Don't skip these two essential perspectives in your pitch.
Through the summer and fall, we've been focused on good growth: deliberately and intentionally planning the growth of your business. In July and August, I encouraged you to create a clear criteria defining what "good" ideas look like, gather ideas, and filter them. I can't overemphasize the power of discipline and follow-through as an antidote to the ambiguity of innovation. Strong leaders set the cadence and structure to guide teams as they incubate and stress-test ideas.
Structure is a friend to teams incubating ambiguous, unproven ideas. If you need a milestone with a healthy mix of fun and accountability, host a Shark Tank-style meeting for teams to share how ideas are shaping up and the hurdles or surprises they are experiencing. I use clear templates to guide groups through some basic business questions that are deceptively simple…. until you have to answer them. Three of my favorites are:
Can you succinctly capture the strategic intent of your idea in 25 words?
What problem are you solving from a consumer perspective?
What immediate quick win will make this better for you and them?
All. Things. Pitching.
Much ink has been spilled to improve business communication and new idea pitches. At the end of this post, I share two of my favorites. As you prepare your pitch, be sure it addresses two critical perspectives on your idea:
The drone shot of your idea
I regularly advise clients to "Pull the camera back” when building strategy. Entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs like to get straight to the what and how of an idea. The burning question in the back of investors' minds at the beginning of any pitch? "Is this a big idea, and can it scale?" By scale, can it be a meaningful, repeatable business that gets more efficient as it grows? My boss at Spanx would ask, "is the lemon worth a squeeze?" Pardon the cringy business lingo!
If you are pitching your business idea, don't bury the lead. Try an opening that tells the whole story in one headline. Lead with: "The strategic intent of this idea is to solve the ABC problem and scale to XX people in YY years ."Rather than "my idea is an app that does XYZ, and here's how it works."
The zoom shot of your idea
Remember the days of 35mm telephoto lenses? Or maybe you've seen one in your mom's house or in an old movie. It's time to dust off that metaphoric lens and close your pitch with a specific frame on your idea.
"Your first idea is wrong….so implement a careful plan to learn as quickly as possible which of your assumptions are flawed…" Rita McGrath
In your closing, share one straightforward, deliberate test that addresses a critical assumption. By shrinking the ambiguity of any new idea into a small trial, you speed up the learning journey and lower the risk to you and your investors.
"The difference between a great idea that gets adopted and a great idea that gets rejected is based solely on how someone communicates." - Nancy Duarte, Author & CEO Duarte Inc.
And when you are ready for a significant investment pitch…
I've been on the receiving end of hundreds of business pitches throughout my career. Among the wealth of resources on pitching an idea - two stand out to me as most memorable and valuable. Here are my favorites and the insight that came from each.
10/20/30
Guy Kawasaki shares his 10/20/30 Rule in this 1-minute video from his book The Art of the Start 2.0. Here are the ten slides you should have in your pitch. We brought Guy to speak at Turner Broadcasting in 2010 (before the musical chairs era of Discovery, AT&T, and Warner Media).
My big insight? The white sheet of paper moment
Kawasaki says that, after pitching to ~10-15 audiences, it's time to for a complete rewrite. With time and experience, you aren't the same entrepreneur, and your idea isn't the same - both have evolved. It's time to start with a white sheet of paper.
Power pitching to Investors
In Nancy Duarte's 2018 TED Talk, Power Pitching to Investors, she adapts her world-class communication insights to the investment pitch. At 10:45 in the video, she talks about starting your investment pitch by first painting a picture of your vision or new bliss.
My big insight? Begin with the new bliss
One school of thought is to open a presentation by "creating a crisis" and sharing your solution. Duarte flips this typical frame to inspire the investment audience immediately. By communicating your vision up front, you'll be ready for the inevitable interruptions in the first three minutes of your pitch.
Spotting, choosing, and cultivating new ideas is as much science as art. Our perception of an entrepreneur with a new idea is one of a maverick creative fueled by gut and passion. But the magic ingredient in a solid innovation is grit.
The spoils come to the one who follows through, does the work, and systematically brings an idea to life. Oh, and kills it with her pitch!