Academy Sneak Peek: The Pitch
As part of the Cannes Startup Academy, founders will have the opportunity to perfect their pitch and present in front of industry-leading agencies and brands. So this week, we sat down with R/GA presentation guru Dave Isaacs — a creative director who has helped dozens of founders tell their company story — and asked for his top pitching tips.
Tip #1: There is no secret formula.
It’s important to remember that there’s no “secret formula,” when it comes to pitching your company, Dave says. “The reality is that pitches are unique, just like companies and founders. So you need to approach the process with an open mind.”
Tip #2: A pitch doesn’t start with a deck.
“I’m always surprised that people want to start building their pitch deck right away,” Dave says. “If you were an architect, you wouldn’t start building without first putting together a prototype. If you were a developer, you wouldn’t jump into code before laying out a plan. But for some reason, people think they can skip all the preparatory steps when it comes to putting together a pitch. You need to start by laying out your narrative.”
Tip #3: Perspective is key.
“What is a pitch at the end of the day?” Dave asks. “It’s a point of view.” In many cases, especially when companies are young, investors are putting their money behind a founder and their idea: and they’re looking for a unique perspective on a problem or situation. “There have never been more founders out their pitching their ideas, and every industry is so crowded,” he adds. It’s never been more important to share why you’re doing what you’re doing.”
Tip #4: The most important thing you can do? Simplify.
“When you’re the founder of a tech company, there’s so much that you can talk about,” Dave says. “You can go so deep. We help people resist the urge to answer every question. We’re here to help them simplify without being simplistic and dumbing down their product. You can still be simple and tell a compelling story that’s educational and inspirational.”
Tip #5: Time constraints can be an opportunity.
One of the most difficult things for founders is figuring out how to pitch their company in four minutes or less, Dave explains. “They’ve taken this huge leap of faith by starting a company, and then we tell them to strip away so much of their story — it’s hard. We try to encourage them to think about this time constraint as something that’s liberating,” he says. “You can pitch without getting bogged down.”
Tip #6: Great presentations are not made once.
In other words… practice, practice, practice. You’d be surprised by how many people assume that most entrepreneurs are gifted public speakers who can just get up there and wing it, but that’s really not always the case, Dave says. “Pitching is an iterative process. Your story can and should evolve over time.”
Some final words of advice?
“Think of pitching as writing a sentence,” Dave says. “You don’t want it to end with an exclamation point or a question mark. You want it to end with an ellipses. Think of it as a teaser for the conversations you’ll have with potential investors or clients. If your pitch is compelling, they’ll want to hear more.”
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In the lead up to our Cannes Startup Academy, we’ll continue to profile some of the people and activities that make our weeklong program unique. Soon, we’ll announce the female-founded startups that were selected for the program and share their founder stories as part of our Inclusive Innovation series. Stay tuned and follow us on Twitter as we count down to June 17th!
