Perfecting your
I was honoured to be asked to be a judge at this year’s Elevator Pitch Competition co-sponsored by the Connecticut state university system and the Connecticut Venture Group.
Each year business students from all across Connecticut compete in this event, during which they develop and present an “elevator pitch” for a start-up small business or entrepreneurial company, while a panel of ruthless, heartless and soulless judges tear their ideas, business models, presentations, grooming, diction, hairstyle and taste in clothing limb from limb (er, I mean “offer constructive criticism on their business models and plans” – sorry about that).
For those who don’t know, an “elevator pitch” is an extremely short overview of a business plan, usually not more than one or two minutes long, designed to pique someone’s interest in knowing more about the business – an investor, perhaps, or an important customer. The idea is that if you met someone on an elevator who could help grow your business, the “pitch” is what you would talk about until the elevator reaches the desired floor and one of you gets off.
Too many entrepreneurs try to pack too much into their “elevator pitches”, making them overly long and detailed, focusing on the wrong things, or using industry jargon that clouds or obscures what their company is really all about.
Here is an example of a bad elevator pitch: “Hi, I’m Cliff Ennico of Biennix Corporation based in Fairfield, Connecticut. We are a legal publishing company specialising in the career management vertical for legal professionals.”
Now, as it happens, that is a 100 per cent accurate description of a business I used to run. But as an elevator pitch, it stinks. First of all, how many readers think “legal publishing” is an exciting, dynamic, fast-growing industry? Sounds dull as dishwater, doesn’t it? And what the Dickens is a “career management vertical”?
Here’s a much better elevator pitch for my old company: “Hi, I’m Cliff Ennico of Biennix Corporation, the country’s leading publisher of books, audio programmes and seminars for lawyers and other legal professionals on how to manage their careers. We do not help these folks practise law; we educate them on how to get jobs, make partner and build successful law practices. One of our books, a job interviewing guide for lawyers, was the book “most frequently stolen from libraries around the country” last year, according to a nationwide survey of law librarians.”
Now, do you have a better idea of what Biennix Corporation used to do? You’re a lot more interested in it now, aren’t you? You might actually want to invest in this company if it were still around, because it sounds a whole lot better than a “legal publisher”. That little story about the job interviewing book is something I guarantee you will remember for some time – it doesn’t say much about the ethics of the legal profession, but hey, you can’t pay for better publicity than that! How bad can a book be if people are actually stealing it from their libraries?
Oh, and one more thing. Read my elevator pitch paragraph out loud. You will find that it takes just about 30 seconds to get across.
Here’s what your elevator pitch must communicate (in descending order of importance):
. your market – the people you serve;
. the “benefits” these people get from your products and services – the problems they solve, how people’s lives are better if they buy them;
. your advantages over the competition;
. what distinguishes you from the competition;
. a vivid illustration of what your company does that will stick in my memory for a long time (like my story about the job interviewing book); and
. (if you have the time) what you need to grow your business.
If you don’t have time to say all these things, focus on your market and your competition. If you can convince me people will actually part with their hard-earned money for your products and services, that those products and services have a direct and immediate appeal to your market, and that you have compelling advantages over your competitors, you’ve got my attention. I will want to know more about you and your company, and I will take the time to listen.
How long should an elevator pitch be? In most student competitions, you are given two to three minutes to make an elevator pitch, but in the real world of business anything longer than 20 to 30 seconds probably won’t be too effective. Behavioural studies show that it only takes about five seconds for a person to make up his mind whether or not he likes you, and only an additional 10 to 15 seconds to determine if he will buy something from you.
Good luck to this year’s competitors. If you’re reading this, you now know how to get at least one of the judges on your side.