Level up your Investor Elevator Pitch

I get a lot of questions about elevator pitches and investor pitches. What should be in it? What do investors want? How can I possibly fit my investor pitch into a minute? 

And I hear about the frustrations from Founders, the most common is: 

“I can’t explain my business in a short investor pitch. It’s too complex”.

I love this topic because a good elevator pitch can be powerful and memorable. Those that are not so memorable could make a huge improvement with some adjustments.

The challenge of an elevator pitch is fitting your vision into investor speak, in 1 or 2 minutes. Your vision, your passion and your big plans into a minute! Is this even possible?

It is! With a shift in mindset and some brainstorming, you can have a memorable and engaging elevator pitch. 

If you are struggling to explain your business in a short investor pitch, you are making a very common mistake: TMI, or Too Much Information. Founders often try to cram lots of information in a short pitch. 

The good news is you can let go of the need to explain so much and fill your pitch with information. Why?  

No one invests after an elevator pitch. 

Therefore, your goal is to get a meeting. So, leave them wanting more!

This gives you freedom to be concise. You don’t need to include details.

This is hard because you are an expert. You know so much about your company, your products, your story, that you could talk for hours. 

Distilling your message down takes some thought and preparation. 

First, put yourself in the shoes of investors, what do they want?

Investors want to understand some basic information about your business so that they can tell if you are fit for them. Let’s make it easy for them.

Here are some typical things that investors want to hear in a short investor pitch. 

• What you do, simply and concisely 
• You are solving a real problem
• You have a unique solution
• Market large enough to make money
• Business model to make it work
• You/team are capable of scaling this business

Secondly, do some brainstorming. Write on the above topics until you can get them down to a few sentences each. It is possible!

Make each statement clear and concise. Leave the details for later. 

The mindset that will help is to be “investor focused”. 

Focus on what investors want, not what you love to talk about. This means that you save all those exciting product features for a later conversation. Sorry.  

Taking the time to prepare a concise and clear elevator pitch will make it easier for investors to understand and remember you and your business. 

Being prepared with a short investor pitch will give you the confidence to speak up when given the chance to introduce your business. You will also be ready if you ever meet your ideal investor in an elevator.