In an era of increasingly short attention spans by most
people it is important for entrepreneurs to refine their “elevator pitch” or
2-minute speech on their start-up. At the first event in the Empress.world Fall 2017 Business Innovation
Series, held in NYC on 9/12/17, a panel of venture capitalist offered tips on
how to do this.
The panel included Byron Ling from Primary Venture
Partners, Meghan Cross
from Red Bear Angels, Sally
Jin from Seed Invest and Todd
Breeden from Kiwi Venture Partners.
They offered the following advice to a group of founders who pitched
that night:
1.
Explain right upfront what you do / how you do
it / show it (if you can) / explain why it is a good business opportunity.
2.
Focus on numbers and key business milestones as
well as notable accomplishments – like SKUs and Revenue Targets.
3.
Don’t define yourself by your competition, but
do have a good sense of your competitive space.
4.
As the founder - emphasize your relevant
business experience.
5.
Know the size of your addressable / primary
target market(s).
6.
Be careful not to say: “there’s nothing like this” – instead focus on what makes your
business model unique.
7.
Have a checklist of key points you want to make,
and then cover all of them.
A special thanks to the founders who pitched at the event,
including Helena Fogarty from MI OLA swimwear
– sexy bathing suits that stay on.
Victoria Flores from Lux Beauty Club – luxury hair extensions
at affordable prices.
Jean Poh from Swoonery
– a luxury marketplace for designer fine jewelry.
Kash Vyas from Perftily – a 3D visualization solution that
revolutionizes how people shop for clothing online.
Om Kundu from InSpireAVE – a social e-commerce platform
that inspires people to multiply their savings and afford big purchase.
