Elevator pitch Young Tec

1. The elevator pitch
Preparing for your 3 minutes of fame
Peter Russo
Janinka Feenstra

2. Agenda
• Introduction: who’s who?
• COMS YTA process
• Theory of a good pitch

3. My name is…

4. COMS
Young Technology Award
• Process:
– Sunday: introduction to pitching
– Monday: 10 AM announcement of finalists
during plenary session
– 13.30-15.30 Lessons learned in Technology
Startups
– 16.00 – 17.30 Practice and improve your pitch
– Tuesday: 16.00 start finale (3 minutes)

5. Importance of a good pitch
• Sometimes, Your Only Chance
• Average VC Listens for Only 90 Seconds
• Process Forces You to Clarify Your Concept
– Usually You Understand More Clearly

6. We’ve all pitched before
• Situations for an elevator pitch:
– Birthday parties
– Networking events where you meet potential customers,
partners and investors
– Or during a phonecall with media
• The key to success:
– Be prepared
– Use the building blocks relevant for that specific situation
– It’s not about closing the deal, it’s about starting the
conversation!

7. Preparation
Think about:
• Who is your listener / audience?
– No jargon: make it easy to understand
• What do you need from them?
• What should they remember?

8. The first impression
• Enthusiasm and belief
• Likeability
• Getting the attention:
– Rhetorical question
– Joke
– Tell a short story that we can relate to

9. Stage attitude
• What you say and what the audience
hears:
– An audience’s opinion is based for more than
50% on how you say something, not what you
say
– Don’t be afraid of silence
– Dress to impress!

10. Building blocks
• Introduction
– Get our attention!
– Your name and your company name
– What are you looking for 90-seconds
• Which problem are you solving for whom?
• Your solution: product or service?
• What’s your competitve advantage?
• Business model
•Team
•Competition If you still have time
•Marketing/sales/distribution
•Status and timeline
•Summarize and call to action Always!

11. Customer perspective
of the problem
• Who is your customer?
• Your customer’s problem is:
– A pain he wants solved (priority)
– Relevant and important
– He/she wants to pay for it to go away
• How many potential customers are
experiencing this problem?

12. Your USP
• Convince the audience you have the best solution
– Happy customers
– Case studies
• Value proposition: your solution quantified:
• Saves money
• Increases turnover
• Saves time
• Is more accurate

13. Team
• Investors invest in a team, customers buy
from people
• Do you have an experienced team, an
absolute authority in the field? Tell us!

14. 3 minutes
• You won’t have enough time to tell us
everything (so don’t zoom in on the
technical details)
• Make the listener and the judges want to
ask you for more info
• No powerpoints

15. Try This Sample
• Our business will deliver ______ to _______. Until now, this
market has been underserved because _________.
• Our business was / will be launched on ____and we will begin
delivering product ______.
• Our business model involves ______ and we expect to reach a
breakeven level in the ___ quarter.
• We have put together a team led by ____ and _____, who
have ______. In addition, our Advisory Board includes
______.
• We have raised ___ thusfar and are now seeking _____ to
finance _______.
• We anticipate an exit strategy in year ____ through _____.
• I would like the opportunity to schedule a meeting to discuss
this with you in greater detail.

16. Questions?
• www.slideshare.net/kennisparktwente

17. Practice
• Giving feedback:
– Describe the behavior of the person pitching
and the effect on you as a listener
– What went very well
– What still needs some work

18. Good luck preparing!