Stepping Stones

My Very First Sales Pitch

After many months working with software developers (having no prior experience in doing so) and leading design, testing and planning initiatives at my stealth startup, I delivered my first sales pitch.  I was nervous and I over prepared, only to realize that I didn't prepare the right things and my time could have been spent more effectively.  I made mistakes prior to the pitch and during the pitch which I combined into 6 talking points & suggestions below:

1. Pitch as soon as possible - It’s easy for student entrepreneurs and young entrepreneurs to get caught up making the product or service perfect before pitching it to their target customers.  Don't fall into that trap, as a student you're hard-coded to do everything perfectly before "turning it in".  Think of your first sales pitch as a draft of an important research paper.  Your professor will see it and he is the one who grades the paper, but usually he's willing to help and will be able to see the potential.  Many customers will act the same way, and chances are they won't even see the minute faults that bother you about your      product/service/presentation.  Now, I'm not advocating going to a sales pitch empty-handed, you should do your best, just don't put it off until you think its perfect...because as an entrepreneur you never will.     
2. Ask the questions you're most afraid to ask - I was very nervous about asking for a letter of intent.  I'm not a natural sales man, I don't have that booming charisma that you see from salesmen in movies like Thank you for Smoking (first example I could think of, see it if you haven't).  And guess what you don't need to, if you can ask a question, remain calm and seem somewhat confident people will respond positively.  Its really not that hard, although admittedly I struggled to steer the conversation in that direction, but it paid off.
3. Listen and Observe - if at all possible try to pay as much attention to the person(s) you are pitching while you talk.  Pay particular attention to the moments when they are truly connecting with what you're saying; these brief moments will substitute for hours spent hunched over your laptop doing market research.  Although it’s hard to abstract your mind from the immediate concerns of speaking coherently and not forgetting the intricacies of your value proposition (simplify!) you have to try. And with a little practice and a little confidence it will become easier, as you go further into your pitch you'll relax more and see the situation   more clearly. 
4. Be Flexible - Based on  your observations try to adjust your pitch. Now this takes some real   skill, especially when you're nervous, but you know your product better than anyone else and you can always expand on the points your audience finds most compelling.  They'll appreciate your slight detour. 
5. Don't Over prepare - prepare, but don't overdo it.  Like I mentioned before, you know your product and chances are that if this is one of your first pitches you won't get it right anyway.  Go with your instinct and pick up the rest as you move along.   
6. Take it easy - you're making progress no matter what the outcome of your sales pitch is.  At worst you'll learn a lot and will be able to come back to the customer later with a powerful presentation that truly speaks to them. Even if you can't, you've learned a lot, the key like I mentioned in point #3 is to be aware and learn from the experience. 

Feel free to add to this, email me some thoughts, particularly if you're a sales ace and have advice for younger troops. I'll update this post with your thoughts and link to your site/blog...

See you soon...

 

BASES Entrepreneurship Kickoff Event

For my first business/entrepreneurship post, I thought I'd report on a little event I went to last Wednesday.  BASES (Business Association of Stanford Engineering Students) held an event dedicated to helping its members (young entrepreneurs) understand the process of starting a company, and most importantly GETTING FUNDED.  The reason I decided to attend the event was the fantastic panel: a fine mix of young entrepreneurs and seasoned VCs who usually tell them to take a hike (as has been my recent experience!). Speakers were:

• Guy Kawasaki (Moderator) - Managing Director @ Garage Technology Ventures
• Ann Winbald - co-Founder, Partner @ Hummer Winbald Venture Partners
• Erik Straser - General Partner @ Mohr Davidow Ventures
• Seth Sternberg -  co-Founder @ Meebo
• Anand Chandrasekaran - co-Founder @ Aeroprise
• Stephen DeBerry - Director @ Omidyar Network

Here are my 5 takeaway points from this event (I took notes, so I still remember even though its three days after the event, don’t worry!).  This is mostly for young technology entrepreneurs, but nonetheless...

1. A good idea is not enough:  the bottom line these days is that ideas simply don't get funded.  You need a product, and most likely you will need to show some revenue or other traction with your target audience.  The bar is set very high from the beginning. 
2. Hold the buzzwords: try to keep buzzwords and catch phrases to a minimum, in fact, avoid them if you can when pitching VCs.  They don't make you look good and can actually turn off many investors.  They hear hundreds of ideas a week, so saying "web 2.0" or "mashable" makes you part of the crowd of entrepreneurs pitching their mashable web 2.0      companies.  Explain your business in simple English… that’s what      stands out. 
3. Keep the PowerPoint under 25 slides: After the 25th slide your chances of getting funded start sinking.  You should be able to succinctly explain your ideas and provide the necessary support in 25 slides.   My personal suggestion is to keep it in the range of 10-20 slides. The moderator of the event, Guy Kawasaki (I highly recommend his blog, you can get to it by clicking the link in his name) has a great post on PowerPoint presentations where he presents his 10/20/30 rule.
4. Viral works: although viral marketing (strategy of making an idea or business special and easy enough to spread through word of mouth and other social means) has itself become a "buzzword" among buzzword web 2.0, mashable companies VCs still buy it.  In fact all three VCs on the panel felt that a viral strategy is worth mentioning in a pitch, but only if you can provide a specific explanation of how you plan to catalyze the movement, be specific.
5. "Just do it": this is Seth Sternberg's advice to young entrepreneurs.  He says "forget the plan and your business school classes", start building your idea and test it on consumers ASAP. Don't get bogged down writing a 20 page business plan with a further 20 pages in the appendix.  Get a prototype made, launch something... be active.  With most ideas you can build/launch at least something and that will get you further towards an investment than anything else.  I couldn't agree with him more, but admittedly I’m guilty of not taking.

Here’s a picture from the event, not a great one, but better than nothing =)