13 tips on mastering the big pitch

  1. Know your audience. Go in knowing what you want to get out of it. What is the goal? Get the next meeting? Whatever it is, ensue you tailor the pitch to the key audience and your one goal.

  2. Your introduction needs to establish baseline credibility. Why you’re up there, and why you deserve to be there.

  3. Your biggest competition is: the audience's cellphone. Be interesting. Stand out. Make them go hmmm, laugh, lean in or WTF! Delivery is everything. Tell a story, be authentic and leverage emotion.

  4. You have about 60-seconds to get people’s attention. Spend 80% of your time perfecting this part. Be creative. There is an infinite ways of being creative. Do whatever works for you.

  5. Memorize your content 1-week prior then throw it out. Don’t rely on notes to remember word for word - because 1. If you go blank you’ll suck and 2. If you do remember, you’ll sound monotone.

  6. “F**k bullet points and complex charts.” Use big fonts, simple stats and don’t overwrite. The audience can not listen and read. Choose one.

  7. Don’t just tell me what your app/product does. SHOW me what it does. Spend time on making good videos.

  8. Talk about the business model. One slide with the various high-level options. Even if you haven’t decided pricing yet, have the tier options split up.

  9. Show differentiation. Don’t need to talk about how bad others are - talk about how you’re better.

  10. Beat me over the head with the key points. Repeat as necessary.

  11. Beat me over the head with the key points. Repeat as necessary.

  12. Don’t lie, bulls**t or make things up. It’s okay to not know something. Because it allows for an opportunity to follow up.

  13. End strong. Being an entrepreneur means being a salesman. Nail it, own it. If you can’t do it with poise - how will you run the business?