Much of the discussion at New Orleans Entrepreneur Week was about how to pitch. At some point, all management jobs are sales; first you make good decisions, then you get people to buy into them. That takes selling skills.
For entrepreneurs, the first big selling job is to funders. It takes money to get a business off the ground. It also takes customers, and it takes employees who may have other and more lucrative offers.
One of the best lines from the presenters was “Networking is one letter away from not working.” The line is original to Max Gurvits, and darned if it isn’t a good one. You have to have something to sell, and that is the first step in having a good pitch. After that, the process is simple. In other words, there are no secrets.
So what do you need to know about pitching your startup? You have a have a plan prepared. You have a strong introduction to get the funder’s attention right off the bat. You understand how your product fits into the market – if you say your product is not like anything else in the entire world, then the funder will assume you have not done the research. You want to address the point of pain and the solution to it. Push for a decision, push for action.
And accept that the answer may be no and you have to do it all over again. It’s all about process and persistence, like so much of life,
That’s the summary of three presentations on pitching and persuasion. It’s a lot like exercise; at some point, you just have to get up and do it, even though it will be hard.
