Following Part 1 of Martins's pitching series where he spoke about taking "the personal approach" he's come back with Part 2.
Here, he uses a unique, deeply thought-through analogy to explain how to seamlessly shift the balance of ideas and concepts within your pitch.
For those of you who don't know Martin, he is the founder of 8 Seconds 2 Connect with 23 years of experience pitching ad campaigns to Nike, VW, Mercedes and BMW in China.
Without further ado, welcome to...
A day at the races.
"If you spend any time scrolling through the LinkedIn feed of investors at all levels you will start to hear a consistent nugget of advice from Angels and VCs.
"it's all about the founder and their team."
I have sat as a mentor in hundreds of demo days and pitch events.
And the majority of what founders share is the product.
Deeper and deeper they go, sharing more and more features.
And this is hurting them, not helping them.
So, what does horse racing have to do with anything?
Alexander Williams published an excellent research paper in 2003 at MIT's Sloan School of Management.
"A Study on the Art and Science of Pitching New Businesses"
The focus was on discovering what an audience looks for in a pitch.
Well, it depends.
After the MIT-level research and analysis, Williams concluded that it's all about horse racing.
Some investors are all about the jockey story. The founder and the team.
Some are all about the story of the racehorse. The product that customers buy.
Some of the course story. The market. Is it disrupting an existing one or creating a new one?
And all investors care about the betting odds story. How big, how fast, and with how much risk?
And the problem is the majority of founders overpitch the horse… by a mile.
It's understandable; they built it. They are proud of it. And no matter how sophisticated we are as consumers, we fall down the features hole whenever we sell.
The more features, the better.
When it's not the case, investors tell us daily in the feed and at events. How much they believe in and trust the founder and team. The Jockey. That is what makes the difference.
This is one of the reasons 2nd time exited founders do so well.
They've already won a race.
A bet on them is likelier to win than a jockey saddling up for the first time.
Of course, everyone has to start somewhere, so it's okay.
When you approach your pitch like a day at the races, you will have much more control over your message.
You will be able to see if your message is balanced or overloaded.
Try this:
1. Get your latest pitch, a post-it note and a pen.
2. Go through your deck.
3. Audit the content.
4. What's on each slide?
5. Mark the Post-it note with a J, H, C or O.
-Jockey - founder.
-Horse - product.
-Course - market.
-Odds - financials.
It might be a J/H combo or other mixes.
6. In the end, tally up how many of each letter.
7. Is it balanced?
Think about it like this.
Investors listen to pitches all day.
All year.
They are smart people.
They are good at math.
They have experience.
They get it quickly.
Over-pitching one aspect of your story increases the chance they will check out and stop listening.
Because what they want to hear is in the second half of the deck.
3-7 minutes away.
Now try this.
1. Take a sheet of A4 paper.
2. Fold it in half vertically and then in half horizontally.
3. Write one of the four letters in the top left corner of each box.
4. JHCO
5. These are the four parts of your pitch.
6. Then, write three things for each part of your pitch.
Jockey: Your founder’s origin story. Why you? What have you achieved so far? Who's in the team?
Horse: Your product. Why do people need it? How did you make it? How do you defend it?
Course: Your market. Are you disrupting or reinvigorating? Who needs your thing? What is the COA?
Odds: Your numbers. How much have you made? How much you have spent? How much do you need to get how big, how fast?
Now, you are hitting all the areas an investor needs to give you a fast yes or no.
Both are perfect - if it is a fast no - with a smile, ask why.
If it is, yes - set up the next call and ask them what they want to hear more about.
You need to be able to do this with and without slides.
On the phone, in a noisy room, in the spotlight's glare.
I recently worked with a founder who raised £1M. And he didn't use the pitch deck. But the deck was in his head. He was 100% prepared.
He knew when it was time to pitch the jockey, the horse, the course and the odds.
Now, we need to get this pitch on video.
You've read blog Part 1 and are making videos on your phone in your garden or the local park.
Now, you want to pitch on video with visuals. You have a wicked, well-balanced, quick-pitch message. Perfect for short, personalised video pitches.
But wait, stop. Don't be a postage stamp on a postcard in Zoom.
You need to, mmhmm.
To what?"
Part 3 coming soon...
Want to learn more about pitching? Click here for a free copy of Martin's Pitching AZ eBook.
We look forward to building with you,
The foundercentre team
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