Elements of a Great Pitch

Tonight I spent time with the Atlanta chapter of the Founder’s Institute. Part of my role this evening was to judge 3-minute pitches from pre-revenue early startups.

I realized in the process that there are several salient elements that differentiated the pitches. Here are my thoughts:

• Demos or website wire-frames are better than words on a slide; I wanted to be able to visualize the product
• I wanted to know how much effort the founders put into determining their market sizing assumptions; how many prospects have they called and what is the basis for their decision-making
• The beauty of the slides matters; the guy with a design background clearly stood above the other presentations
• Finishing the pitch within the allotted time matters a lot; one great pitch lost largely because he got cut short on time
• Solid business models (along with great potential for product-market fit) always win; you have to explain a solid business model

Short pitches are hard and require practice. It is well worth the effort to have your story fleshed out eloquently.

What are your thoughts on elements of a great pitch?

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