In November I will be hosting a pitch event that is part of the weVENTURE organization in Orlando.  Here is the article I wrote for their program that showcases my key learnings from pitching My One Resource over the past two years:  

Being an entrepreneur and starting a company is one of the most rewarding things you will ever do.  It also can be one of the most challenging, filled with a roller coaster of emotions that may take you from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs.

One of the most critical pieces of being an entrepreneur is pitching your company.  Whether you have 30 seconds in an elevator, five minutes at a local pitchfest, or the opportunity to “swim with the sharks” on Shark Tank, you constantly have to adapt to your audience and the time in which you have to make a great first impression.

In 2015 I’ve had the opportunity to pitch my company, My One Resource, at a number of different events.  From coming in 2nd in the start-up category at the Bright House Networks Regional Business Awards to finishing runner-up in the Venture Vault competition at One Spark in Jacksonville (where we pitched to four VC’s), we’ve had to adapt our presentation every time we go on stage.

Here are a few “tips of the trade” I’ve learned over the past two years of starting and pitching my company:

  • Chief Storyteller – First and foremost you are telling a story, and you are the chief storyteller.  You can’t just take people through a PowerPoint presentation; you are taking them on a journey to show them why your company is going to be the best.
  • Be Passionate– People invest in people, and if you aren’t passionate about your product then why should someone else be.  You need to emotionally hook your audience on your product, and then close them with the data and details.
  • The Product is Irrelevant – As crazy as it sounds, your product is the least important piece of your presentation.  Don’t get hung up spending 50% or more of your time on the product – hit the high notes by properly explaining it and move on.  After emotionally hooking the audience, marketing, sales and financials will be critical to your success.
  • Practice, Practice, Practice – If the first time you give your presentation is at the event, you are preparing to fail.  Steve Jobs said for every hour he presented, there were 30 hours of practice behind it.
  • Timing is Everything– If you have five minutes to present, it better be done in five minutes.  There is nothing worse than getting through 50% of your presentation and the judge yelling, “time.”  Rehearse until you are confident you can get through all the content you have in the time allotted.
  • Credibility – What experience do you bring to the table that will make you succeed?  Who are you surrounding yourself with in areas of the business you don’t know?  Do you have any advisors who’ve done this before?  As an entrepreneur you can’t do or know it all – whom you surround yourself with makes all the difference.
  • Don’t Read a Book – Your presentation should be filled with images and very few words. People don’t want to be read to, they want to hear a story.

If you’d like to see some of our My One Resource presentations, log on to https://www.youtube.com/user/MyOneResource.