Elevator Pitch – One on One

The Elevator Pitch – One on One used to be referred to as a 30 second pitch … that you could make during an elevator ride for sales or fund raising purposes.  As the Elevator Pitch evolved in various ways; some now believe in 3 minute pitches.

Elevator Pitch – One on One

I prefer the interactive approach taught by the Angel Capital Network of Silicon Valley at its workshops starting in the early 2000s.  In this approach the startup officer follows the following sequence:

• The startup CEO makes a brief opening statement about the startup.  This ends with a simple qualifying question that cannot be answered with yes or no.  The prospect’s answer helps to start qualifying the “target” person as a relevant prospect
• After hearing the response, the startup CEO makes another brief statement that ends with another question.  As you can appreciate this requires building a decision tree and practicing a range of responses
• After hearing the response, the startup CEO makes another brief statement that ends with a third similar question.  By now the prospect should know some useful information.  Further, you should be closing in on knowing how relevant a prospect the target person might be
• So, you move more deeply into a pitch, or ask for a meeting. Or, you perform a gracious termination and move on

Conclusion

Basically, the startup (or new venture) officer is working his/her way down a decision tree such that the following happens:

• The startup officer learns the sector, role and potential interest of the other person
• The other person learns the essence of the Value Proposition of the startup

Further, the other person is at least partly “qualified in” if appropriate; or the conversation is graciously terminated if appropriate.

Please See Our Related Post

Please see the “Elevator Pitch To a Group” post at Elevator Pitch To a Group

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