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WyseHeart Advisory
TOUGH LOVE FOR ENTREPRENEURS
Waverly Deutsch spent 22 years teaching entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. WyseHeart Advisory is the company she created to continue her work with outstanding entrepreneurs. We provide startup consulting for early-stage companies and advisory services for seed-stage VCs.
A bit about me. I have been known as “the Simon Cowell of the Chicago Booth New Venture Challenge” for my direct delivery of tough feedback. I like to distinguish myself from Cowell’s often curt feedback of “that was truly awful” by saying that I always followed up a comment like, “You just talked for ten minutes and we have no idea what you do” with “and I want to work with you because there are three things we can do to fix it.”
I do not have the typical background of an entrepreneurship professor. As a young person, I had an enormous love of the theatre and a passion for logic. This led to my pursuing two degrees as an undergraduate in college — one in theatre and the other in computer science. This odd combination set me up for a strange career journey that included a Ph. D. in theatre history, employment at Forrester Research in its early growth years, my own consulting company, a brief stint as an investor, and finally 22 years at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business teaching entrepreneurship and mentoring entrepreneurs worldwide. In those 22 years, I discovered the superpower that blends my theatre and computer science background perfectly — I can see what entrepreneurs are trying to accomplish with their innovations and help them tell their stories. With WyseHeart Advisory, I continue to do that.
“We were pitching at the Rice Business Plan Competition and Waverly really reminded us that we had an investable story. She wouldn’t let me under value it. I wanted to ask for $500,000 but she just took my laptop and changed the number to $2 million. ‘If you are telling a go-big story, you need capital to support it.’ We were offered $1.5 million that day and ended up raising $2 million on a $7.5 million pre-money valuation.”
Randy Paris, Entrepreneur in Residence, New Climate Ventures
“I still remember how I felt after my first NVC presentation for PrepMe and how your constructive criticism prompted critical questions that enabled us to improve our model.”
Karan Goel, CEO and Founder, GetSet
“You made NVC such a delight for our team and truly helped to craft our messaging and approach.”
Jasmine Shells, CEO and Founder, Five-to-Nine
Our Services
Free consultation — $0
Free 30-minute pitch review. You tell me about your business in ten minutes and we discuss the best way to showcase yourself to the audience you are trying to attract.
Pitch prep — $750
Let’s get you ready for a competition, demo day, or roadshow pitch. Two one-hour coaching sessions with a deck review in between.
Startup coaching — $2500
We will work together on a critical initiative for your company — fundraising process, beta testing plan, go-to-market strategy, team building and leadership style, or whatever is keeping you up at night. Two months of once-weekly meetings with you and relevant members of your team.