The document provides guidance on pitching and launching a startup business. It discusses the components of an effective elevator pitch, including being concise, answering key questions about the business, and telling a compelling story. Tips are provided on public speaking, slide design, and using metrics when pitching to investors. The document also covers launch strategies, emphasizing the importance of generating buzz and having early adopters who will spread the word about the new product or service.

1. Pitch & Launch
IED, 4 Dec 2018
Lesson 9/2018-2019
Frieda Brioschi / Emma Tracanella
frieda.brioschi@gmail.com / emma.tracanella@gmail.com

2. 9. Pitch & Launch
Course program
1. Start-ups
2. Business Model & Canvas
3. Value Proposition Design
4. Customers & Market
5. Activities & Costs
6. Legal basics
7. Start-up in Italy & ecosystems
8. Design & planning
9. Pitch & Launch
!2

3. 9. Resources & pitch
–James Altucher
“Everyone is an entrepreneur.
The only skills you need to be an entrepreneur:
an ability to fail, an ability to have ideas, to sell
those ideas, to execute on those ideas, and to
be persistent so even as you fail you learn and
move onto the next adventure. ”
!3

4. 9. Resources & pitch
–Henry Ford
“Coming together is a beginning, keeping
together is progress;
working together is success”
!4

5. 9. Resources & pitch
Pitch
!5

6. 9. Resources & pitch
Investors don’t invest in businesses.
They invest in stories about
businesses.
!6

7. 9. Resources & pitch
You can tell a story in a sentence; you
can tell a story in a paragraph; and you
can tell a story in a 20-minute pitch.
Startups need to do all three ones.
!7

8. 9. Resources & pitch
http://mindyourpitch.com/blog/what-is-an-elevator-pitch/
What is an elevator pitch?
A (very) short speech.
!8

9. 9. Pitch & Launch
http://www.ninjamarketing.it/2011/10/25/lelevator-pitch-larte-di-comunicare-unidea-in-modo-efficace-e-in-pochi-secondi/
Basics
1. Be short (less is more!)
2. Wow effect (6-10 seconds to generate curiosity)
3. Who (add some info about you)
4. KISS
!9
tips

10. 9. Resources & pitch
http://elevatorpitchessentials.com/essays/ElevatorPitch.html
The nine C's of an effective
elevator pitch
1. Concise
2. Clear
3. Compelling
4. Credible
5. Conceptual
!10
6. Concrete
7. Customized
8. Consistent
9. Conversational

11. 9. Pitch & Launch
http://www.businessknowhow.com/money/elevator.htm
Six question you must
answer
1. What is your product or service?
2. Which is your market?
3. What is your revenue model?
4. Who is behind the company?
5. Who is your competition?
6. What is your competitive advantage?
!11

12. 9. Pitch & Launch!12 http://guykawasaki.com/books/the-art-of-the-start/

13. 9. Pitch & Launch!13 http://guykawasaki.com/books/the-art-of-the-start/

14. 9. Pitch & Launch!14 http://guykawasaki.com/books/the-art-of-the-start/

15. 9. Pitch & Launch!15 http://guykawasaki.com/books/the-art-of-the-start/

16. 9. Pitch & Launch!16 http://guykawasaki.com/books/the-art-of-the-start/

17. 9. Pitch & Launch!17 http://guykawasaki.com/books/the-art-of-the-start/

18. 9. Pitch & Launch!18 http://guykawasaki.com/books/the-art-of-the-start/

19. 9. Pitch & Launch!19 http://guykawasaki.com/books/the-art-of-the-start/

20. 9. Pitch & Launch!20 http://guykawasaki.com/books/the-art-of-the-start/

21. 9. Pitch & Launch!21 http://guykawasaki.com/books/the-art-of-the-start/

22. 9. Pitch & Launch!22 http://guykawasaki.com/books/the-art-of-the-start/

23. 9. Pitch & Launch!23

24. 9. Pitch & Launch!24

25. 9. Pitch & Launch!25

26. 9. Pitch & Launch
Speaking
• Speak slowly and enunciate
• Be excited. Your pitch should not sound memorized. Intonation, cadence, and
projecting help a lot
• Be specific and concise
• Look at the audience. You don't have to make eye contact with individuals, just with
areas of the crowd. People in those areas will think you've made eye contact with them
• Actually explain what you do, and be essential. Avoid unnecessary details, or repeating
the same thing twice
• Don't hide the big good things because you are modest, highlight them specifically
early on
• Use natural language and simple sentences, i.e. no sentences with three verbs. Don’t
use words you wouldn't use in normal conversation
!26 http://www.aaronkharris.com/advice-on-pitching
tips

27. 9. Pitch & Launch
Charts & Metrics
• Charts should be easy to understand, make one point with any graphic
or chart. Don't make people read charts, they'll stop listening to you!
• If you put up a graph that confuses people, they will feel stupid and
stop listening
• Line graphs are better than bar graphs when showing growth
• Label your axes and use real numbers - even if they are small. The
shape of the graph matters, not the absolute numbers
• Explain anomalies
• If you should be generating revenue and then show a different metric,
investors will be suspicious. Be consistent
!27 http://www.aaronkharris.com/advice-on-pitching
tips

28. 9. Pitch & Launch
Slides
• Titles should describe the slide. Titles should be such that, if you
remove everything else, the slide would still make sense.
• Remember that minds wander, and people check phones. When they
look up, they should immediately be able to pick up the thread
• Don't use pretty, but thin, fonts. Make sure your slides are legible from
far away. The purpose of a font is not to show them that you’re a
designer, but to make it easy to read things.
• Screenshot slides are typically bad
• Don’t look at the screen where slides are projected. If you can, make
sure that you can look at the audience, and at your laptop, without
turning your head in the opposite direction.
!28 http://www.aaronkharris.com/advice-on-pitching
tips

29. 9. Pitch & Launch
More
• Remove obstacles between you and the audience. Sometimes putting the
laptop on a chair helps, because it clears the space between you and the
audience and helps you connect with them better.
• Be prepared for disaster. Your laptop might not show the slides; the
resolution might be wrong; there might be several reasons why it won’t
work. Print 5–6 copies of your slides to pass them around if needed — you
can keep one copy while you present, if it helps.
• Colors should go nicely together. You don’t need to learn the theory, just
pick a color scheme and stick to it. Make also sure that the color scheme
allows for very readable slides.
• Slides can be used as a guide and a reference, but you should know your
story well. Don’t let the slides be your guide. Use them simply as support.
!29
https://medium.com/@simon/some-humble-advice-on-pitching-your-startup-bf09fa5bffaf#.u3z2rqxyt
tips

30. 9. Pitch & Launch
All in 1 sentence!
!30

31. 9. Pitch & Launch
"Telegram is a cloud-based mobile
and desktop messaging app with a
focus on security and speed"
!31

32. 9. Pitch & Launch
"WhatsApp Messenger is a cross-
platform mobile messaging app
which allows you to exchange
messages without having to pay for
SMS"
!32

33. 9. Pitch & Launch
“AirBed&Breakfast
Book rooms with locals,
rather than hotels”
!33

34. 9. Pitch & Launch
Links
1. All the Public Startup Pitch Decks in One Place
https://medium.com/startup-grind/all-the-public-
startup-pitch-decks-in-one-place-7d3ddff33bdc
Business Model & Canvas
2. TechCrunch Unicorn Leaderboard
https://techcrunch.com/unicorn-leaderboard/
3. Netflix Culture: Freedom and Responsibility
https://www.slideshare.net/reed2001?
utm_campaign=profiletracking&utm_medium=sssi
te&utm_source=ssslideview
!34

35. 9. Pitch & Launch
Links
1. 2004 Facebook Pitch Deck
Template https://slidebean.com/
templates/facebook-pitch-deck/
2. Youtube https://slidebean.com/
templates/youtube-pitch-deck
3.
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36. 9. Pitch & Launch
Launch
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37. 9. Pitch & Launch
Robert Scoble’s recipe /1
“The best launch is
if you have a product that
other people like using so much
that they tell other people about it.”
!37
http://www.quora.com/Whats-the-best-launch-strategy-for-a-web-startup

38. 9. Pitch & Launch
Robert Scoble’s recipe /2
“What you want to do is have a story that travels to the
people who are most likely to need your product.
It all starts with a story.
So, the right way to launch is to have a story. Then try
that story out on some early adopters. Do they go "no
way!" Or do they look bored?”
!38
http://www.quora.com/Whats-the-best-launch-strategy-for-a-web-startup

39. 9. Pitch & Launch
Amazon Go
!39
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrmMk1Myrxc

40. 9. Pitch & Launch
Robert Scoble’s recipe /3
Start asking the right question:
• How can I get Oprah Winfrey to see my product within a
year?
• How can I get to be a featured app in the Apple app store?
• How do I make a product so strategically important that
Steve Jobs buys it within a month.
• How do I make a product that's so sticky and viral that it
gets people to tell at least five other people about it.
!40
http://www.quora.com/Whats-the-best-launch-strategy-for-a-web-startup

41. 9. Pitch & Launch
Robert Scoble’s recipe /4
Things you need to do to launch a company:
1. Make a blog.
2. Make a YouTube video channel.
3. Start Tweeting.
4. Get a Facebook Page.
5. Get a LaunchRock or KickoffLabs site.
6. List your company on Angel List (and StartupLi.st, CrunchBase, etc).
7. Figure out the 10 journalists you want to have see your product before you
launch
!41
http://www.quora.com/Whats-the-best-launch-strategy-for-a-web-startup

42. 9. Pitch & Launch
Robert Scoble’s recipe /5
• So, what's your story?
• A sizeable part of having a great story is also hitting
the market at the right time.
!42
http://www.quora.com/Whats-the-best-launch-strategy-for-a-web-startup