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 Business Benefits
• Seamless integration • Increase your revenues
• Scalable, adaptable • Reduces your risk
• Secure networking • Cut your costs by 30%
• Improves network
performance

SO WHAT???
 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 Merck’s 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. Don’t 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?