Pitching - Science & Psychology

Transcript

1. Pitching startups The science & psychology Fred Oliveira fred@helloform.com Twitter: @f
2. “Who the hell arrrrr you, and why should I care?”
3. Techcrunch Webreakstuff 500 Startups
4. 500 startups. http://angel.co/500startups 150 companies per year, at $25k-$250k Spring 2013 applications are... well, over.
5. Part 1: Science
6. The science in a nutshell: 1) elevator pitch 2) the problem 3) the solution 4) market 5) the business model 6) technology 7) competitors 8) marketing plan 9) team 10) milestones / $
7. Slide 1: The Elevator Pitch the idea, explained in 30 seconds keep it simple, stupid #protip: “Alien will be like Jaws in space” #protip: extra points for confidence #protip: don’t assume the investor knows things
8. Slide 2: The Problem what problem are you solving? who’s hurting? #protip: the investor is (probably) a human. Humans have problems. If he knows what you’re talking about, you’ll connect.
9. Slide 3: The Solution How does your solution solve the problem you identified? Does it do it better than everyone else? How? #protip: Google is Altavista done right.
10. Intermission: Demo now that the investor knows about the problem and knows about the solution, it’s time to show some magic #protip: don’t pitch me (or anyone) without an MVP #protip: demos fail, be prepared (remember Steve Jobs)
11. Slide 4: The Market size does matter if you are a venture capitalist #protip: niches are fine, if valuable
12. Slide 5: Business Model how do you make money? describe your revenue sources, prioritized by potential direct: sales, subscriptions, goods indirect: ads, leads, affiliate programs #protip: not everyone can “worry about revenue later” #protip: Andrew Chen’s: The internet wants to be free, but you need to get paid: bit.ly/revenuemodel
13. Slide 6: Technology do you have a technological advantage? is your team made of superstars? #protip: investors love big tech advantages #protip: have a secret sauce
14. Slide 7: Competition who are they? current and potential. how do you stack up against them? be real and realistic. #protip: main differences: complexity, price point, open vs proprietary
15. Slide 8: Marketing how does your promotion chain work? how will you promote your product? what channels are you going to use? (pr/email/tv/seo/viral/affiliate programs/widgets) #protip: channel volume, cost, conversion are 3 key metrics to determine the best promotion channels.
16. Slide 9: Team more important than the product itself (see YCombinator) key parts: experience, potential, background #protip: past success matters. repeat success is easier.
17. Slide 10: Milestones/$ how much do you need? how will you use this money? when are you using it? what are some of the key dates in the project? #protip: “get real”
18. Well done. You now have a degree on the science of pitching. Now for a degree on how not to suck at it.
19. Part 2: Psychology
20. Tip 1: tell a story every rule about the 10 slides can be broken (if you know how to do so)
21. Tip 2: don’t waste time ever wondered why TED talks are exactly 18 minutes? or maybe why the pomodoro technique aims for 25 minutes of continuous attention?
22. Tip 3: set the agenda remember, 20 minutes of attention.
23. Tip 4: don’t you dare be boring boring once, lost forever.
24. Tip 5: investors are people and people look for patterns don’t give them a chance to find one
25. Tip 6: you’re the prize the capital is the commodity.
26. Tip 7: you are pitching, not selling sales and pitching are two very different things
27. Tip 8: don’t be needy neediness isn’t exciting
28. Tip 9: no need to be the good guy push vs pull & attraction theory
30. Tip 10: it’s all about attention chemistry lesson: examine the impact of dopamine
31. Bottom line: don’t suck. don’t be pure science, don’t be pure brain.
32. Ask me anything. email: fred@helloform.com on twitter: @f