the art of the pitch
TRANSCRIPT
IMPACTING PEOPLE’S LIVES
* THROUGH TECHNOLOGY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN EMERGING MARKETS*
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“ONE OF THE BEST EVENTS FOR STARTUPS”
“HOW DO YOU SPOT UNDISCOVERED,
GENIUS STARTUPS ?”
”A WINDOW INTO DISRUPTION IN EMERGING
MARKETS”
“FIND THE BEST GLOBAL STARTUPS”
Since 2013, Seedstars World is the largest and most prestigious pitching competition to spot the best entrepreneurs in emerging markets, those
shaping tomorrow’s future.
One motto : talents are everywhere.
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The competition runs in 55+ emerging markets
* Hubs with Seedspace (planned and current) Yearly local “Seedstars World” events and network
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AFRICAAbidjan, Accra, Addis Ababa, Cape
Town, Dakar, Dar Es Salaam, Gaborone, Johannesburg,Kampala,
Kigali, Lagos, Luanda, Maputo, Nairobi
LATAMBogota, Buenos Aires, Lima, Mexico
City, Montevideo, Panama, Quito, Santiago, Sao Paulo
CEE & MENAAlger, Amman, Baku, Beirut, Belgrade,
Cairo, Casablanca, Dubai, Istanbul, Kiev, Moscow, Ramallah, Sofia, Tehran,
Yerevan
ASIABangalore, Bangkok, Dhaka, Ho Chi Minh,
HK, Islamabad, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Naypyidaw, Seoul, Shanghai,
Singapore, Sydney, Taipei, Tokyo
Access to 1’500+ entrepreneurs, investors,
incubators, corporates, etc.
THE ART OF THE PITCH
What is a pitch?
“I PITCH THEREFORE I AM”GUY KAWASAKI
The goal of the pitch is to sell ● Your product● Your company ● and yourself
in just a short period of time.
“IF YOU CAN’T EXPLAIN IT SIMPLY, YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND IT WELL ENOUGH”
ALBERT EINSTEIN
Anatomy of a (great) pitch HOOK
ProblemSolution
Market SizeBusiness Model
TractionCompetition
TeamThe Ask
The Hook. Capture your audience immediately!
DEMO goes here
No bull****
Don`t be shy. Make your ask
Tell your unfair advantage
Become Captain Hook
The HookThe first 30 seconds will decide whether people will listen to you for the next 5:30
An image is worth a 1000 words
The Problem
What is the problem you’re solving?
Facts tell, stories sell
The Problematic Story
Who are the actors of your story?Age? Sex? Interest?
What are the pains they are living?Who are you talking to?
The Problem“CUSTOMERS DON’T CARE ABOUT YOUR SOLUTION, THEY CARE ABOUT THEIR PROBLEM”
DAVE MCCLURE, 500 STARTUPS
Solution
Elevator pitch + Features + DEMO
Keep it short
« It’s the PayPal for Africa. »-Simeon Ononobi, Founder of SimplePay
Solution
Identify 5 keywords that are specific to your value proposition only.
Seamless, effortless, easy, simple, intelligrent, beautiful, integrated, happy, experience, quick,
reliable, convenient, unique, free, automatic, cheap…
Solution
“EXPLAIN YOUR SOLUTION IN A TWEET. YES, THAT’S 140 CHARACTERS.”
SEEDSTARS WORLD
Business Model
Business Model
B2C B2B B2B2C B2GFREEMIUM SUBCRIPTION
ADVERTISEMENTCOMMISSION PAY-AS-YOU-GO ONE-OFF SALE
Business ModelSelect 2 - 3 top sources of revenue
Market Size2 approaches
Top DownForrester, Gartner,
World Bank reported..
Not so cool Very cool!
Bottom upX customer in market,
market size, spent / user
Market Size: Bottom Up
How many people?How much are they paying?
How often do they pay?
Grow from what you can observe to the larger known market sizes.
Traction3 MEASURES TO CONSIDER1. Volume (Revenue, $/User, Life
Time Value)
2. Cost (Cost of Acquisition / CAC)
3. Conversion (Conversion Rate / activation, Churn Rate)
Validating your market
IF I HAD ASKED MY CUSTOMERS WHAT THEY WANTED, THEY WOULD HAVE SAID A FASTER HORSE.
HENRY FORD
Feedback vs. Data80 people like the App vs. 10 people bought it
CompetitionAre you… better, faster, stronger ?
Lame Cool
Fun
Boring
Make it visual !
YOU
Competition
Illustrate your advantage in a table!Exciting The Best Boring
Seedstars World X X
Pitchit X
Start Down X
Entrepreneur Ship X
Team
SteveCTO
ElonCOO
AliseeCEO
Show a dream team. What makes yours different?Show Logos of past employers > writing them
The End
THE ASKDo you need an introduction? A team member? Funding? A strategic partner? An advisor? Customers? Feedback?
The End
Say what you want people to remember for ever. Then, drop the mic.
THE ART OF COMMUNICATION
“THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF PUBLIC SPEAKERS - THOSE THAT ARE NERVOUS AND THOSE THAT ARE LIARS”
MARK TWAIN
What’s your one goal?To convince others
Voice Toolbox(verbal)
Body LanguageToolbox
(non verbal)
VOICETOOLBOX
NoseThroatChest
Register
Fast = excitementSlow = emphasis
Silence <> umms & ahhs
Pace
Monotone vs sing-song
Prosody
Soft spoken = get attentionAlways loud = careless
Volume
BodyRegister
PaceProsodyVolume
Voice
Non-verbal communication but over half the message
BODY LANGUAGETOOLBOX
Communicate &
Gauge response
Eye Contact
Universal!Don’t freeze up
Facial Expressions
Gestures
Positive
Neutral
Negative
The right gesture can help a speaker make his point.
The positive area is used to show positive arguments
and emotions
The neutral area is used for normal arguments – this is where most of
the gesture happens
The negative area is used
to show disappointment and frustration
Hidden hands = no trust Open palm gestures = open/honest
No arm crossing
Gestures
Face your audienceStand/sit tall
Posture
A QUICK JUMP CAN HELP YOU FIND THE RIGHT POSTURE
BodyRegister
PaceProsodyVolume
VoiceEye contact
Facial expressionGesturesPosture
A FEW LAST TIPS
The Golden Rules of PitchingABP = Always be Pitching
Practice Practice (but not too much)
Watch your time
Keep on going if you screw up
KISKIL: Keep It Simple, Keep It Lean!
The Golden Rules of PitchingNO MORE THAN 15 SLIDES
BULLET POINTS, NO TEXT
USE ICONS AND IMAGES
SIMPLE GRAPHS
JUST BE YOU(THE RULE TO RULE THEM ALL)
THANK YOUFOR LISTENING.
NOW IT’S YOUR TURN!