When we signed up to pitch at FIESTA Connect, we knew the format would be tight: one minute to tell our story. One minute to explain who we are, what BEEST Snacks is, why it matters, and why anyone should care. As founders who can talk about our crunchy jerky chips for hours, condensing everything into sixty seconds felt almost impossible.
But that constraint turned out to be one of the most valuable exercises we have gone through as a company.
The Power of Zooming Out
Preparing for the one-minute pitch forced us to zoom out and get a truly clear picture of what is important. When you only have sixty seconds, every word has to earn its place. We had to ask ourselves: what is the single most compelling thing about BEEST Snacks? What do people need to hear first? What can wait?
That process of distilling our message was eye-opening. We realized that some of the things we had been leading with in our marketing were not actually the most impactful points. Going through this exercise led us to reevaluate all of our marketing material, from our website copy to our pitch decks to how we talk about BEEST at trade shows. It gave us a fresh lens on our own brand, and we are better for it.
When the Script Goes Off the Rails
Now, here is where it gets fun. We had rehearsed. We had our parts down. Lucas was going to open, Nicole was going to close, and it was going to be seamless.
That is not what happened.
Midway through the pitch, Lucas skipped right over his own section and started saying Nicole's part. Then he forgot the rest. If you have ever been on stage and felt your mind go completely blank, you know the feeling. It is one of those moments where time slows down and you wonder if the floor might kindly open up and swallow you whole.
But that is when Nicole stepped in and saved the day. She picked up right where things went sideways, carried the pitch home, and made it look effortless. That is the beauty of being a husband-and-wife team: when one of us stumbles, the other one is right there.
A Community That Cheers You On
What really made the experience special, though, was the FIESTA community. Even with our little on-stage mix-up, the audience and fellow founders were incredibly supportive. There were smiles, encouraging nods, and afterward, people came up to us to say how much they loved our energy and our product. No judgment, just genuine support.
We loved that. It reminded us why we joined the FIESTA Connect community in the first place: these are people who understand the founder journey, the highs and the lows, and who show up for each other regardless.
The Takeaway
If you are a founder and you ever get the chance to do a one-minute pitch, take it. Not because of what it does for your audience, but because of what it does for you. It forces clarity. It sharpens your message. And if things go sideways on stage, well, that makes for a pretty good story too.
We are Lucas Prado and Nicole Ruiz, co-founders of BEEST Snacks, and we are just getting started.