Nailing Your Elevator Pitch
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Elevator pitch
Slide show presentation
Business case
I pitch, therefore I am…an entrepreneur is always pitching Guy Kawasaki
Seeking Agreement © Vlerick Business School
The next step 5
Enthuse
ENTHUSE 6
ENTHUSE 7
Listen
WHAT ARE THE ESSENTIAL PARTS OF A BUSINESS PITCH? 8
ELEVATOR PITCHES: WHAT? Value proposition Problem/question/need Your solution For who
Numbers People: establish credibility Current status © Vlerick Business School
Value Proposition 10
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Show Me The Numbers 22
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MARKET SIZE
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BUSINESS MODEL
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And Who Are You? 36
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Status 38
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It was over 35 slides long, with each slide feeling like it had 12 lines of 10-point type. It had a problem statement going back to the invention of the telephone, an opportunity claiming to exceed the Gross National Product and it had every possible product feature with enough left over for three other products Steve Blank
ELEVATOR PITCHES: HOW? Pitch ALL the time Short Easy and clear
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MAKE IT CONCRETE
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GEEK SPEAK VS. STORY (1)
A geographically customizable GPS system that provides localized information on demand.
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GEEK SPEAK VS. STORY (2) Imagine you are driving from Brussels to the Belgian coast. You are bored to death. Your foot is off the pedal and the car is on cruise control as you wait to pass Ghent. Suddenly, the sexy voice on your GPS comes alive with the announcement, “You are nearing the unique city of Ghent-- as alive and charming as ever. A visit to Ghent is a true pleasure with its medieval buildings, modern art and excellent nightlife, amongst many other things. Would you like to hear more about its history or the four interesting events happening here today?”
The XYZ technology that makes this experience possible is the funding focus for the current venture. A detailed analysis of the benefits of this technology (presented in Section X) suggests a series of market segments and opportunities such as….. © Vlerick Business School
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ELEVATOR PITCHES: HOW? Pitch ALL the time Short Easy and clear Target your audience Quantify © Vlerick Business School
QUANTIFY AND JUSTIFY!
The ethical pharmaceutical industry spends in excess of $2.4 billion annually in managing executive speaker programs to promote therapeutics to prescribing physicians. This massive marketing expenditure is distributed among thousands of consulting physicians and outside service providers. Control over speaker program spending is highly fragmented between brand-marketing organizations and the more than 90,000 sales representatives in the field. © Vlerick Business School
QUANTIFY AND JUSTIFY
Primary sources surveys, telephone surveys, interviews, focus groups, observation, product sampling.
Secondary sources officially published data by government, banks, Patent Office, trade and industry journals, Mintel, on-line and CD/rom data bases, the internet, chambers of commerce…
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…WE HAVE SOLD OUR PRODUCTS TO… …WE HAVE A SALE PENDING ON…
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ELEVATOR PITCHES: HOW? Pitch ALL the time Short Easy and clear Target your audience Quantify Selling, not educating © Vlerick Business School
THINK VALUE, NOT PRODUCT FEATURES “Our product is simply better and faster, so customers will love it” Create value for all stakeholders that you need to build your venture Shareholders Colleagues Suppliers Retailers Logistics … © Vlerick Business School
ELEVATOR PITCHES: HOW?
Passionate Grab the attention: 1st and last Questions Use silence © Vlerick Business School
GREAT PRESENTATIONS
Made to stick Simple Unexpected Concrete Credible Emotional Stories
Nancy Duarte: Resonate! 59 |
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WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE STORYCODE PITCH? HOW DOES IT COMPARE WITH THE YOUDOODOLL PITCH? 61
1. WHY WILL YOU SUCCEED WHERE OTHERS HAVE FAILED?
“I’m very committed” + “We have expertise in our team with relevant practical experience.” “We are in touch/contact (or even better: a contract) with supplier X; customers (names!).” © Vlerick Business School
2. HOW WILL YOU BE UNIQUE? WHAT IS YOUR UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION? “We are better than competition” “We have no competition” “Our quality” + “Our speed: we deliver within 24 hours, if not : for free” “We have technology x, new in Europe, andwe can prove it works at Y” © Vlerick Business School
3. HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT THIS IS AN “OPPORTUNITY”?
“We did research on the internet” “We have the feeling and we see it” + “We have experienced it with potential clients. We already did some trial sales” “We ourselves have experienced the pain” © Vlerick Business School
4. WHAT IS YOUR PROPOSAL TO ME/US ? “How do you mean ?” “It depends. I am willing to negotiate” + “I/we invest 150.000 euro ourselves and we are looking for an external invester, preferably someone who knows the business, and who can invest 500.000 euro for 20 percent of the shares” “Can you invest 500 k € ?” © Vlerick Business School
CONCLUSION A pitch serves to demonstrate how an opportunity/idea is more than just the individual’s dreams and wishes Always use a pitch / business plan presentation as an opportunity to learn. There is no better critic than an investor (whether corporate HQ or VC) Importance of VP / Numbers / People / Status Numbers / Storytelling / Visuals © Vlerick Business School
QUESTIONS?
VERONIEK COLLEWAERT +32 9 210 92 12
[email protected] @VERONIEKC
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