Member-only story

How I Took My Elevator Pitch from Good to Unforgettable

Storytelling always wins

Kele Mogotsi
The Startup
5 min readMar 2, 2021

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In the past year, I’ve scored highly in two pitch rounds in an entrepreneurship program and I don’t deserve it. Okay, my pitches are clear, concise, and direct. They address the most important criteria in an elevator pitch: the problem, the goal, and the audience. I also delivered them confidently, despite my stuttering speech impediment.

On paper, winning these pitch rounds could make sense but it’s not with faux-humility that I say I shouldn’t have won.

So, what’s the problem then?

They were safe.

Playing it safe as an entrepreneur is like mixing oil with water. It doesn’t work. Safe is boring. Safe doesn’t ignite a passion in you or excitement in your audience. Some people might write a check for “safe” but no one is going to want to back you with a blank check and ride with you to the mountaintops for “safe”. For an entrepreneur like myself, in the entertainment industry, safe is kryptonite. Actors are meant to be enigmatic risk-takers, both on and off-camera. These qualities should have been dripping in my pitch.

As an actor, I get to tell stories for a living. As a producer, I create these stories from inception. In showbusiness, storytelling is a paramount craft and skill. If…

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The Startup
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Kele Mogotsi
Kele Mogotsi

Written by Kele Mogotsi

An introverted attention-seeker and chronic continent-hopper. Rhymes with jelly.

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