3 Steps to Become Pitch Perfect with Colette Grgic, CIO of BlueChilli
So you have an idea. A brilliant idea. And to make your idea a reality, you likely need the support that comes from investors, accelerator, and incubators. That’s where Colette Grgic comes in. As CIO of BlueChilli, a Sydney-based startup and innovation studio, Colette has sat through over 500 pitches. “If you’re an entrepreneurs it’s your job to always be on and always be pitching,” Colette noted. But as a new entrepreneur, pitching can be the most stressful part of the process.
I sat down with Colette and got an inside look at her startup journey, what it takes to succeed as a startup, and why startup failure is a personal success. As a former founder, Colette can very much put herself in the shoes of the entrepreneurs that pitch her accelerator. With all her personal and professional experience, Colette has spent years uncovering and refining the startup pitch.
“Pitching has two sides. Content framework and delivery. One you can learn and the other you have to practice,” Colette remarked. Pitch frameworks help you get your idea across clearly. Ultimately, you want your audience to listen to what you’re saying, understand it, and be able to repeat it to someone else.
The Gaddie Pitch is the framework Colette recommends, and it can be broken down into three parts.
1. You Know How….
First you address the problem in a way that’s not high level. Bring it down to the user level. Before you even speak one word, evaluate the person you’re pitching to and adjust your pitch based on what you think they might be most interested in. A fashion blogger and a major tech company are going to have very different interests. So many people use the same elevator pitch for everyone they meet, but with a format like the Gaddie Pitch, it’s easy to adjust your pitch for your audience.
To illustrate the Gaddie Pitch, Colette used the example of a hair band fitness tracker. You know how you want to track your steps, but you don’t want anyone to know. Fitness trackers on the market are bulky and unattractive. Colette gave us a complete Gaddie Pitch sample in our interview.
2. What we do…
This is the solution. Describe your product or service in a way that anyone can understand. If you’re telling your grandma, she should understand your solution and be able to repeat it to other grandmas. The Gaddie Pitch is just to catch people’s attention. It leads to the next meeting or next step toward an investor or journalist.
3. In fact… Jazz hands
This is where you give evidence of how awesome you are. It’s the, I’m not crazy, I’m credible. The third section of the Gaddie Pitch shows that you’re getting traction. It’s jazz hands. Whatever your most impressive number is, that’s what you should share. Do you already have the best advisors? Have you completed 10 customer interviews? Have customers? Take your best number and frame it in a good way.
The Gaddie Pitch is a quick and easy way to get your idea across. Want to learn the Gaddie Pitch from Antony Gaddie himself? Get a detailed look into the three steps of the Gaddie Pitch.
If the pitch is only the beginning, here’s what you’re going to want to add next: what you’ve done, what you’re doing, and what you’re going to do. For example, you might be done building the technology, currently doing testing, and going to create a partnership. Adding these things is where you create opportunities for yourself and your startup. Colette reminded, “It’s always about the next thing.”
There only 2 times when you shouldn’t be pitching. When you desperately need the money and when you don’t know what you’ll spend money on. When you’re desperate, it’s either too late or you’re going to get a bad deal. Investors need to know exactly how you’ll spend your money. Find out for every dollar they put in, how it will affect your metrics. If you can’t articulate this, don’t go pitching.
Don’t shy away from acknowledging your failures. “When an entrepreneur is pitching and they tell me they had a failure and learned from it, that’s a positive thing,” Colette said. The success of a business doesn’t have to do with a revenue number, it has to do with how well it’s run.
Get ‘The Gaddie Pitch’ template
Are you ready to use the Gaddie Pitch for your idea? Fast track your success with investors, accelerators, and more with the free Gaddie Pitch template.
