Essay
May 04, 2026
6 min read
Why the 60-second pitch is the ultimate honesty test.
Constraints don't kill creativity — they fingerprint it. Here's what we learned watching 1,400 founders compress their company into a minute.
Journal
Notes from the road.
Essays, dispatches and the occasional rant from the team behind the circuit.
Dispatch
Apr 22, 2026
4 min read
Inside Palooza London 2026: a recap.
Sold out in 90 seconds. Twelve term sheets in the bar. One founder pitched in a tuxedo and a snorkel. Make of that what you will.
News
Mar 30, 2026
3 min read
Palooza Ventures closes first $10M of $40M Fund I.
Strategic LPs include three Palooza alumni founders and two European family offices.
Interview
Mar 11, 2026
9 min read
Aïsha Bensalem on reading 600 decks a season.
Our head of curation on why first sentences matter, why slide decks lie, and why the real signal is in the founder's pause.