Launch Smart Clinic [view upcoming] programs provide startups a place to get constructive feedback on their 20-minute [download template] pitch from a board-of-directors-level panel of experts and thoughtful audience members. The focus on early stage ventures encourages a sympathetic and supportive atmosphere. Audience and panel feedback often helps presenters understand their problems and offers useful tips and solutions. Even if you're not quite ready to present at a Launch Smart Clinic, we encourage entrepreneurs to attend to see what our panel of experts (investors and others) are looking for in a pitch, what kind of questions they ask and their suggestions for refining the business plan.

Nearly every day there are dramatic new announcements about advances in artificial intelligence from smarter digital assistants, to driverless cars to innovations affecting every aspect of our lives. Visionaries like Ray Kurzweil predict a world radically changed by AI over the next two decades; pretty heady stuff.