What to include in your 2-minute startup pitch
The following is an excerpt from this post on the ThinkApps blog.
Michael Seibel (partner at Y-Combinator) said that a 10-minute pitch is a waste of time and you should be able to get it all done in two minutes, even when talking to investors.
“One thing I like to tell founders is the more you talk, the more you have an opportunity to say something that people don’t like. Talk less and it will probably be better.”
So, for your 2-minute pitch, start with the 30-second pitch and then add the following points, ideally covering each in a single sentence:
1. What is your unique insight?
What are you bringing to the table that your competition isn’t? What is your “secret sauce”?
Whatever you call it, this is the part where you want to tell the investor something you know about your industry and business that they don’t know. Their ideal expression should be kind of an ah-ha face. This one can be two sentences.
2. How do you make money?
Seibel said that founders can be weird about this point, especially if the answer is advertising. But it’s best not to beat around the bush or sugarcoat it because then it just seems like you have no idea how you’re going to make money.
He said don’t run away from this sentence. Speak simply and directly about how you plan to make money and then move on.
3. Who’s on your team?
To investors, the best achievements of the people on your team are going to be the ones that made investors money, seeing as they’re also investors who want to make money. Even if you don’t have that on your founding team’s résumé, do not resort to listing PhDs.
The investor wants to know how many founders you have — Seibel said, preferably between two and four. They also want to know: how many are technical and how many are business-oriented? And, how long have you known each other and how did you meet?
I’m the host of The Pitch and we’re looking for startups who have mastered their 2-minute pitch to come on our show. You can listen to previous episodes of The Pitch in iTunes.
