
The Art of the Pitch
7 Insider Secrets to Getting You Funded
I’ve love seeing and working with brilliant entrepreneurs over at The Cove (part of UC Irvine’s Applied Innovation), but there, as is everywhere, creating a sexy pitch is paramount. Whether you want to get funded, appear on The Shark Tank, or get a green light for your project, you must create a pitch that works.
7 Secrets to Creating a Pitch that Gets You Funded
Sexy soundbites are the secret sauce to successful #pitches to get #funded Click To Tweet- Create a Head Whip Effect in Your Opening Sentence – Startle us; give us an amazing statistic, tell us a story, but make sure we tune in from the get-go.
- Make it Absurdly Simple – As I often say, “Your mother should be able to understand and invest” without a Harvard MBA. Yes; make it that simple! Make #pitches so clear even your mother understands enough to invest w/o @Harvard MBA Click To Tweet
- Get Rid of Every Acronym – Your audience doesn’t work in your field so ANY acronym makes no sense to us; spell out every single word. From IP to FP.
- Tell Me About Your Competitors – If you don’t have any competitors, I assume there isn’t a market. Very few products today are so revolutionary that they are the first in their field. Use metaphors to translate the unfamiliar to the familiar. Click To Tweet
- Translate the Familiar to the Unfamiliar – When I was a book editor at Times Mirror, we often pitched new books this way: “it’s like a Sue Grafton murder mystery set in the 1800s;” or “It’s like Die Harder up in space.” Or, use a metaphor: it’s as if yogurt for the skin providing soothing relief.
- Make An Ask – What do you want? How much money do you need? What is the next step you want to happen? Remember: There is no selling until you ask a question.
- Master the Art of Q&A – Handling the question and answer period is rife with danger; it’s too easy to insult someone, speak over a question, or invent an answer. Practice handling rapid-fire questions in advance.
Need help with your pitch? Let me know! I love creating red-hot, sexy soundbites that turn heads…and get you funded.
Upcoming Events
November
Thursday, 11/3/16 How to Brand Out, Stand Out & Cash In – Keynote
Friday, 11/4/16 Build Your Biz and Your Brand Through Professional Networking!
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