I lose interest in most of the pitches I see within the first thirty seconds. After that, it is incredibly difficult to get me back on board. This is a common experience with most investors. I am going to share with you what goes wrong and how to nail the opening of your pitch.

Most of these pitch failures happen because they confuse the audience. The entrepreneur starts off the presentation by talking about the details of their solution, or some nuance of the marketplace, without ever explaining what they are doing. While they audience waits for that information, they miss most of what you are saying. Any time someone has a burning question, they are likely to tune out anything but an answer.

Audiences remember the first and last things you say more than anything else. Blowing those parts destroys your chance of success. Don’t squander the initial seconds with pointless throat clearing introductions. Jump in directly with a cold start that gives the investors a context for the rest of the pitch. This is similar to an establishing shot in a movie. Most scenes start with a wide shot that lets the viewer know where the scene take place and what is going on. From there it can get closer in steps until we see the closeup and capture the nuance of the actor’s performance.

I suggest starting your pitch by laying out, at a high level, what your business is all about. Within the first thirty seconds, you should be able to describe the problem you solve, what you are doing about it, and what kind of a business you have created.

Billions of people eat bread, but they hate slicing it.

You have created an automated bread slicer

This is a B2B play where you are going to sell the slicers to bakers who can then sell pre-sliced bread to consumers.

Once I understand the business at that level, I am ready to take in all your other information about the solution and the market. Practice getting that across in under thirty seconds. It will be more impactful if it is under ten seconds.

If you have a strong opening pitch for your business, please share it in the comments.

Till next time … Ciao!