Author: Mark Hudson

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11+ Things to cover when pitching your business

Key is to keep the information short and to the point.  Think “elevator speech”.pitch photo

In fact this template will force you to think strategically about your business; focus on what is important to your funders, and therefore to your customers.  Strange bedfellows indeed.

Pitch Points

  1. Pitch (1 line): describe what you do
  2. Customer problem: what pain point are you solving
  3. Value proposition: expand on why/how Pitch solves Customer problem
  4. Competitive advantage: what do you do that is different and better than the alternative
  5. Target market: who will pay you; phases?
  6. Market size: of those who pay you…$ and volumes; phases?
  7. Competitors: names; how same; how different.
  8. Traction: goals met, stage of development, sales, profit…
  9. Business model: how do you generate revenue; how to provide product/service
  10. Go to market strategy: how you plan to gain customers
  11. Distribution model: how you will get product to market i.e. use of resellers, channel partners

 

Profile – keep this short too.

  • Industry
  • Website
  • Year established
  • Patents/trademarks
  • Team
  • Management and background
  • Corporate structure

 

Financials

  1. Funding to date
  2. Burn rate
  3. Financial statements

…and if seeking funding:

  1. Pre-funding valuation
  2. Funding being sought: amount, timing and type.
  3. What Funding will be used for
  4. How Funding will increase value of business

p.s. If you are seeking funding the last 4 points are critical.  Would you invest in a company that doesn’t have a clear vision for how to grow your money?

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3 kinds of Seams

Another wonderful post by Seth Godin: Seams

Bottom line – make them invisible or acknowledge and solve head on … just don’t ignore them.

 

How to deal with seams

a. There is no seam. We’ve finessed the seam so thoroughly, you can’t even tell. This doctor knows everything about the situation as seen by the last doctor, no need to worry about the handoff. You can’t tell where one part of the railing ends and the other begins. Your place in the queue and your records and your status are so clear to the next agent that it won’t matter a bit to you that there was a switch.

b. There is a seam. That was one color, this is a different one. That was yesterday, this is today. She was your last teacher, I’m your new teacher.

As you might have guessed, the problematic area is where you try to hide a seam, and you fail.

Seams are a promise, an opportunity, a fresh start. Own them or make them invisible.