The Business Plan Pitch

Kirstie Chadwick
Director

Very Important Point

You are NOT pitching a great idea, team or
product
You ARE pitching what your business will do for
investors and for customers
SO, pitch how your business will solve a tangible
problem that exists TODAY!!

Example
WRONG:
We are the smartest telecom guys in the world and we are
gonna install high bandwidth wireless telecom
infrastructure in really tall downtown buildings in big cities
all over the world

BETTER:
We enable you to use your cell phone anywhere inside
every building in all major U.S. metropolitan areas

Elements of the Pitch

The Hook- pain point or heart grabber

Brief description of product/service
Brief market description with opportunity
Brief description of competition
How you are different from other solutions
How you will make money - biz model
Partnerships and alliances
Sales and distribution plan
The experience of the team, board, etc.
Five year financial forecast with milestones
Investment request with ROI expectation

Elevator Pitch Must Haves

Hook statement or question that immediately
piques interest of recipient
Passion if you are not excited about your
business, no one else will be either
Request Ask recipient for permission to call, a
referral to others, or feedback
Short assume you have less than a minute,
and sometimes only time for a few sentences

The Hook
The hook should simply ID the pain you solve

We make Napster legal

Have you ever had your cell phone fail inside a building?
Imagine a rubber coating that conducts electricity.
We will change the way people invest their money.

Tag lines can be used as a form of a hook

GE brings good things to light
NY Times All the news that is fit to print
Venture Lab Where education is a venture

The Product Pitch

KISS Keep It Simple, Stupid
Kill the geek speak
Focus on customer benefits, not technical
benefits
Tell a story that paints a personal picture
for your audience

The KISS of the Devil

Too Much Information

WRONG:
Our technology is the first integrated and automatic book scanner that will
scan and digitize bound documents at a speed of 1,200 PPM at a fraction of
the cost of existing solutions based on a disruptive digital imaging
technology initially developed at Bell Labs and protected by 12 patents.

BETTER:
We capture the future of knowledge by seamlessly digitizing physical
libraries at a very low cost.

Geek Speak Is Boring

WRONG:
We provide non-penetrable intrusion detection for digital
voice, fax and wireless communication devices with our
2048-bit Hellman encryption algorithm that is combined
with the latest 168-bit Hellman DES.

BETTER:
We allow you to communicate safely on a broad range of
digital devices.

Customer Benefits, Not Technical Benefits

Technical Benefits

Seamless integration
Scalable, adaptable
Secure networking
Improves network
performance

SO WHAT???

Business Benefits

Increase your revenues

Reduces your risk
Cut your costs by 30%

The Market Pitch Tie to a Burning Need!!

ID the problem or need you solve in 1-2 sentences
We allow any cell phone to work anywhere inside buildings that utilize our
wireless network solution.

Reference a brand-name customer that is using your

product (or that has expressed interest)
The FAA has determined that we are the only security system that is able
to rapidly move people through security check points while exceeding their
security needs

Quantify your market size with numbers that are from a

trusted 3rd party source
According to the American Hospital Association, there are 4,000 hospitals
in the U.S. that need the ability to visualize MRI images in 3D

Know Thy Competition & Acknowledge It

Microsoft

You

Neutralize Your Competition

Pitch 1-2 Unique Differentiators that paint a

picture
We use the same insulin compound provided in Mercks drugs,
but we allow children to take an oral dose instead of a shot
There are many flavors of PDA keyboards, but ours is the only
one that folds into the PDA device when it is not in use
While there are many wireless router boxes on the market, ours
is able to send signals through cement and steel walls

So, How Will You Make Money?

(Optional depends on time and uniqueness of business)

Simple description of your business model

Recurring revenue models are ideal
We will install the wireless network in a building at no
charge, and then charge a usage fee for all calls that we
carry
We provide free access to our medical information
website for consumers, and charge advertisers for each
exposure
Our portable fuel cells will be installed in laptops, and we
will receive a royalty from Dell for each installation

Why Invest in You?

Fact investors invest in people, not products
Our founders have over 20 years of combined
experience in the telecom industry
Our board includes two top executives in the restaurant
franchise industry
Our technical staff has a combined portfolio of over 30
medical device patents
We just recruited John Smith to run our sales team. You
may recall that John took Google from $3 million to
$100 million in sales in two years.

Will You Help Me?

Always end with a request:
Could I follow up with you at a more convenient time to present
our company in more depth?
Given your background, I would greatly appreciate your
feedback. What do you think of our business model?
I know you have a lot of contacts in the energy utility business.
Who would you recommend for us to ask to join our board?
Could I have your card? I would like my CTO to follow up with
you on your technical questions.

Top 3 Elevator Pitch Mistakes

1. Focus on selling a cool product/idea
instead of on the viability of the business
2. Take too long to get to the pain/problem
that you are solving
3. Dont engage the recipient via questions
that request them to engage with you

An example
Have you ever had your cell phone fail inside a building?
We provide a communications network that enables any cell phone to
work anywhere inside all types buildings, while ensuring your
communications are secure.
The FCC has determined that over 60% of the 5 million commercial
buildings in the U.S. inhibit wireless or cell phone communications from
within. The percentage is even higher in international markets
While there are many vendors that provide internal wireless networks,
we are the only vendor that enables communications to penetrate steel
and other high density construction materials, which significantly
reduces the cost of installation
We will install the wireless network in a building at no charge, and then
charge a usage fee for all calls that we carry on our networks
Our founders have over 25 years of design experience in
communications systems, and Bob Marriott has recently agreed to join
our Board of Directors.
It is my understanding that you invest in young communications
companies. Can I follow up with you next week to discuss our business
in depth?

Questions?