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PITCH COACHINGRheinland-Pitch @STARTPLATZ

http://startplatz.de

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BONUS MATERIALALL YOU NEED ABOUT FOUNDING A STARTUP (read it all!): http://VENTUREHACKS.COM/ARCHIVES

Get “Pitching Hacks” from Venture Hacks:http://venturehacks.com/pitching

Awesome Example Pitch Dissected by TechStars’ David Cohen:http://youtu.be/RAKJcWYAvW4

“Pitch Anything” interview with Oren Klaff:http://youtu.be/fXavS_IY42A

Bill Clinton, owning room, presence (watch twice, with and without sound):http://youtu.be/7ffbFvKlWqE

Apple is AWESOME (on adjectives and superlatives):http://youtu.be/Nx7v815bYUw

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TODAY’S PROGRAM1.Introduction to pitching

2.Rapid-fire Elevator Pitches, all

3.Selection of the best Elevator Pitches

4.Individual pitch coaching for the selected best elevator pitches

5.Final qualification pitching round & selection

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I’M VIDAR ANDERSENNorwegian living in Cologne, Germany

16+ years professional experience creating enterprise software for F500 and GOs

Startup Founder (hits & misses)

Corporate Entrepreneurship Consultant to F100 Corps

Educator (NEXT Instructor, University Lecturer on Startup Entrepreneurship, Lean Launchpad Instructor, EXIST Coach)

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SOME I’VE WORKED WITH

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I FOUND STUFF TOO

PITCHCADEMYAD & A - Andersen Dierick & Associates

GaussThe People Magnet

OneSec

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Startup Weekend CGN

http://cologne.startupweekend.org

vidarandersen.comhttp://swnext.co

Ping me about the next ‘NEXT Cologne’ if you want to apply

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I’VE BEEN AROUND

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Lean Launchpad Educators June 2013 at Stanford

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LET’S CONNECTtwitter: @blacktar

email: blacktar@gmail.comhttp://facebook.com/blacktarhttp://is.gd/blacktarlinkedin

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LET’S GET ROLLING

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3 TYPES OF PITCHES

The High-Concept Pitch

The Elevator Pitch

The Pitch Deck

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HIGH CONCEPT PITCH

SUMMARY: - Distills a startup’s vision into a single sentence- Perfect tool for fans and investors to spread the word about your company

The “We are the X for Y” pitch

The 140 characters or less pitch, the “twitter pitch”

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HIGH-CONCEPT

Hollywood has perfected the art of the high concept pitch: “Its Jaws in space!” (Alien)

For startups: “Friendster for dogs” (Dogster)“Flickr for video” (YouTube)“We network networks” (Cisco)

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HIGH-CONCEPT

Should be brief: One short sentence is perfect

People should already understand the building blocks of the pitch: Use familiar terms

It’s NOT your company’s tagline. (YouTube’s tagline is “Broadcast Yourself,” but their pitch is “Flickr for video”)

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SUMMARYIf you were to take-away one thing here today

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THE ONE THINGAnswer these two main questions:

“What problem are you solving & what solution do you offer?”

You must always be able to tell this in one or two short sentences - AT ALL TIMES

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AUDIENCE CHECKSo what problem are you solving & what solution do you offer?

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REALITY CHECK

People do not buy your product - They buy what it solves: the end-state, the outcome

Either how it makes them feel or which job they will get done with it

Now sell that end-state to them, not features

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ELEVATOR PITCH

The major components of the elevator pitch are

Traction - Product - Team

& Social Proof.

“An introduction captures an investor’s attention, a great elevator pitch gets a meeting.”

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ELEVATOR PITCH

A 30 second talk you can present a captive audience (e.g. when riding in the elevator with an investor or at a cocktail party)

OR a short e-mail that a middleman can forward to someone with a recommendation

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ELEVATOR PITCHIt sells investors on reading your deck

The deck sells investors on taking a meeting

Many investors will ignore your deck and ONLY take a meeting if the introduction and elevator pitch are good

Without an introduction, an elevator pitch is critical to a successful cold e-mail or getting that meeting

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ELEVATOR PITCH

TractionProductTeam

Social Proof

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THE PITCH DECKThe magic 13 slides to funding

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THE PITCH DECK

An introduction and elevator pitch are critical to getting a meeting.

The pitch deck is what you send investors and what you present in that meeting.

NO! It’s not your Business Plan. Don’t ever think of sending an investor your business plan - EVER!

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THE CLASSIC DECK

Max ca. 13 slides

Cover, Mission, Summary, Team, Problem, Solution, Technology, Marketing, Sales, Competition, Milestones, Conclusion, Financing (give + ask)Best template available: HTTP://VENTUREHACKS.COM/ARTICLES/DECK

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PITCHING TRICKS

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REACH LIZARD BRAIN

FAST

NOVEL

CONCRETE

VISUAL

HIGH CONTRAST

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“ P I T C H A N Y T H I N G ”by Oren Klaff

http://is.gd/pitchanything

Read

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BODY LANGUAGEBe the Tree, feet solidly planted on the ground

Hands to the side, never crossed - EVER!

Don’t swerve, stay put

Don’t be defensive, be assertive

Step forwards, not backwards

Look people in the eyes, stay focused, select a few people left, right and center to focus on, distribute eye-time

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STYLEDon’t be apologetic - EVER! YOU ARE THE AWESOMEST!

Be positive and enthusiastic - you ROCK!, you NEVER suck!

Be concrete, crystal clear, short and to the point

Over-State, never ever understate

Careful with self-deprecation, irony, humor - leave it out

Use adjectives and superlatives, over and over (Think Apple Keynotes)

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TIMING

Practice your pitch until you nail the timing

Finish slightly before the time limit to leave more room for the questions

NEVER EVER go over the time limit, PRACTICE!

Do NOT rush through it and make sure you dwell on the important points (think dramatic pauses)

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THE Q&A SESSIONBe in charge: Answer with whatever answer you like

Paraphrase the question as a question back to the judges to buy time to think and to reflect that you have understood it

Lean forward into it, no defensive gestures, keep eye contact, keep your presence

KEEP IT SHORT AND TO THE POINT: Answer like a 6 year old will understand, and in ONE SENTENCE at best

PRACTICE ALL NASTY QUESTIONS UP FRONT - They will ask!

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CHEAP TRICKSAcknowledging the audience, owning the presence

At the end, keep in control and actively give the word to the jury for questions

PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE up to the point where you can really do it in your sleep

Don’t practice reading a script, have keywords, have cheat cards in your hand if you need to

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QUESTIONS?

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LET’S CONNECTtwitter: @blacktar

email: blacktar@gmail.comhttp://facebook.com/blacktarhttp://is.gd/blacktarlinkedin