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Posts Tagged ‘elevator pitch’

Elevator Pitch Roundtables and Workshop with NY Tech Investors

Posted in Events, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 7, 2013 | Leave a Comment »

elevatorHere’s a great opportunity for entrepreneurs in the NYC area!  Have you ever had a discussion with someone about your company and all that resulted from it was a blank stare? Here’s your chance to fix that and get first hand feedback from investors who are experts at reviewing pitches. The elevator pitch can make or break you for a follow up engagement with an investor. It’s the first impression you make on them so it’s important to make it count. Join us for our elevator pitch roundtables and workshop on February 26! If interested, details and information about how to apply are below.

Details:

You will be broken up into groups and placed in a room with 10-15 other entrepreneurs (numbers depend on applicants received) and one investor.

Each company will need to present their elevator pitch in 30 seconds or less. The investor will provide feedback immediately following the pitch.

You will not be able to use or bring anything with you. Just you and your elevator pitch that’s stored in your brain.

When everyone in the room has pitched, you will all re-group and each investor will choose their top finalists.

The selected finalists will have 5-10 minutes to make adjustments to their pitches by incorporating the feedback they previously received.

When time is up, the selected finalists will all be brought back into the main room and present in the final pitch off (all companies, even those that were not among the selected finalists, are encouraged to stay and listen).

Here are some best practices as you think about constructing your elevator pitch (or making it even better than it already is).

Space is limited. Please make sure to read the directions below on how to participate.

Investors:

Schedule (may change given the number of participants):

  • 9:00 am – 10:40 am: Pitch Event Roundtables
  • 10:40 am – 10:50 am: Brainstorming (selected companies to make adjustments to their pitches)
  • 10:50 am – 11:00 am: Final pitch off
  • 11:00 am – 12:00 pm: Networking

How to participate:

If interested, please submit a brief description of your company to Joyce Chuang @ jchuang@orrick.com by Friday, February 15 for consideration. Selections will be announced by Friday, February 22.

 

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Best Practices for an Elevator Pitch

Posted in Total News Access, tagged , , , , , , on September 14, 2012 | 1 Comment »

We kicked off our first elevator pitch workshop and roundtables event at our Silicon Valley location a couple of months ago and it turned out to be a big hit.  In preparation of our fundraising series coming up, we thought it’d be a good time to recap on some best practices for elevator pitches.

Having a polished elevator pitch is something every entrepreneur should adopt.  The purpose of the elevator pitch is to convey the message of your company in a simple and concise manner.  You need to solicit interest from an investor before you lose their attention, so the best points must be delivered early and quickly.  Here are a few guidelines to help you as you build your elevator pitch.

1.  Framework

  • What market are you in?
  • What urgent problem are you solving?
  • What is the size of the opportunity?
  • Why will you win (differentiation, barriers to entry, unfair advantage)?
  • Where is the validation (customers, investors, etc.)?

2.  If available, be sure to include strong customer validation.  What better way to prove your company’s validity than by having a clear example?

3.  Do not use industry jargon.  You can’t assume your audience has the same industry knowledge as you.  Keep your language simple.  Investors are people too.

4. Practice your delivery.  A good elevator pitch takes numerous practices before it’s perfected.

5.  Timing.  The best elevator pitches are the ones that can be conveyed in under a minute (30 seconds is ideal).  It’s called an elevator pitch for a reason.  We once heard from an investor that he had to sit through a 50 minute elevator pitch.  Make it known that he vowed to never get on that “elevator” again.

6.  Your elevator pitch is not a tagline.  Taglines are catch phrases that are intended to highlight an overall story in a few words.  An elevator pitch is the story about your business (this does not replace your business plan).

7.  The best elevator pitches are built up from an analogy or kernel that creates the “a ha” moment for the person listening to your pitch.

Some of the best pitches we’ve heard were from those who were just having a casual conversation with us.  A casual 30 seconds conversation.  Let us know your best elevator pitch.

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Elevator Pitch Roundtables and Workshops

Posted in Events, tagged , , , , , on July 5, 2012 | 1 Comment »

Have you ever had a discussion with someone about your company and all that resulted from it was a blank stare?  Here’s your chance to fix that and get first hand feedback from investors who are experts at reviewing pitches.  The elevator pitch can make or break you for a follow up engagement with an investor.  It’s the first impression you make on them so it’s important to make it count.  If interested, details and information about how to apply are below.  

Details:

  • You will be broken into groups and placed in a room with 10-15 other entrepreneurs and one investor.
  • Each company will need to present their elevator pitch in 30 seconds or less. The investor will provide feedback immediately following the pitch. 
  • You will not be able to use or bring anything with you.  Just you and your pitch that’s stored in your brain.
  • When everyone in the room has pitched, you will each have 15 minutes to make adjustments to your pitches based on the suggestions and feedback your investor provided. 
  • All companies will be brought back at the end of the 15 minutes brainstorm session to present their elevator pitches (this will be in front of the entire group of participating companies and the investors).
  • Here are some best practices as you think about constructing your elevator pitch (or making it even more brilliant than it already is).
  • Space is limited.  Please make sure to read the directions below on how to participate.  

Investors:
Peter Hebert, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Lux Capital
Vijay Nagappan, Associate, MHS Capital
Jeff Tannenbaum, Principal, Blue Run Ventures

Date:
Wednesday, July 18, 2012 

Location:
Menlo Park, CA

Schedule:
9:00 am – 11:00 am:  Pitch Event Roundtables
11:00 am – 11:15 am:  Brainstorming (companies to make adjustments to their pitches)
11:15 am – 11:30 am:  All companies present elevator pitches for a final time
11:30 am – 12:00 pm:  Networking

How to Participate:

If you are interested, please submit your elevator pitch to Joyce Chuang by Thursday, July 12 for consideration.  Selections will be announced on Monday, July 16. 

If you have any questions, please contact Joyce Chuang at 650-289-7178.

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