Refining
the Pitch
Whether
it's for investors, strategic partners, or customers, the
strongest company pitch is a delicate balance of clear,
relevant information, but never style over substance.
"I've
seen some startup companies who are spending six months
on their business plan and their pitch," says Stephen
O'Conner, the CEO of Nanostream
and speaker at the February Larta University workshop, Pitching
Your Company. "If it's taking you six months,
you have a problem right there."
Since
helping start up the microfluidics company back in 1999,
O'Conner has become a veteran of the pitch perfecting/business
planning process, two company building blocks that he feels
should never be disassociated. Strong business pitches should
be constructed upon strong business plans, and there is
no right or wrong way to create either.
"On
the Internet there are at least 20 different formats of
a business plan and none of them are wrong," O'Conner
says. "Just pick one, make sure it reads well and get
on with your business of trying to do things. And I think
that goes true for the pitch as well. It's easier to refine
but you've got to find a way to get people excited and understand
what you're trying to do pretty clearly and think that through."
Feedback
for pitches, usually given by colleagues or consultants,
is another valuable asset that can be treacherous if not
distilled properly. Every practice pitch that is given will
inevitably be received with advice on what to change. The
entrepreneur's challenge, O'Conner says, is being able to
distill feedback and not change a pitch to accord with every
suggestion. "You've got to figure out who you want
to listen to you, and who is smart and willing to give you
advice, but you've also got to be collective about what
you choose to listen to." O'Conner also feels that
even if your pitch is being created specifically for potential
investors, there should be multiple versions of the same
presentation, according to the background and interest of
the audience.
"Anytime
you're doing a pitch, you're selling and whether you're
selling stock in a company or a Christmas tree, you tell
the customer what they need to know in order to buy that
product," he says. "If I walk into an office with
a person who is savvy about marketing but doesn't know technology
and if I sit there for half an hour and talk about technology
when I'm done, he won't care and won't understand. Instead
If I tell him what he wants to hear which is, 'this is the
market, this is what we're going after and this is how we're
going to approach it,' he'll say we're interested."
Whether
it is an elevator session or an hour long appointment with
Powerpoint slides, the choices that an entrepreneur makes
with what information is being shared is also crucial. The
goal of VCs, customers, or potential copartners is to identify
smoke and mirrors, grand claims, and shaky business plans,
and the quicker the pitch cuts through the fat and answers
essential concerns, the more likely there is to be interest.
Long and boring pitches discourage prospects as much as
short, ill-prepared ones.
Entrepreneurs that really understand the venture capitalist
process, are very open and are free to share information
tend to be more attractive to work with, says Todd Jerry
from Anthem Venture Partners, another speaker at the Larta
U workshop. When a entrepreneur is open about references,
that's encouraging, Jerry says, because it enables the VC
to validate the various claims made in the pitch. This can
be another trait that has the potential to distinguish good
entrepreneurs from bad ones.
"What
I really like is people that really start by defining a
problem," says Jerry. "Presentations that talk
about macro trends bother me. For example, someone that
might be doing some sort of technology within wireless communications
and spends most of their pitch arguing how big the market
is. But for most VCs, that's kind of a given. I would like
to hear more about the specifics of what they're doing.
What was the genesis of it? Why are you unique in solving
a problem?"
by
Wendy Hall
Larta Staff Writer
Larta
University: Pitching Your Company
Feb. 13 in Irvine (8-noon) and Feb. 14 in Santa Monica (8:30-12:30
pm)
Investors,
customers, and strategic partners often hear pitches with
too much of the wrong information (or just too much information)
and not enough of the essentials. This workshop focuses
on how to translate complex, broad technology business concepts
and plans into succinct messages that intrigue and interest
for each type of business audiences from venture capitalists
to corporate partners. The session will also address how
to do an elevator pitch, refine the business plan, and more.
Speakers Include: Todd Jerry and Greg Bonfiglio (Anthem
Venture Partners), Stephen D. O’Connor (Nanostream
Inc.)
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