3 Golden Rules to Nail a Pitch

It's amazing how many pitches are wasted.  They could have easily been saved by following these three golden rules to nail a pitch.

First Golden Rule to Nail a Pitch: Have an elevator pitch that is less than 10 seconds

First, investors are busy.  They hear thousands of pitches every day.  If you can catch their attention in the first 5 seconds, you've succeeded at the first golden rule to nail your pitch.  If you can’t communicate the essence of your idea in less than 20, you’re sunk.  For how to write a pitch, see our post “How to Write an Elevator Pitch in less than 10 minutes”.

Have a pitch deck with no more than 10 slides

Second, you have to prove that you’re worth an investors time.  If they are leaning in after the first 2 slides, you've nailed the second golden rule to nail your pitch.  If you take more than 15 minutes to get your idea across, say thank you and leave.  Remember this simple fact: The person who does the most talking is losing.

Have a complete business plan ready

Finally, it all goes back to valuing the investor’s time.  He or she doesn’t want to have to work to make sure you have your ducks in a row.  Producing a plan when asked means you’ve just nailed the third golden rule to nail your pitch.  Time is money to you as well, so any lost pitch is money thrown out the window.

Fortunately, you don’t have to do this by yourself.  At ProStrategix, we offer fundraising advice and guidance for those seeking to raise capital.  We also provide some free do it yourself tools.  For other free tools and classes, you may want to visit your local chapter of SCORE.