My Experience : How to Give a Elevator Pitch?

I am first time entrepreneur so dont go by my word, but here is my experience.

In Month of June'13, I visited Dubai for Mobile Apps conference. There I got a chance to interact with various dubai based Startup Accelerators. Event organizers also gave us opportunity to give elevator Pitch.

My Co-founder Gold and I took this opportunity to deliver our First Elevator Pitch in front of audience. It was small gathering with Reps from Accelerators playing role of investors. 


Gold has prepared small pitch, It contained lots of industry stats for Mobile Usage. We started with it, I explained about what we are doing as protos.

We got following feedback from Investors abour Elevator pitch.

1.  Self Intro - We missed it completely.
2. Explain Problem - We didn't pin down on direct problems
3. Explain the solution - We directly jumped on Solution Aspects
4. Leave other things for Q&A - 

Overall we got good feedback about our Ideas, They liked our Idea.

Now Here is details about Whats is Elevator Pitch?  I jotted down a document to understand more about elevator pitch when I heard about it first time in Oct 2012. 

Disclaimer: I have picked following thing from the internet. I have tweaked it a bit.

What is an "Elevator Pitch"?

It's small, concise and effective pitch about your business, you give to anyone whom you meet in elevator.

 

An "Elevator Pitch" is a concise, carefully planned, and well-practiced description about your company that your mother should be able to understand in the time it would take to ride up an elevator.

What an "Elevator Pitch" is not

It is not a "sales pitch."  Don't get caught up in using the entire pitch to tell the Investor how great your product or service is.  The Investor is "buying" the business, not the product.  Tell him/her how you will run the business.

How to Create An Elevator Pitch?

You will need to answer following questions to create pitch.

1) What is your product or service?


Briefly describe what it is you sell.  Do not go into excruciating detail.  


2) Who is your market?
What industry is it?

How large of a market do they represent? 


3) What is your revenue model?how do you expect to make money?  


  Briefly discuss who you are selling the product or service to.
4) Who is behind the company?

  "Bet on the jockey, not the horse" is a familiar saying among Investors. Tell them a little about you and your team's background and achievements. If you have a strong advisory board, tell them who they are and what they have accomplished

5) Who is your competition?


Don't have any?  Think again.  Briefly discuss who they are and what they have accomplished.  Successful competition is an advantage-they are proof your business model and/or concept work.


6) What is your competitive advantage? 


Simply being in an industry with successful competitors is not enough. You need to effectively communicate how your company is different and why you have an advantage over the competition.  A better distribution channel?  Key partners?  Proprietary technology?

What your "Elevator Pitch" must contain:

A "hook" 
Open your pitch by getting the Investor's attention with a "hook."  A statement or question that piques their interest to want to hear more.


About 150-225 words 
Your pitch should go no longer than 60 seconds. 


Passion 
Investors expect energy and dedication from entrepreneurs. 


A request 
At the end of your pitch, you must ask for something.  Do you want their business card, to schedule a full presentation, to ask for a referral?