Creating The Perfect Pitch - Don Morrison, EIR

Every business competition is essentially a story telling competition.  Pitching your idea involves telling a good story.  “IN A GALAXY FAR AWAY AND LONG AGO”…… all good stories have a STRONG BEGINNING, a middle that has a logical flow, and a strong ending. The best openings are the ones that grab your listeners (judges, investors, etc.) early.  If you can make an emotional connection with your audience, then you’re off to a good start as you have their attention.  The story for business competition pitches must include all the elements of starting a business.

The opening usually identifies a PROBLEM that you are addressing with your SOLUTION.  Make sure that you are solving a problem that all stakeholders care about and are willing to pay for. Remember that incremental change is usually not enough to stimulate adoption of a new idea.  Your solution must be dramatically better, faster, or cheaper.

After talking about the problem and your elegant solution, you must identify the MARKET that you are going after and how you plan to penetrate it with your go-to-market strategy.  You must include who your target CUSTOMER is.  Customers are the ones who pay you for your product or service and are often not the end user.

You must also describe how you will make money and describe your REVENUE MODEL. Will you be business to business (B2B), business to consumer (B2C), subscription, licensing your technology, or using channel partners?

Additionally, you must describe your FINANCIALS.  What will it cost to make your solution and how much will you sell it for?  What are your cost, revenue, and profit assumptions for the first few years?

One often overlooked element is clearly stating your VALUE PROPOSITION.  Simply put, your value proposition is stating why a customer should care about your product or service.  Typically, it is because you are better, faster, or cheaper or a combination of all three.

You must also address your COMPETITION, including the status quo.  In identifying your competitors, you must describe your competitive advantage and DIFFERENTIATION (how you are different and better).

Talk about your TEAM and the skills you each bring to the project.  To gain extra credibility, assemble an advisory board including experts with domain, business development, and marketing experience. Talking about your team later in the pitch (rather than up front) gives it more context and gives judges a better idea of how you have a balanced team and the right advisors to be successful.

Remember, successful pitches talk about the viability of a business, not just the technology.  Most businesses fail not because the technology doesn’t work, but because the business model doesn’t work.  Be sure you address all the elements of an entrepreneurial startup.

“AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER”…. every good story needs a STRONG ENDING.  The ending could include an “ask” for the competition prize money and what you will do with it.

PITCH TIPS:

1. Plan the pitch. In most cases, you have a set time allowed for your pitch (5-8 minutes). Start by listing the main ideas of your pitch for each slide, including your opening and closing slides. For each slide, think of an image that best conveys that slide’s idea.  Then list the 2-3 main talking points for each idea.  These talking points become the outline of your narrative (story). 
2. Keep your slides simple. Start with an image that best conveys the idea of the slide. Add a few bullet points in large font that reinforce the story.  Don’t try to tell the story on the slides.  Your narrative should tell the story.  The slides are just there for visual support.  The judges can either listen to you or try to read your slides, but they can’t do both.  As soon as they start reading your slides, you have lost them. 
3. Have back-up slides. After your initial presentation, there is typically a Q&A. Try to anticipate the most likely question the judges will ask and prepare 2-3 “back-up slides” for the Q&A.
4. Present with confidence! Maintain eye contact with judges. Don’t look down, don’t read your notes and don’t read your slides.  Keep your hands out of your pockets and don’t rock back and forth.
5. Be energetic! If you are not excited, the judges will not be excited. Show some passion (but don’t be manic either).
6. Pick the best story teller(s) on your team to present. Some people are better communicators or speakers than others. Have each team member audition and pick the best storyteller(s) on the team to present.
7. Don’t over-answer Q&A. Give sharp,crisp answers to judges’ questions. Don’t drone on and on. If you’re not sure if your answer is too short, you can always ask “did that answer your question?”
8. Practice, practice, practice. Practice your story until you have memorized it and can go through it without looking at your slides or notes. Be sure to time your practice pitch so you can ensure that you can tell your story in the allotted time.

“So, tell me a good story!”

Don is a serial entrepreneur and visionary leader who has consistently leveraged technology to improve the customer experience and top and bottom-line results. Don has been involved in the growth and development of several businesses, including American Eagle Outfitters, from one to 165 stores as President and CEO, Sundance Catalog Company as Executive Director, and Bear Creek Corporation as Senior VP of Sales and Marketing. He is currently chairman of deal flow for BlueTree Allied Angels, a Pittsburgh-based angel investment organization. Mr. Morrison is actively involved in mentoring and coaching several startup and early-stage companies in the region and serves on several boards of directors and advisors including, Pittsburgh Green Building Alliance and was the previous Chairman of The Linden Pointe Development Corporation which operates The eCenter @ Linden Pointe and The Entrepreneurship Academy program for area high school students. Email Don here.