1. Practical Assignment : The elevator pitch & NABC
Get your point across

2. Your Elevator Pitch
 It’s a communication tool
 Get your point across in the
time span of an elevator ride.
(2 minutes max)
 An elevator pitch is an
overview of an idea, product,
service, project, person, or
other solution and is designed
to just get a conversation
started.

3. Elevator Pitch Basics
A good elevator pitch is made up of two key
elements:
 The pain statement
 The value proposition
Every great elevator pitch must be:
 Succinct
 Greed-inducing
 Low in tech talk
 Irrefutable

4. Elevator Pitch Structure
Your elevator pitch should have 3 parts:
1. Gain attention & hook !
 Introduce your team and background
 Introduce your idea
 Start with something catchy, a story
1. Your value proposition: NABC
2. Actions to get to the next step:
 What do you need to get started:
 People
 Skills
 Technology

5. The Core = The Value Proposition
A statement of an important client
problem [Need] that proposes the unique
way [Approach] you will use client
resources
(€€€) to deliver superior client features
per unit cost [ Benefits] compared to
others in their market(s) [Competition] .
You don’t define value - Customers do !

6. It’s a simple as NABC
Example of NABC:
“John, I understand you’re hungry as I am [Need].
Let's go have some lunch at the company café
[Approach], instead of McDonald’s [Competition]
because, for the cost of McDonald's it has great
food, its quiet and we can continue our
conversation [ Benefits per costs]. “

7. Four Fundamental questions :
N Customer/Market Need
A Your unique Approach
B Client/Customer Benefits
C Alternative approaches Competition
“NABC” captures the essential, defining
ingredients of a Value Proposition

8. A Typical First Value Proposition
N A BC

9. A Typical First Value Proposition
N A BC

10. Creating what customers want:
N ABC
“ Work on what’s important, not just what’s interesting-
there’s an infinite supply of both”

11. NABC example – Video on Demand
Need:
 Movie rental is a 500 Mio Euro business. The part people dislike is to
return tapes and late fees.
Approach:
 We will provide VOD via the cable system with access to all the titles of
IMDB. The system uses existing channels and hardware. Customers
need no new investments and pay the same price for a movie as in the
rental shop.
Benefits:
 End-user: no need to return movies; no more late fees. Same functions
as with a DVD player: fast forward, trailers, ..etc.
 Customer: Higher revenue per movie with higher margin; 20% market
share expected.
Competition:
 competition : we have patented the distribution and VCR like features
for VOD
 alternatives : on-line rentals have higher handling costs (0.75 Euro per
movie). Sending the tape back is as inconvenient as returning it.
11

12. Quantitative not Qualitative
Need
 Not: The market is growing fast
 Rather: Our market segment is £2M per year and growing at 20% per year
Approach
 Not: We have a clever design
 Rather: We have created a one-step process that replaces the current two-step
process with the same quality
Benefits
 Not: The ROI is excellent
 Rather: Our one-step process reduces our cost by 50% and results in an expected ROI
of 50% per year with a profit of £3M in Year 3
Competition
 Not: We are better than our competitors
 Rather: Our competitor is Evergreen Corporation, which uses the current two-step
process. We own the IP for our new process

14. Iterate Often & Collect Feedback
 Focus on Important Client Needs
 Write down the Value Proposition (NABC)
and Elevator Pitch
 Iterate often – every week
 In a group (Watering Holes)
 Get out of the office
 Use pictures, simulations and visuals
 Protect any IP generated

15. Who stops at the watering hole ?
 People with different backgrounds take on
various roles.
 Negative criticism is banned at water-hole
meetings.
 There are three typical roles at a water hole:
1. Those who concentrate on everything that
makes an idea seem good
2. Those who concentrate on everything that can
improve an idea
3. Those who take on the user perspective