An Elevator Pitch

1. An Elevator Pitch • A 2 minute description of your opportunity • It is more than an introduction, it is the summary of the opportunity • Pain, solution, market opportunity, investor opportunity, investment need

2. Introduction What it is and is not • Is -- a succinct description of the essence of the plan; a summary • Is not – an introduction or a background Background

3. Success Factors to Address • Sustainable competitive advantage • Ability to make money • Potential for high return • Window of opportunity • Early value creating milestones • Team • Execution skills • Exit strategy for investors • Pain • Big problem for the customer • Solution • Clearly addresses pain • Innovation • Market • Size, growth • Customer • Is reachable, and will buy

4. Key Outcomes of a Successful Elevator Pitch • Captures the attention of the audience • Emphasize the strengths and use good news • Helps the audience understand the plan • Frame the opportunity • Causes the audienceto want to know more • Show what their benefit can be from the opportunity • Crystallizes your thoughts about the venture • Focus your message and thoughts

5. Do you understand what the company does? Do you understand what the pain is, and who exactly has the pain? Do you understand how the company solves the pain? Do you understand how the company plans to make money – who pays whom, the channel of distribution, the margins, etc? Do you understand what the company has, and the competitive advantage? Do you understand how the company is going to reach its customers? Elevator Pitch Goals

6. Elevator Pitch Goals • Do you have a feel for the competition? • Do you know whether or not the management team has the required capability? • Do you get a feel for the economic feasibility of the plan? • Do you know how much money the company needs? • Do you understand how and when a return on investment can materialize? • Do you understand the major milestones and the risk? • Do you see that there is a window of opportunity? • Do you want to learn more?

7. Reviewing the Opportunity

8. The Problem / Pain • Where’s the pain? • Who is feeling it? • What problem will your solution address? • How does the product or service solve it?

9. Remember the criteria • The product or service addresses a real pain at a price the customer is willing to pay • The product or service addresses a market need

10. Solution Description Name of the product/service Brief description Illustration Components, if applicable (technical platform, etc.) What it does

11. Remember the criteria • A unique product or service • An innovative product or service • Protection of the intellectual property that underlies the product or service • Low barriers to adoption

12. Target Customers Specific description of customers, including some or all of the following: • Business or consumer • Demographics • Market segment • Industry • Geographic / regional focus • Specific examples

13. Remember the criteria • Customers who are able and willing to pay the product or service price – a “must have” • Customers who are reachable • To create awareness about the solution • For delivery of the solution

14. Potential Market, Size and Growth • Size of market • Composition of market / market segments • Trends • Historical and future growth

15. Remember the criteria • A large and growing market • An emerging or fragmented market • Imperfect competition • Existing window of opportunity • Proprietary barriers to entry

16. Solution Development • Status of the product or service • Indication of what must be done next to the product or service • Indication of how the team will continually keep out in front with innovative products or services

17. Remember the criteria • Current product or service development status • What must be done to get it market-ready • The risk of the technological development remaining • Ability to continue to produce innovative products • Competitive advantage in these processes

18. Production • How will the product or service be provided • Indication of whether or not you will outsource and what you will outsource • Indication of your ability to build the product or produce the service

19. Remember the criteria • Ability to produce the products and services in adequate quantity, at acceptable quality and at competitive or targeted cost • Outsourcing of non-core-competencies or non-core technologies

20. Proposed Distribution and Sales Channels • Sales force • Dealers / distributors • Agents • Delivery mechanism • Structure

21. Remember the criteria • Ability to get the product to the customer • Extent to which channels can be controlled

22. Competition and Competitive Advantage • Names of competitors • Your sustainable competitive advantage • Comparison matrix

23. Remember the criteria • A distinct competitive advantage over competitors relative to key factors of importance to the customer

24. Continue Market Research • Continue to get marketplace feedback on the opportunity to validate the idea • Know yourself, know the market, know the competition and the plan becomes clear

25. Listen to the Voice of the Customer • Understand what is really important • Understand customer motivations • Understand the buying cycle and how decisions are made • Provide a sanity check to the internal perceptions of the technology

26. Getting Feedback on Benefits • Expected level of quality of the product • Linear performance quality - the more the better • Exciter qualities can be the real sellers • may not be the obvious ones to the technology developer • may become expected qualities over time

27. In-Depth Interview Advantages • Provides background data on the marketplace • Answers specific questions • Ensures the right experts are contacted • Examines corporate buying behavior • Identifies industry trends

28. In-Depth Interview Advantages • Follows a theme with one respondent from beginning to end • Has a flexible structure that can be modified as learning occurs • Topics can be expanded upon • Identifies other industry players to contact

29. Goals of In-Depth Interviewing • Use open ended questions and conversations to uncover: • perceptions, opinions, beliefs and attitudes • Understand the motivating buying factors • Qualitative data that informs the quantitative research