By Callais Team
How to Pitch Your Startup
Elevator pitches are short, succinct ways for you to describe what your company does so I’ll keep this brief. From an investor’s standpoint, a concise understanding of your own business will go a long way in landing some VC support. But a poor presentation will raise doubts about your leadership and potential growth. When you have the floor, entertain the audience. How? By having an amazingly tight elevator pitch.
Let’s use actual elevator language to describe the best practices for perfecting yours.
- Floor the Audience
- Describe your company in a way that is exciting, unique, and explain why you’re the person to build it. Leave out the nitty-gritty details about the technology, unless they ask.
- Bolster Idea
- Everybody likes a unique idea. Make sure that your company is filling a void in the marketplace that will gain steady traction, revenue, and carve out a great business. But always leave room for growth.
- Don’t Get Stuck!
- Practice so much that you avoid pitfalls and it feels automatic. Not robotic, but natural. Master condensing complicated concepts into easily digestible sentences. If the topic is too convoluted, you’re going to see eyes glaze over. So, leave it out. Not including information in your elevator pitch does not mean you don’t have many opportunities to elaborate on your strategies. Know what topics will send you down a path of confusion. Only present the content that is engaging to your audience.
- Land on the Platform
- What makes your company tick? What is at its core? This is something that might sound simple, but it is more challenging to a founder than you think in the early days of creativity, pivots, and listening to your customers. You should land on what your platform for success looks like, and how you’re the right team to grow it.
- Rise to New Heights
- If you’re not a social person, you’re going to have to learn how to get yourself out of your comfort zone. Elevator pitches are great conversation starters, but don’t be that person that only talks about your business. Nobody likes that person. But you simply never know what another person does, who they know, and if they’re also an entrepreneur. Rise to every occasion and pitch like you’ve never pitched before. Even if it’s exhausting, it’s great practice.
- Get the “Call” Button
- You want to do such a great job at your elevator pitch that it sticks in their head like an ear worm. Days after, they are still thinking about how great of a person you are and what a cool company you are building. If done right, that call (or email!) will certainly come. Carrying business cards always helps.
- A Gateway to Open Doors
- Do not think that a great elevator pitch will immediately make piles of money fall on your lap. It takes time, follow up, trust, financials, and many more things. A great elevator pitch can open doors that could change your life forever. Whether receiving VC funding, or being pushed in a new direction, be courteous of each other’s time. The more you are respectful and accepting of their feedback, the better chance you’ll have in nurturing that relationship to success.
Pitch Perfect
Practice. Do I need to say it again? Yes. The more you pitch, the better you’ll get at condensing your business pitch. You’ll also begin to understand what excites other people about what you’re building because you might not even know that yet. Your goal is to simplify your idea so much that it can be quickly understood, whether that’s comparing yourselves to another company.
Your 30-second description takes time to perfect. So, practice your elevator pitch ad nauseam and you’ll be on your way to the top…floor.
Are you a startup founder in the Gulf Coast? It’s never too early to reach out to us, even if it’s early in your fundraising process. We know that companies take time to turn a profit and find their product market fit. But we would love to hear from you.