Founder of an Azerbaijani startup presented her project to Tim Draper in icy water

Billionaire and venture investor Tim Draper hosted an unusual pitch session for startups—he listened to projects while sitting in an ice bath with water temperatures below 4°C. Over 52 minutes, the investor accepted 52 presentations.

According to Draper, over the past 40 years, he has listened to thousands of pitches—in offices, cafes, on Zoom calls, and in many other places. However, the founders who leave the strongest impression are those willing to present their ideas under any conditions.

One of the participants was Azerbaijani entrepreneur and co-founder of illumicell AI, Dzhela Sadigova. She presented her startup directly in the icy water.

Draper explained that during such an experiment, he observed not so much the idea itself but rather the founders' behavior under pressure. In his view, stress during a pitch is preparation for the real difficulties any startup faces.

According to Draper, strong founders are capable of overcoming any obstacles in pursuit of success, which is why he considers founders to be true heroes.

Sadigova noted that in an ice bath, attention focuses solely on the main message, while unnecessary worries disappear. She said that in typical presentations, people simultaneously think about their speech, gestures, and investors' reactions, whereas in cold water, the primary task is to calmly and clearly convey the essence of the idea.

During some presentations, participants literally turned blue from the cold, but Draper believes this format helps reveal how entrepreneurs make decisions in uncomfortable conditions.

At the end, the investor joked that next time, representatives of the Guinness World Records should be invited for such an experiment.

Source: Linkedin Tim Draper