Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Tell Me More: Three Steps to an Effective Elevator PitchBy: Elizabeth Usovicz, General Manager of Transaction Commons, as part of a series she writes for ACA aimed at entrepreneurs, "Your Pitch is Just the Beginning." As an entrepreneur, your pitch is arguably the most important message about your company’s investment-readiness that you will ever deliver. Most entrepreneurs develop two versions of a pitch: a short, elevator version, and a longer, investor presentation with a slide deck. Your elevator pitch is much more than a compressed investor presentation without the slide deck. It’s a precious few seconds of your listener’s attention in which to communicate your passion, describe your innovative product or service and clarify its value from an investor’s point of view. The Elevator Pitch Starts Conversations The short version of your company overview is approximately 150 concise and well-chosen words, delivered in 60 seconds or less. Think of it as your “Tell me more” pitch. The objective is to create interest, and open the door to a conversation. There are many ways to develop your pitch; this three-part framework can help you to begin or to refine your elevator version:
Post-Pitch Questions Ideally, a pitch is not a monologue. It takes place within the context of a conversation, in answer to a statement such as “Tell me about your company.” Prepare a few open-ended questions in advance to continue the post-pitch dialogue. Here are a few examples:
Whether it’s at a meet-up, pitch event or other business networking opportunity, you never know whom you’ll meet or who they may know. In just a few seconds, your elevator pitch can open doors to conversations that lead to potential investors. |