CONTENTS:
- Introduction
- Know Your End Users
- Don’t Forget the Basics
- Describe the Problem First
- Focus on Solution
- Briefly Tell About Your Team
- Discuss Future Goals and Vision
- Wrapping Up
Introduction
If you’re a startup, chances are that you might bump into angel investors anytime, anywhere—at a formal meet, conference, shopping mall, seminar, nearby office, or on an elevator. Well, you can’t let go of this golden opportunity. It’s the best chance to grab the attention of your potential investors or Venture Capitalists (VCs) and talk about your startup within 30 to 60 seconds.
Suppose you and your potential investor are on the same elevator and got just 30 or, say, 60 seconds to convince them; what should you do?
That’s when an elevator pitch comes to play. Who knows if your elevator pitch is so interesting that you end up getting an opportunity for a formal meeting with the investor?
It’s called an elevator pitch because it should have no fluff, only business. Keep it short but don’t make it sound monotonous or similar to your competitors. An elevator pitch for every startup should be unique and different.
It should focus on the current problem along with a brief explanation of what you are doing to solve the same. An elevator pitch gives you an opportunity to introduce your startup to your potential angel investor. Try your best. However, when it comes to creating a winning elevator pitch, there is no hard and fast rule.
Here are some tips to help you make a compelling elevator pitch, which can entice your potential investors on the first attempt.
Know Your End Users
Before going ahead, you have to be very clear about who your startup wishes to cater its products or services to. Investors don’t want any ambiguity. You should be very clear about your potential target market and end-users.
While putting forward your elevator pitch, you need to figure out how many potential customers you wish to reach out to while selling your product. You may be tempted to go into details and feel about mentioning TAM (Total Addressable the Market), but that won’t work. Your investors already know that you can’t target TAM as competitors are also there.
In such a case, you need to know about the expected SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market) that you are trying to reach out to.
You should clearly have the numbers in mind while pitching your startup for funding.
Don’t Forget the Basics
A 30-second or 60-second elevator pitch might not be enough to describe your startup and what it does, but it’s enough to arouse the level of curiosity of angel investors.
If the potential investor likes your startup pitch and asks you to contact them instead of saying, ‘Great idea, all the best! It means your elevator pitch has done its job.
Within 30 seconds, you have to introduce your startup, speak about what it does, how it works, and for whom it intends to sell its products or services.
At the same time, you need to address ‘why now.’ It means what compels you to come out with such a product or service now. Here, you can cite the primary concerns of customers and explain how your startup can help them.
Describe the Problem First
If your startup doesn’t address the concern of its customers, then you’re doing it wrong. The very purpose of a startup is to identify customers’ pain points first and then figure out meaningful solutions to them. The problem can be anything, but your startup should present itself as a problem-solver.
Focus on Solution
Within 30 seconds of your elevator pitch, you need to describe the problem that your startup is trying to solve along with a feasible solution on which it has already started working.
It should sound natural. Never confuse your potential investor by explaining your startup products or services first without explaining the day-to-day problems that customers go through in their lives.
You should address the pain points of the customers and briefly explain how you are addressing their concerns. You can’t skip the first step and directly go to the second step.
Try to make sure that your solution is straightforward and you can conclude it within a few words.
An elevator pitch doesn’t allow you to speak at length. If the investor likes your startup idea and follows up with you later, then you can offer them a copy of a pitch deck containing all essential details relating to your startup.
Briefly Tell About Your Team
Your elevator pitch gets a boost when you give a brief overview of who you are working with. A startup with a great team tends to have a better prospect of getting shortlisted and funded by angel investors than others.
So, it always makes sense to briefly introduce your team to the investor. You can mention your co-founder and top leadership, their vision, and why you believe they are the right people to execute your startup ideas.
Discuss Future Goals and Vision
Angel investors are always looking for the right startup platform to invest in. They invest with a futuristic goal in mind.
Your elevator pitch should give a glimpse of your future goals and upcoming milestones. Don’t hesitate to share some success stories if you have already accomplished the same.
Wrapping Up
In a nutshell, an elevator pitch is the summary of your startup, the pain points of customers that you are addressing, and what you’re doing to solve their problems.
An ideal elevator pitch should be neither too short that you miss out on providing any important information to your potential investor, and it shouldn’t be too big that your investors lose interest in it.
You should always have an outline of your elevator pitch ready and practice the same in front of the mirror thrice a day. Once you feel that you can satisfactorily explain your startup ideas within 30 to 60 seconds in front of a mirror, you’ll be eventually successful in doing so in front of your investor, too.
