Hot answers tagged pitch
12
Get over it.
Sorry to be so blunt -- but until you have the money to outsource sales -- it is up to you.
Do you bleieve in your product?
Do you believe that it is valuable?
Do you believe that the product will benefit the customer?
Do you believe?
Then spread the good news.
There are many very good sales methods which are not coehersive. They focus on ...
11
1) "First, provide value!" That is the mantra of Jeffrey Gitomer, a top U.S. sales trainer and the author of a slew of best-sellers about sales. The one generally considered the best is "Sales Bible, the ultimate sales resource" Be sure you are looking at the revised 2008 edition when you read the reviews of it on amazon.com
2) FORGET cold calling. It is a ...
9
A previous Answers.OnStartups question asked about the best startup pitches people had seen. Worth taking a look through.
Some other resources for startup pitches are:
http://pitches.techcrunch.com/
http://www.virgin.com/entrepreneur/pitchtv/
http://vator.tv/
And conferences like DEMO and TechCrunch 40 / 50 usually have pitches that are a lot more ...
8
Higher level is fine, as long as you know the detailed numbers. When doing the summary, try including the following:
Year
Number of Customers
Number of Employees
Total Revenue
Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)
Gross Margin (Revenue - COGS)
Any significant expense categories (e.g. salaries, marketing, overhead)
Any significant capital expenses
Earnins Before Tax ...
8
Is this the regular case?
Yes. This is very much the expected outcome. You have to realize that these journalists are inundated with hundreds of email pitches a day. You probably have about a second to grab their attention. It's unlikely they even read all of the emails they receive. So, don't be terribly discouraged by your results so far. You simply ...
7
I could be all wet here, but I don't think you should. Partners should not be just for getting investors, they are mostly to get you to where you want to be - and you are mostly there already. I think you should look at it as an advantage - that you have the flexibility to bring people in when they are needed.
7
I'm not sure why you need investors? Based on your description you have very little development or ongoing cost, other than the effort to actually start marketing and selling your product. Investment dollars aren't magical things that sell your product for you, that's your job. If you're willing to dilute your ownership of your product, you'd better have a ...
6
If you are pitching a VC, then team is important. More important than that is what you built and can it make money.
A VC will want you to build out your team quickly and might even provide team members for you.
One thing you should look at is why your partners left. They will certainly ask that question.
The real advantage of more team members, at this ...
6
You should expect a wide range of questions -- from technology, to people to market. Some of the more common ones include:
Why will you succeed?
Who is your main competition and how will you beat them?
Tell me about your team. This is a probing question to determine how long you have worked with each other.
What excites you about this opportunity?
What's ...
6
Looks like you have most of it covered, I'd suggest covering the following topics.
Problem. Good to start here because your solution is irrelevant unless your audience understands the problem that you are trying to solve.
Your Solution.
Product Demo
Differentiation. What's special about your solution? How is it different/better?
Business Model. How are ...
6
May be something like this:
"I'm with ___________, a ____________ company; we (what you do) ______________."
So that it could sound like this:
"I'm with Instagram, a software company; we enable people to add visual filters to their pictures and then share them with others."
"I'm with Facebook, an online social networking company; we connect people with ...
5
Language is not a barrier, but there is a big misconception about the "Pitch", in my experience you dont want to just "Pitch" your idea, you first need to focus on building some rapport, strike up conversations around similar interests and then steer them towards your project. Never act needy, or shy about your financials or the ability to raise capital. ...
5
Before thinking about a biz-plan guide, I'd say you need one business oriented person as partner. The document require some accounting/finance/marketing knowledge.
Because you mentioned VC/Angel, I assume that you are writing this for raising funds(equity). This is the outline I used to create my own biz plan for a pitch competition. You don't need to ...
5
@JosephBarisonzi post is key. I'm just extending here because my comment didn't fit in the comments section.
From my own experience of being the techie who hates doing sales ... Like you Finch I don't warm to the task naturally but it is making sure you know your product, pricing, reasons for existing really well ... but while its just you, your it.
Once I ...
5
Anton.. GREAT Question.
Here's what I use to do market research.
It's just a twist on what you suggested. I would call key players in the market and rather have a "pitch" ready, I would just have a conversation with them about their problems and pain points. Remove all reference to the fact that you have any ideas for products or you have any idea what ...
5
Okay, here is just an idea for your consideration:
Instead of focusing on building and developing your own sales channel into schools -- which is extraordinarily crowded and would be expensive to maintain with a product that will have a low price point and small margins -- why not leverage someone else existing platform.
I see three options (and I am sure ...
5
I wouldn't worry about someone stealing your idea.
If you have worked 2 years on the execution you would be 2 years ahead of any competition.
What I would worry about are those things:
Is this only a vanity thing or does it really contribute to new customers/clients?
Will this be a distraction from executing and diffuse your focus?
If you indeed think ...
4
From Kip McClanahan's blog (raised money for 6 different companies, lots of successful exits), here is:
Outline of a pitch deck
Very detailed description of the pitch deck
4
The word YOU counts for 100 more points than the word WE.
"We're developing a process to save money on domestic air travel." 5 points.
BUT
"We're developing a process to save you money on domestic air travel." 105 points, and ears perk up.
(YOU = you, your, yours)
(WE = me, I, mine, our, we're, you get the picture)
Here's a good tool for analyzing ...
4
Surely not a comprehensive list, but in my experience, the most important questions you should expect are:
What are your goals in the next 3-6-12 months? Be honest, don't lie and convince them that they're realistic goals and you have a plan to achieve them.
Who are your existing customers/users/testers? Again, try to be honest and bring some testimonials ...
4
Do some background research on the person you met - does he have a history of funding people like you and ideas like yours? Is he involved in any outstanding litigation (or worse, does he have a criminal record)? Lexis-Nexis is your friend here (find someone at a law school to help you do a little research). Wouldn't hurt to ask him via e-mail either about ...
4
I cannot speak for pitching Silicon Valley investors, as I have never tried it. However,
I have engaged in business talks with (Eastern European) businesspeople through a professional interpreter. It feels slow as hell, a little awkward, and emotionally un-engaging. Putting myself in the investors position, I find it hard to see how an investor could ...
4
Joseph's answer is pretty good. I would add:
I would go out five years on your financials
Total Market and Market Share is helpful so an investor can get a sense of your market uptake
Capital expense is good to include as well just to show what is asset expense
4
Don't let the naysayers get you down. A chance to talk about your business in front of smart people is always good early. Good practice, might get some good feedback (though I wouldn't take them too seriously if it doesn't RING TRUE with your gut).
If they don't care about it, don't tell them.
Be yourself. There are smart ways to dress casually. I ...
4
Is this the regular case? My expectations were that they would decide
not to write about something after they've seen it in action. My
homepage (http://welshare.com) is not so repulsive and lame. One
option is that they decided based on the list of features, which does
not require registration, but I would still signup to see how it
actually ...
3
No doubt about it: Camtasia by TechSmith.
A bit pricy at $299, but well worth it. You may find discounts online, or earlier versions available at a lower price.
I have Camtasia 3.1.3 which I got free on a special promotion 2 years ago. They are now up to Version 6.
3
I'm sure folks will jump in with lots of great suggestions but having been on the agency side and done many pitches, the one big recommendation I have is to make the demo "real" for the companies you're pitching. So mock up the demo with their logo, whatever specific information you can and walk through it as though the application were already in place for ...
3
The questions they ask are more important than your slides.
Gloss is ignored. They're not so shallow as to be affected by gloss, right? If they are, you don't want them as investors...
Cover the bare minimum in slides. Facts are more useful than projections. Title each slide with the take-home message you want them to have for that slide; it will also ...
3
Every sentence you say should have a fact about your business. Do NOT use marketing talk.
"We're going to change the world through a new innovative approach."
That sentence says absolutely nothing about your idea. Time is a factor, so keep it straightforward and to the point. You don't have words to waste in an elevator pitch.
And always remember, many ...
3
1) As NeoTycoon said, do your research.
2) If it seems they're legit, get yourself an advisor. Whether it's someone who has taken angel money before, a current angel investor, or an early-stage startup-friendly lawyer (recommendation: I use these guys), get someone who can help you think things through.
Unlike NeoTycoon, I wouldn't recommend strong-arming ...
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