Archive for Ideas

Pitching ideas….The elevator pitch

April 4, 2009 at 9:24 pm · Filed under Ideas, Sell it to me, Tools

What’s an elevator pitch?

An elevator pitch is a brief e-mail summary of your business. Or a short story that you can tell in the course of a elevator ride.

4340392_a136ff594b_oYou use the elevator pitch to get meetings with prospective investors. Typically, you ask someone whom the investor trusts to pass along your elevator pitch with a thumbs-up.

And if you don’t have an introduction, an amazing elevator pitch is critical to a successful cold e-mail.

Your elevator pitch is more important than a business plan or executive summary. In fact, with a good introduction and elevator pitch, you don’t really need a business plan or executive summary.

We crafted this annotated elevator pitch using information we gleaned from one of Marc Andreessen’s blog posts about Ning (Marc is also the founder of Netscape):
Subject: Introducing Ning to Blue Shirt Capital [A useful subject line!]

Hi [Middleman],

Thanks for offering to introduce us to Blue Shirt Capital. [Reiterating the social proof of the introducer.] I’ve attached a short presentation about our company, Ning. [He attached a deck.]
Briefly, Ning lets you create your own social network for anything. For free. In 2 minutes. [What's the high concept pitch? What does the product help the customer do? Who is the customer?] It’s as easy as starting a blog. [What's the metaphor?] Try it at: http://ning.com [Link to the product, screencast, or screenshots.]
We built Ning to unlock the great ideas from people all over the world who want to use this amazing medium in their lives. [What's the big problem or opportunity?]

We have over 115,000 user-created networks, and our page views are growing 10% per week. [Traction.] We previously raised $44M from Legg Mason and others, including myself. [More traction and social proof.]

Before Ning, I started Netscape (acquired by AOL for $4.2B) and Opsware (acquired by HP for $1.6B). [Team's past successes.]

Blue Shirt’s investments in companies like Extensive Enterprises tell me that they could be a great partner for Ning. [Why are you interested in this investor?] We’re starting meetings with investors next week, and I would love to show Blue Shirt what we’re building at Ning. [Call to action and subtle scarcity.]

Best,

Marc Andreessen
xyz@ning.com
415.555.1212 [Contact information -- how thoughtful.]

Notice the email uses good grammar, punctuation, and capitalization, as well as short paragraphs and sentences.

Your e-mail should be no longer than this example, which is already too long. Challenge yourself to keep the pitch under 100 words. And keep the product description brief — this pitch describes the product in one paragraph with 29 words.

When in doubt, follow this template exactly. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have Marc’s past successes, just explain the success you have. The rest of the pitch should be devoted to your traction, team, and social proof.

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Stop-Start for ideas

March 14, 2009 at 10:22 pm · Filed under Favorites, Ideas

Stop working.

What? Yes, well kind of. I have always found in my that some of my best ideas, greatest accomplishments, come not from spending more time at work but from time away from work. I was always fortunate I worked in international sales so found myself with time to work outside the business. I maintain a diverse level of interests, both because I love learning but also because it helps me succeed. I often find myself applying what I learn from reading a book on, say, brain science or parenting or underwater basket weaving, directly to my business. There are no new ideas; only old ideas used in new ways. You don’t need to quit your job, of course – you can start by just taking a lunch break. Try it; you may come back more relaxed and with a completely new perspective.

Start asking questions.

When times get bad, we stop asking good questions. The answers seem so obvious and pessimistic that we fall victim to assumptions. But now is the time to be inquisitive and start asking the right type of questions. Your brain is a prediction machine — if you ask the right questions, you will usually get some surprising answers. The best questions are prospective and start with how, why, and what (as opposed to retreating questions like “how did this happen,” “why me,” and “what in the world is going on”). If all seems hopeless, then try asking different questions.

Stop/Start ideas

So next time you invest in yourself and you travel, have a meal… wonder what problems this business has; question the service; could your experience be better? Develop a passion and understanding for anything business related. Ideas will flow in a way you wont be able to contain.

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