What’s a pitch? A 60 second speech about how someone intends to explain and sell their product. It’s deceptively simple, but takes some mastery. Instructions: Don’t spend more than 30 mins doing this exercise. You’ll improve your pitch every time you read it and present it. At those times, you can refine your initial work. The thought exercise of making this pitch in the first place is where the real value lays. If you can’t make a pitch in 30 mins, maybe the idea isn’t worth your continued effort. Ok, set your watch and begin. Here are the shortcuts to success:

    1. First Sentence, Explain Product: Find the most similarly-recognizable product and compare yours to it. For example, we are the Amazon.com for audio books (Audible) or we are like Wikipedia for investment research (WikiWealth).

 

    1. Second Sentence, Explain Problem / Challenge: This part needs to be crystal clear. If not, then maybe your problem isn’t really a big problem. For example: why aren’t their more cabs when you need them (Uber)? Why are the latest fashion trends so expensive (H&M)? Why can’t I just rent an unused bedroom for cheap when hotel prices are so expensive (Airbnb)?

 

    1. Third Sentence, Explain Solution: Just like the challenge, make it simple, stupid. We have a product / service where you can… hail a cab from your smartphone, get the latest fashion trends for cheap, crash with a person for a 10th of the price of a hotel room.

 

    1. Forth Sentence, Explain Market Size / Potential / Success So Far: Secret here is to stay realistic. The taxi industry generates $200 million dollars in the US alone on a daily basis, just 1% of that number is… According to Gartner, 20% of the fashion industries $300 billion market would buy trendy clothing if they were cheap enough. Our tests show that we can sell unused bedrooms like a hotel with a 95% profit margin, compared to the industry average or 15%.

 

    1. Your Ask: Tell the person or group exactly what you need. Be prepared for questions afterward. In the case of S’good Muffin [link], they were looking for donations for a Kickstarter campaign. WikiWealth was looking for investors.

 

Now that you are done, put this idea away and move on. If you want to launch a new business, there are far more important ways to spend your time. Don’t forget to add your comments and questions below.