Here's the Pitch: How to Pitch Your Business to Anyone, Get Funded, and Win Clients

CHAPTER6

Attention-Grabbing Pitches

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.”

—Albert Einstein

In today's time-crunched world it's essential that an entrepreneur is able to deliver a concise, attention-grabbing description of his or her business. More than ever, people are bombarded with information from every angle. In this era of fast pitching, investors have hundreds and hundreds of approaches from start-ups. By keeping it simple, you give yourself the chance to cut through and stand out. A high-concept pitch and elevator pitch are the most effective tools for achieving this objective.

Hail the High-Concept Pitch

Originating from the literary world, the high-concept pitch is the ultimate simple, distilled expression of your business proposition. It has the object of capturing your audience's attention (introducer or investor) and planting your proposition in their memory.

Hollywood has generated some memorable high-concept pitches. Alien was pitched to studio executives as “Jaws in space.” Other notable examples include:

• YouTube—“Flickr for video”
• Crowdify—“Facebook for brands”
• LinkedIn—“Facebook for business”
• Cisco—“We network networks”

Why Keep It Simple

I practiced as a successful attorney for 15 years. One of the keys to winning the majority of ...