MIke FIgiuolo's message to Startup Weekend Columbus participants on pitching!

1. Startups Start With the Pitch How to *not* suck at pitching by Mike Figliuolo That’s not Mike. That’s Chewbacca. Yes, there’s a resemblance.

2. Who is this guy and why should I listen to him?

3. When you pitch, you need to cover five things.

4. You’d better have a REAL problem or you have a BIG problem. A problem is NOT: “The problem is consumers don’t have my app yet.” “People want to know what kind of beer is on tap.” “The web needs more widgets.”

5. Your solution had better be compelling and truly meet a consumer need. Your solution must make sense - IN ENGLISH. It must be simple enough for your buyer/investor to understand in 30 seconds or less – they get bored easily.

6. You MUST know how you make money. LOTS of money. Crappy revenue models: “We’ll make money on banner ads and AdWords.” “Consumers will pay us $9.99 per month for our app as a subscription fee.” Umm no. They won’t.

7. Your business must be defensible. If it’s not, you will lose. Everyone has competitors. They will take your crap. If you can’t explain how you keep competitors at bay, no one will invest in you. Think of scale, patents, and exclusive market position.

8. Investors want money back. A *lot* more than they put in. IPO’s are pretty much dead. If you’re not thinking about the exit from day one, you’re not thinking hard enough. Investors calculate the odds they’ll have a lucrative exit in a reasonable time period.

9. Don’t you DARE say any of these stupid things. “At this point we’re considering either an IPO or just running a lifestyle business.” “I want to make sure I maintain control of the business.” “We have plenty of cash and don’t need to raise money.” “If we just get 0.5% of the market, we’ll be trillionaires.” “We don’t have any competitors.”

10. References and Resources www.onepieceofpaper.com www.facebook.com/onepieceofpaper www.twitter.com/1pieceofpaper www.thoughtleadersllc.com www.facebook.com/thoughtleadersllc www.twitter.com/thoughtleaders www.freakjet.com www.facebook.com/freakjet www.twitter.com/freakjet www.tixitbox.com www.facebook.com/tixitbox www.twitter.com/tixitbox www.simplemile.com www.webuildstartups.com www.ohiotechangels.com