Pitch training for clean tech startups and investors at an RVO event in Baarn, the Netherlands. How to pitch like a rockstar? Surprisingly, one of the key skills is asking questions instead of talking about how great your technology is

1. How to pitch
like a rock star…
29 January 2015
Baarn
@fnauta

3. What is an
Elevator Pitch?
• Impactful presentation of a new business,
product, service, or project
• Delivered in time span of elevator ride: 30
seconds - 2 minutes
➡ Sounds simple, but effective elevator pitch
requires thorough sales & market research,
and plenty of rehearsal

4. Goal pitch
• Convince your contact to schedule a longer
meeting with you
• Empowers your contact to convince others to
become interested in your startup
• Resonates, demonstrates sincerity, empathy
and urgency
• Quantifies value proposition
➡ it shows your mastery

5. Hard truth
If you can’t convince someone in a
minute to invest more time and take a
meeting with you, you simply don’t
have a business

6. How long is a pitch?
• 30 seconds
• 1 minute
• 2 minutes
• (5 minutes)

7. Who do you pitch to?
• Co-founder(s)
• Co-founder’s spouse
• Your mother
• Employees
• Board of Advisors
• Partners
• Review Boards
• Media
• Customers
• Investors
• Voters
• Politicians
• ‘Boss’

8. Why do you need a
superb pitch?

9. Why do you need a
superb pitch?

10. Maybe the best ever
“Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest
of your life, or do you want to come with me
and change the world?”

11. Ingredients
• Customer pain
• Value proposition
• Team
• Bragging rights
- University IP
- Founders trackrecord
- Traction
- etc.
• Founders dream
• Market: TAM and beachhead

12. Value proposition format
• For [the ideal customer]
• Who [has this specific pain or problem]
• Our [product name]
• Is a [product category]
• That provides [this main benefit and reason
to buy]
• Unlike [the primary alternative or competitor]
• Our product [has this unique selling
proposition]

13. Exercise
1. Choose the dream person you want to pitch to and
where you meet him/her
2. Establish common ground
- Compliment, show interest, show you did your homework
- Common friend
3. Demonstrate mastery of your customer’s pain and
organization
- Ask a question! ‘Is it still a problem ...’ - ‘Is [person x] still
your head of R&D
4. Give your pitch: Would you be interested in a solution
for [your pain] that has [state 2 benefits max]?
5. Ask for the meeting!

15. Tip 1

16. Tip 2

17. Tip 3

18. Three mastery secrets
1. Ask questions
2. Learn to breathe
3. Practice makes perfect

19. Connect!

20. @fnauta
Have fun practicing