How To Pitch Your Startup

by @anthonyfrasier

Anthony FrasierFounder, The Phat StartupPartner, BrickCity Tech / Converge

I founded Playd, an app that allowed gamers to share their activity across multiple platforms. I was featured on “CNN’s Black in America: The New Promised Land - Silicon Valley.” I also made NBC The Grio’s 100: Making History Today list. Was featured in Tech Crunch, CNN Money, Black Enterprise, and speak at various industry events.

How To Pitch Your StartupBecause there is a natural storytelling urge and ability in all human beings, even just a little nurturing of this impulse can bring about

astonishing and delightful results. —Nancy Mellon, The Art of Storytelling

How To Pitch Your StartupEverytime you pitch, your telling a

Story

The one sentence story:

The high concept pitch

How To Pitch Your Startup

How To Pitch Your Startup

How To Pitch Your Startup

How To Pitch Your StartupIt’s easy for me to guess what these movies

are about.

Can we say the same for your startup?

How To Pitch Your StartupSomething

FamiliarSomething

FamiliarYour

Startup=+

How To Pitch Your Startup

For my first company “Playd” I told people it was......

for

Because Foursquare tracked locations, we were doing the same activity for video games.

How To Pitch Your StartupMost tech startups try to use other popular tech products. But anything familiar will do the job.

Lets try out a few

Lets try out a few

Netflix for...

Lets try out a few

Netflix for... Pets

Lets try out a few

Netflix for... Pets

Evernote for...

Lets try out a few

Netflix for... Pets

Evernote for... Whiteboards

Lets try out a few

Netflix for... Pets

Evernote for... Whiteboards

Google for...

Lets try out a few

Netflix for... Pets

Evernote for... Whiteboards

Google for... Home Buyers

Lets try out a few

Netflix for... Pets

Evernote for... Whiteboards

Google for... Home Buyers

Bible for...

Lets try out a few

Netflix for... Pets

Evernote for... Whiteboards

Google for... Home Buyers

Bible for... Event Planners

This pitch is great for fans, customers, and investors to quickly spread the word about

your company or project.

The thirty second story:

The elevator pitch

An elevator pitch doesn't have to actually happen in an elevator.

The elevator is a metaphor for the time it takes to get to the next floor or.....

HURRY UP, YOU DONT HAVE MUCH TIME!

How To Pitch Your StartupAlmost a million ways online

teaching you how to write one.

How To Pitch Your StartupSo I’ll show you a simple framework to help start.

Your 30 second pitch should include all of this stuff

1. High Concept pitch/What is your product?2. Problem3. Solution4. How do you make money?5. Traction6. Who is working on the product?7. Why are you better than your competition?8. The ask/Follow up

GarbageDay is Weather.com for trash pick ups. 2 out of 5 people forget when it’s trash day, as a result end up paying fees. We created a mobile app that gives users notifications when it’s trash day, saving them time and money. The app is free so we make money displaying local advertising. We have 10,000 users and make $2,000 in monthly revenue. My name is Anthony Frasier, I'm building the app with my co founder James Lopez a computer science major. There are similar apps out, but none have our calendar integration. I would love to get your card and set up a time to speak further about GarbageDay.

Lets try out one

GarbageDay is Weather.com for trash pick ups. 2 out of 5 people forget when it’s trash day, as a result end up paying fees. We created a mobile app that gives users notifications when it’s trash day, saving them time and money. The app is free so we make money displaying local advertising. We have 10,000 users and make $2,000 in monthly revenue. My name is Anthony Frasier, I'm building the app with my co founder James Lopez a computer science major. There are similar apps out, but none have our calendar integration. I would love to get your card and set up a time to speak further about GarbageDay.

1. High Concept pitch/What is your product?2. Problem3. Solution4. How do you make money?5. Traction6. Who is working on the product?7. Why are you better than your competition?8. The ask/Follow up

The Breakdown:

SacrificeYou don’t have much time, so the name of the

game here is

1. High Concept pitch/What is your product? 3s2. Problem 4s3. Solution 4s4. How do you make money? 3s5. Traction 5s6. Who is working on the product? 4s7. Why are you better than your competition? 4s8. The ask/Follow up 3s

Choose how many seconds you want to spend on each

1. High Concept pitch/What is your product? 3s + 2. Problem 4s -3. Solution 4s +4. How do you make money? 3s -5. Traction 5s -6. Who is working on the product? 4s +7. Why are you better than your competition? 4s -8. The ask/Follow up 3s +

Then add/subtract on the areas you feel are most important.

1. High Concept pitch/What is your product? 3s + 2. Problem 4s -3. Solution 4s +4. How do you make money?5. Traction 6. Who is working on the product? 4s +6. Why are you better than your competition? 4s -7. The ask/Follow up 3s +

Try your best not to sacrifice these two items.

How To Pitch Your Startup

ThenPractice

How To Pitch Your StartupKeep going until you get it right.

How To Pitch Your StartupKeep going until you get it right.

Seek critics and ask for feedback.

How To Pitch Your StartupConfidencePassionPosture

Work on displaying good:

The five minute story:

Investor pitch deck/presentation

You will have to have two versions of this pitch

One deck you send digitally, without you being present.

More information

One deck you present live and in person.

More oral information, more imagery

Can you imaginean investoropening her emailstaring at theart work tryingto figure out what it means?

Can you imaginean investorwatching you pitchstaring at thewall of text tryingto figure out what it means?

So make adjustments. Include an appendix if necessary.

you can create a pitch deck in any of these formats

Google Drive Power PointKeynoteAdobe PDF

deck = collection or series of slides

Your pitch deck should have 10-12 slides telling your story

How To Pitch Your Startup

I like Mark Suster’s formula

1.Bio of top 3 people in the company.  Short sentences, bullet points, easy to read.2. Problem definition (with the market … it’s why you exist)3. How you solve that problem conceptually at the highest level4. Details on the solution[Demo could go here]5. Why you believe there is economic value in what you do / how you think you can monetize one day6. Competition7. Progress to date of your company (when started, key milestones, what shape is the product in, any pilot / beta customers, financing)8. Market sizing9. Potential future exit possibilities10. How much are you raising, how long will it last, key milestones you plan to hit before the next round

How To Pitch Your Startup

I like Mark Suster’s formula

1.Bio of top 3 people in the company.  Short sentences, bullet points, easy to read.2. Problem definition (with the market … it’s why you exist)3. How you solve that problem conceptually at the highest level4. Details on the solution[Demo could go here]5. Why you believe there is economic value in what you do / how you think you can monetize one day6. Competition7. Progress to date of your company (when started, key milestones, what shape is the product in, any pilot / beta customers, financing)8. Market sizing9. Potential future exit possibilities10. How much are you raising, how long will it last, key milestones you plan to hit before the next round

How To Pitch Your Startup

I like Mark Suster’s formula

1.Bio of top 3 people in the company.  Short sentences, bullet points, easy to read.2. Problem definition (with the market … it’s why you exist)3. How you solve that problem conceptually at the highest level4. Details on the solution[Demo could go here]5. Why you believe there is economic value in what you do / how you think you can monetize one day6. Competition7. Progress to date of your company (when started, key milestones, what shape is the product in, any pilot / beta customers, financing)8. Market sizing9. Potential future exit possibilities10. How much are you raising, how long will it last, key milestones you plan to hit before the next round

How To Pitch Your Startup

I like Mark Suster’s formula

1.Bio of top 3 people in the company.  Short sentences, bullet points, easy to read.2. Problem definition (with the market … it’s why you exist)3. How you solve that problem conceptually at the highest level4. Details on the solution[Demo could go here]5. Why you believe there is economic value in what you do / how you think you can monetize one day6. Competition7. Progress to date of your company (when started, key milestones, what shape is the product in, any pilot / beta customers, financing)8. Market sizing9. Potential future exit possibilities10. How much are you raising, how long will it last, key milestones you plan to hit before the next round

How To Pitch Your Startup

I like Mark Suster’s formula

1.Bio of top 3 people in the company.  Short sentences, bullet points, easy to read.2. Problem definition (with the market … it’s why you exist)3. How you solve that problem conceptually at the highest level4. Details on the solution[Demo could go here]5. Why you believe there is economic value in what you do / how you think you can monetize one day6. Competition7. Progress to date of your company (when started, key milestones, what shape is the product in, any pilot / beta customers, financing)8. Market sizing9. Potential future exit possibilities10. How much are you raising, how long will it last, key milestones you plan to hit before the next round

How To Pitch Your Startup

I like Mark Suster’s formula

1.Bio of top 3 people in the company.  Short sentences, bullet points, easy to read.2. Problem definition (with the market … it’s why you exist)3. How you solve that problem conceptually at the highest level4. Details on the solution[Demo could go here]5. Why you believe there is economic value in what you do / how you think you can monetize one day6. Competition7. Progress to date of your company (when started, key milestones, what shape is the product in, any pilot / beta customers, financing)8. Market sizing9. Potential future exit possibilities10. How much are you raising, how long will it last, key milestones you plan to hit before the next round

How To Pitch Your Startup

I like Mark Suster’s formula

1.Bio of top 3 people in the company.  Short sentences, bullet points, easy to read.2. Problem definition (with the market … it’s why you exist)3. How you solve that problem conceptually at the highest level4. Details on the solution[Demo could go here]5. Why you believe there is economic value in what you do / how you think you can monetize one day6. Competition7. Progress to date of your company (when started, key milestones, what shape is the product in, any pilot / beta customers, financing)8. Market sizing9. Potential future exit possibilities10. How much are you raising, how long will it last, key milestones you plan to hit before the next round

How To Pitch Your Startup

I like Mark Suster’s formula

1.Bio of top 3 people in the company.  Short sentences, bullet points, easy to read.2. Problem definition (with the market … it’s why you exist)3. How you solve that problem conceptually at the highest level4. Details on the solution[Demo could go here]5. Why you believe there is economic value in what you do / how you think you can monetize one day6. Competition7. Progress to date of your company (when started, key milestones, what shape is the product in, any pilot / beta customers, financing)8. Market sizing9. Potential future exit possibilities10. How much are you raising, how long will it last, key milestones you plan to hit before the next round

How To Pitch Your Startup

I like Mark Suster’s formula

1.Bio of top 3 people in the company.  Short sentences, bullet points, easy to read.2. Problem definition (with the market … it’s why you exist)3. How you solve that problem conceptually at the highest level4. Details on the solution[Demo could go here]5. Why you believe there is economic value in what you do / how you think you can monetize one day6. Competition7. Progress to date of your company (when started, key milestones, what shape is the product in, any pilot / beta customers, financing)8. Market sizing9. Potential future exit possibilities10. How much are you raising, how long will it last, key milestones you plan to hit before the next round

How To Pitch Your Startup

I like Mark Suster’s formula

1.Bio of top 3 people in the company.  Short sentences, bullet points, easy to read.2. Problem definition (with the market … it’s why you exist)3. How you solve that problem conceptually at the highest level4. Details on the solution[Demo could go here]5. Why you believe there is economic value in what you do / how you think you can monetize one day6. Competition7. Progress to date of your company (when started, key milestones, what shape is the product in, any pilot / beta customers, financing)8. Market sizing9. Potential future exit possibilities10. How much are you raising, how long will it last, key milestones you plan to hit before the next round

You don’t have to follow this closely, but its a great guide on what each slide should be about.

?

For example when I pitched my first company “Playd” I switched some things around.

My team wasn't super technical, so I placed it near the end to put more focus on the problem I was solving and traction.

Traction Market Team

How To Pitch Your StartupTaking too long explaining or demo’ing anything

Common Mistake

How To Pitch Your Startup

Use a slide size that makes sense for large screens. I used 1280 x 720 for this deck your viewing.

When presenting live, try your best to keep it under five minutes.

How To Pitch Your StartupConfidencePassionPosture

Work on displaying good:

How To Pitch Your StartupPractice

In theMirror

Resources that will make this presentation 10 times better for you!

Building Great Presentations by Mattan Griffel - http://slidesha.re/URqwFt

slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations by Nancy Duarte - http://amzn.to/R0iGgM

What Every BODY is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People by Joe Navarro - http://amzn.to/SwyyJD

Say It Like Obama and WIN!: The Power of Speaking with Purpose and Vision by Shelly Leanne - http://amzn.to/Y6IomU

Thanks!Hit me up,lets chat!

Anthony Frasierinfo@anthonyfrasier.com@anthonyfrasier

Come check me out at:anthonyfrasier.com &ThePhatStartup.com