The Elevator Pitch

 

The Elevator Pitch

According to Wikipedia the Elevator Pitch “is a short summary used to quickly and simply define a process, product, service or value proposition”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

However I prefer Sean Wise’ the Canadian start-up and VC expert’s definition, who says “it’s the term used for the two minute presentation, the exact amount of time it takes to go from the lobby to the investors office on the top floor”.

Sean’s talking about the elevator pitch used to harness investment!

 

 

 

 

 

 

So what makes a good elevator pitch; well according to Sean Wise, it needs to have two key elements;

1^st You have to lay out the pain statement – What problem are you trying to solve?

2^nd You must show Value Proposition – How does your venture solve that problem (problem v cost)?

Sean goes on to say that all good elevator pitches must contain four key elements;

1. It must be succinct, after all you’ve only got two minutes
2. It must be easy to understand, both your grandmother and your grandchildren need to understand it
3. It must be greed inducing, after all investors want to make money
4. It has to be irrefutable, if your elevator pitch leaves people with more questions than answers, you need to ‘go back to the drawing board’

Now that’s one take on the elevator pitch, while another is Daniel H Pink, author of To Sell is Human who says he’s identified six NEW pitches or Six Successors to the Elevator Pitch;

1. The Pixar Pitch – Based on a conversation with a Pixar story artist, whereby you utilise the power of storytelling to communicate an idea.
2. Subject Line – A headline, like in a newspaper to grab attention and create interest
3. Rhyme or the Rhyming Pitch – Apparently rhyming helps with ‘processing fluency’, if people process better, they absorb and understand it better; e.g. “Fail to prepare, then prepare to fail”
4. Questions – If you ask a question, you’re compelled to respond. Because with a question, people stop and think about what you’ve just said
5. Twitter – Use twitter, I wonder was that put in because he needed a 5^th pitch?
6. One Word Pitch – In other words distil your message into one word which one become synonymous with