Pitching your idea. 5 main takeaways.
Pitching has become part of my daily life after I started my startup in 2016. My first startup was Remuzio, a platform for hiring on-demand musicians for private events. The idea seemed so good, and to be honest, I did not know how business is done. All I knew — it could be disrupting the music industry. It has a market. I could be profitable in the end. But. I did not know about all the complexities.
Launching the first startup, you are learning mostly to communicate with different kinds of people. Getting a team together costs a lot of effort for a fresh entrepreneur. As you are a founder of an idea, you are intrinsically motivated, so you are ready to work without a salary of 12 hours a day, but probably only you. Other people, who also like an idea, even if they receive part of the equity from the company, are not motivated as the initial founder. Attracting that kind of person (for capital) is one of the exciting yet hard things to do. If you are searching for a co-founder who is competent in something you are not skilled in, you have to be inspiring and driving and super-clear while telling about the idea. Sometimes, just pitching an idea is not enough; you already have to envision the success and the path to success to attract talents. What was an exciting outcome for me — I was not prepared that to different people, you have to adjust the words event if the logic and content of the pitch is the same. While working with a team, I noticed that I talk to developers and designers differently. For ones, the more logical, structured, and clear plan is needed, for the other more creative and challenging, yet also clear strategy is necessary. I lost my first co-founder just because I was expecting him to be interested and ask a question. He instead was interested in my viewpoint and vision, and how do I see the steps of us getting the funding.
Starting the startup, I thought it might be challenging to get to real investors. In reality, nowadays, with all the different accelerators, pitch competitions, idea incubators getting to real investors might not be as hard as it seems. Already after half a year, I won the pitch competition at Startup Minsk — Riga train incubator. How I did it? I was prepared. I made it clear to customers. I was sure. I sold the idea. But not the investors. Pitch deck was excellent, the idea was good; our solution was not so right to receive funding. The music industry from outside looks pretty simple. Do you want to hire an artist? You write to his agent/to him directly. You book him. You pay to him — the end of the story. In reality, the music industry, especially talking about private event buskers, is highly corrupted and is all in cash. Maybe in the future, when money does not exist, I will work, but not back then. Nowadays, buskers in London are using contactless terminals to accepts the donation.
I killed the idea after some time due to an incomplete picture of the industry, and my team left me, but it is not the point of the story. From that moment, I have already participated in various competitions, and I am always prepared to pitch. At least about myself. You have to master the pitch about yourself. You are pitching while dating, making new friends, to your potential employer, to your parents …
You never know when you will meet your potential investor, date, friend, or opportunity to explain and impact some decisions. Have your version of pitch in different variations and time-frames. Definitely have your elevator pitch (most funny one), 1-min pitch, 3-min pitch, 5–10min pitch-explanation.
See picture below what to include in your pitch depending on time available.
Summary
#Be always prepared for the pitch.
#Know how much time you have.
#Adjust your pitch content and tone according to your audience.
#Be sure about things you speak and know all the possible questions.
#Be yourself and relax.
