A venture capitalist's observations of the consumer internet, information security, entrepreneurship, and science.

Practicing the Art of Pitchcraft

Commenting on an earlier post of mine, Sridharan suggested that my four year old son’s simple and clear presentation of his thoughts is “a management lesson…Stick to the point and say it in a single sentence.”

I know it sounds a little crazy, but indeed I’ve come to agree that a clear, compelling elevator pitch is essential to growing a business. (And I’ve paid dearly for the evidence.) So after attending a board meeting yesterday in which the management team struggled to succinctly describe their business, I resolved to blog my agreement with Sridharan. Just in time, too, because Nivi’s been bugging me to answer the question: What makes for a good elevator pitch?

According to a co-founder of Verisign, the key to success is a proven ability to finish fast.

The primary goal of an elevator pitch is to intrigue someone to learn more.

Like that novel you buy on impulse at the airport, the first sentence has to grab you.

One way to do that is to highlight the enormity of the problem you are tackling ...

If you get stuck on this step because the problem you’re tackling isn’t impressively large and obvious, you have a more severe issue to worry about than your elevator pitch.

...

To really expose the genius, the pitch includes a good 10-20 minute tutorial. Who Has Time For This? Not VC’s, and certainly not prospective buyers.

Surely the brilliance of the idea must compel them!
Compel? More like confuse, bore and repel.

Practicing the art of subtext. See also:

Are you just another AFC ("average frustrated chump") trying to meet an HB ("hot babe")? How would you like to "full-close" with a Penthouse Pet of the Year? The answers, my friend, are in Neil Strauss's entertaining book The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists.

But remember:

After a while, he ran out of one-liners and had to have a real conversation.