22 Aug, 2019
22 Aug, 2019
How to prepare startup pitch
In this article Code Inspiration’s team continues to share tips that might be interesting for startup founders who already work on a project as well as beginners who think of their own product creation and development.
We will talk about some useful aspects which will improve your pitch and participation in a startup conference or networking event. Let’s go!
- TIP 1. To begin with the first task if you plan to attend a conference and pitch a project there is (surprise!) to prepare. Do your best to know what kind of event is this and who will be there. Usually a startup conference is a periodic event where anyone can take part and pitch. However, sometimes there are specific events when, for example, representatives from a foreign startup accelerator come to organize pitch competition among startups in the given industry. So be sure to check conditions and requirements of such events. In case if you don’t know where to go with your startup, try to Google “startup ecosystem map” or “list of startup resources” in your region. Your task is to find something like this, for example.
- TIP 2. On the basis of this define the goal of your participation. Early stage and emerging startups usually pitch to get feedback on the project, business model and the idea itself. More prepared startups pitch to raise investments or find mentor, get connections with experts. The good idea is also to ask the audience for some target action e.g. visit your website and leave feedback, download your application, etc.
- TIP 3. Prepare your pitch. The situation is that a perfect pitch makes possible to achieve any goal (even such challenging goals as, for example, raise investments or win the pitch competition you take part in) even if you have nothing done on your project. This is all about proper preparations together with public speaking skills; you have to understand all aspects of your product or startup within the frameworks of market, target audience, business model and so on. Do not forget that there is always a rule for limited time for pitch or presentation: 3 minutes for pitch and 2 (sometimes more, up to 5) minutes to answer questions. So do your best to prepare your speech and presentation that takes not more than 3 minutes. A good idea to test it with your colleagues, friends and relatives, ask them to listen to your pitch and discuss it.
- TIP 4. Pitch your project to someone who has no understanding of the sphere of your project. If you see that this person explains your project correctly in other words – this is the evidence your pitch is fine. There were a lot of situations when the first question from experts was after a pitch: “What do you do?” This question means the pitch is failed. Prepare your pitch to avoid this situation. Be ready to continue your pitch even when the light is out and it is dark in the room. Try to brainstorm with the team what questions can be asked to you after the pitch. Prepare and learn answers previously.
- TIP 5. A good idea to start your pitch is to explain an example how your solution can be used with something commonly known. For example, if your product is a mobile application for real time 3D interior design you can start with the statement: “We do a mobile app for interior design. By the end of my pitch I will have shown a design of this room in 3 styles generated completely in our application.” Such statement significantly attracts interest among experts and audience, extremely quickly explains what you do. And after this you have almost 3 minutes to talk about details.
- TIP 6. One more way is to start with the problem statement. It is good when your product really addresses some significant problem. The statement here could be the following: “According to the statistics and research, 15% of people face fraud attempts in social networks. This means that every 7th of you is likely to face this in the future.” Such statement significantly pays attention to the problem, and your next task is to talk about your solution, that it is simple and already available to use, for example. So by the end of your speech you have to convince the audience that the solution exists, and to avoid problems they should invest in your startup. This is a bit manipulative way, but why not to use it?
- TIP 7. You do not need to have the working application to show this. Just create a fake video demo to show. Read more about this and some other useful tips for early stage startup development and project presentation preparation.
- TIP 8. Ask your friend to record the video of your speech. This will make possible to analyze mistakes and your presentation in general as well as you can publish it in social network of send to any (expert, mentor investor) who is interested any further.
- TIP 9. Sometimes this is a good idea to prepare a T-Shirt with a logo and link or QR-code to the website printed on it. In case there is a big networking event it is very difficult to speak to everyone, so clothes with your attributes will increase chances to attract more people to your team and project.The last step is to go and pitch your project in the event.
To sum up
- Know what kind of event you plan to visit;
- Define the goal of participation;
- Prepare your pitch;
- Pay attention to the introductory statement;
- Do your best to prepare and demonstrate something;
- Record your pitch;
- Use your clothes as a promo if possible.
Code Inspiration’s team wishes you to be successful in your project and always ready to share its’ expertise no matter you are a small startup or a large company. Address to us via the form below or in social networks to get consultation on how we can be useful and add value to your ideas.