch?:
- Even if you’re not ready to pitch, you can still join the session as an observer. This is a great opportunity to watch, learn, and ask questions. You can gain insights from the feedback provided to others, and have the chance to engage directly with the investor.
How to Participate:
- The pitching opportunity is for Scale, Lead and Lifetime members only, while Launch is able to be a spectator (watch).
- RSVP to secure your spot (although not guaranteed to pitch, you’ll still be able to watch and learn).
- Prepare for the dry run with Aaron Ganek beforehand to refine your pitch.
- If selected, pitch and get feedback from the featured fnInvestor.
- Kindly review the 3-Minute Pitch Guide for a comprehensive understanding of the process.
- If you’ve pitched in the last 30 days, you’re still welcome to register—but spots aren’t guaranteed, as we want to give others a chance too. You may be placed on the waitlist in case of no-shows or last-minute changes, so stay ready, be prepared, and bring your best!
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Investment Criteria:
- Invests in: Early-stage companies
- Sectors: HealthTech and Biotechnology
- Investment location: US in general
John Propst, PhD, MBA, is a seasoned leader in healthcare technology, product development, and operations. He currently serves as the Head of the Incubator Program at Nexus NeuroTech Ventures, where he drives innovation in the healthcare and technology sectors.
Prior to this role, John served as Head of Operations, Health Platforms at Verily Life Sciences (Alphabet’s healthcare company, formerly Google Life Sciences). In this capacity, he led product and business operations across a diverse portfolio, overseeing multiple commercial device development programs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he spearheaded Verily’s Baseline COVID-19 and Healthy@Work testing programs, which served millions of users.
Before Verily, John spent five years at Apple, where he played a crucial role in the development of Apple Watch, guiding it from prototype through engineering, design, and production validation. Prior to that, he led new product introduction operations for iPhone, working both in Cupertino and across Asia.
Earlier in his career, John gained experience on both sides of intellectual property licensing—first as a biotech entrepreneur and later as an Associate Director of a university technology commercialization office.
John holds a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering and an MBA from the University of South Carolina, where he was recognized as a Biomedical Science Scholar and received the W. Morgan Newton Award for research excellence. He earned a B.S. with Honors in Chemistry from Erskine College.
About Patricia Liu:
Patricia Liu teaches courses at Stanford Continuing Studies and Stanford Health Care on startup pitch decks and presentations. Her pitch deck and presentation clients include early-stage startups to Fortune 100 companies. Patricia is an angel investor and serves on the MIT NorCal Angels selection committee. She worked at Accenture, consulting to Fortune 500 clients, before pursuing an interest in the culinary profession that led her to the test kitchen at the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group. Patricia received a BS and an MEng in computer science from MIT.
Confidentiality Reminder
All information shared within Founders Network is strictly confidential. We are built on a foundation of trust, and the community takes confidentiality seriously. Investors, members, and staff all share experiences and opinions off the record. In this roundtable forum, we continue to model our fnValues of Reciprocity, Humility, Authenticity and Inclusivity.
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