How to Avoid Pitching Mistakes
Avoid these two start-up pitch „fatal errors‟
Writing on the Business Insider War Room, Tim Berry, president and founder of Palo Alto Software and a co-founder of Borland International, observes that there‟s plenty of good advice available on how to make a pitch, but a dearth of information on how not to pitch. In particular, he warns start-ups about “two fatal errors I‟m seeing pretty frequently these days”: 1. It’s not about you. Understand the pitch as a medium. It‟s about what investors want, not what you want. You have to be inside their head, not your own. Investors are trying to guess the odds that a check they write tomorrow will generate lots of money in the near future. Too many pitches summarize the business without focusing on investors‟ goals. Apply the same principle to pitching for a strategic partner, a customer, a bank, or a business plan contest. Figure out what the audience wants to know, and answer the questions your audience wants answered. 2. Never pitch without a plan. Pitch and plan are like movie and script: You don‟t do one without the other. The plan is a collection of related concepts and numbers, including strategy, milestones, target market, business offering, business model, sales forecast, expense budgets, cash flow, milestones, tasks, responsibilities, and metrics. The pitch is an output of the plan, optimized for the medium and the audience. You can‟t describe your business without knowing how much money you need, where you‟re going to spend it, and why. You have to define a target market and explain your rationale, estimate sales and the cost of sales, and develop a strategic focus — as well as know the milestones you need to hit and the important metrics behind them. When the pitch works, investors want to see the plan. Source: Business Insider War Room Posted October 27th, 2010 under Tech Transfer
Writing on the Business Insider War Room, Tim Berry, president and founder of Palo Alto Software and a co-founder of Borland International, observes that there‟s plenty of good advice available on how to make a pitch, but a dearth of information on how not to pitch. In particular, he warns start-ups about “two fatal errors I‟m seeing pretty frequently these days”: 1. It’s not about you. Understand the pitch as a medium. It‟s about what investors want, not what you want. You have to be inside their head, not your own. Investors are trying to guess the odds that a check they write tomorrow will generate lots of money in the near future. Too many pitches summarize the business without focusing on investors‟ goals. Apply the same principle to pitching for a strategic partner, a customer, a bank, or a business plan contest. Figure out what the audience wants to know, and answer the questions your audience wants answered. 2. Never pitch without a plan. Pitch and plan are like movie and script: You don‟t do one without the other. The plan is a collection of related concepts and numbers, including strategy, milestones, target market, business offering, business model, sales forecast, expense budgets, cash flow, milestones, tasks, responsibilities, and metrics. The pitch is an output of the plan, optimized for the medium and the audience. You can‟t describe your business without knowing how much money you need, where you‟re going to spend it, and why. You have to define a target market and explain your rationale, estimate sales and the cost of sales, and develop a strategic focus — as well as know the milestones you need to hit and the important metrics behind them. When the pitch works, investors want to see the plan. Source: Business Insider War Room Posted October 27th, 2010 under Tech Transfer