So, this Tuesday gone, I was at the Nott Tuesday event in Nottingham, which is on a Tuesday, hence called Nott Tuesday. It’s organised by my friends from Tech Nottingham, who are leading the way forward, all things Tech related in the city.
I was able to share my thoughts on ‘How to Pitch’… having some experience of this, I shared my thoughts and views on what makes a good pitch, the basic core principles that you should have in your pitch and what are the ‘softer’ elements that are needed in a pitch. You could be pitching to investors, VC’s, etc… I shared a few stories, of some ‘not so good’ pitches – basically, what not to do… and some examples of pitches that I remember today from many years ago – they must have done something right to leave a lasting impression on me.
The event was filmed – and I’ll be sharing it here very soon.
The purpose of me writing this today was a) to share with you where I was on Tuesday evening, and b) how I think these type of events are great.
Why are they so great? – well, you get to meet some really clever people. I met a team of 2, who are entering the baking business – and they’ve got 25 customers. After spending a few minutes with them and sharing my thoughts, they tweeted the below to me in the morning…
I always say, if I can help in anyway – more than happy to. I try to look at things in a different perspective. Challenge the business model. See which buttons I can push to get a reaction and what I can make the developers and/or owners of the start-up, think differently about. And that’s why I like to attend these type of events. To meet people. To talk to people. To collaborate on ideas with people. You are not going to meet people by sitting in a lab, or in your home office, or even in your own work office! Get out… get talking… get sharing. This way, people will listen. Get to know what you’re doing. Look for opportunities. You never know who you might meet and get talking to.
A number of these events occur up and down the country and around the world. You can easily find them on the internet. Travel to different cities. Be a bit like Colonel Sanders. Travel around with your Fried Chicken with the specially selected herbs and spices that make it so delicious, letting people try it… letting people fall in love with it, and enjoy it. That way, you can then build your brand…. But find the right people to talk to. Make sure you do your research and know who you’re talking to and who you are pitching to.
And also on that note… always, always, always, have your elevator pitch ready. Practise it. Then practise it again. And again! And keep it simple…. Hi, my name is Bal, I believe you work for Tresemme, shampoo company? – I just wanted to share with you, I’ve been working on a new product and developed a shampoo that can stop hair from falling out. I know this effects 3.5 million women a year, and impact confidence. I also researched that you’ve been working on various formula’s but nothing has been released. Just wanted to let you know, I’ve tested my formula on 200 people, and over a 60 day period, over 90% confirmed it had worked. Do you think, this is something we could potentially discuss further?
Just for the record – I haven’t developed any formula’s or shampoo to prevent hair from falling out.
The point of this was, to be able to share what it is you have, size of the problem, what you’ve done, and the results… all in a short space of time.
Obviously, there’s various tips and tricks out there on how to pitch, what to say, etc… and make use of them… but key thing is, keep it simple.
Videos of the talk are being edited right now, and should be uploaded in a next week or two…