A crash course in mastering your start-up pitch

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15th Jun 2019

For some people, mention of the word ‘pitch’ conjures up sweaty palms, increased heart rate, and bouts of nausea. But the fact is that pitching is an incredibly important part of selling yourself, your business, or both in the corporate world.

At the 2019 Vogue Codes Live event in Sydney, venture capitalist and partner at Blackbird Ventures Samantha Wong sat alongside Faebella founder Alisha Geary to discuss the idea of the perfect pitch—from both the perspective of the founder and the investor.

If you’re sitting on a killer business idea, but a little hesitant to follow through, read on for their best tips, knowledge, and practical pieces of advice.

“When it comes to delivering a pitch of any kind, the first thing to remember is the story. The feeling the person gets on the receiving end is a huge contributor to why a pitch will make it over the line.”—Samantha Wong, Blackbird Ventures

“If you are in a position where you’re looking for investment for your business, try and look for free money (as in no equity in your business) first. Universities especially are incredible if you’re connected. I was given $10,000 for Faebella from uni pitching comps.”—Alisha Geary, Faebella

“Practice your pitch, whatever it might be, over and over again with multiple audiences. So many people actually don’t do that and it really surprises me.”—Wong

“Also remember that you and the person you’re pitching to are on the same team. If you win, so do they.”—Wong

“With my business, I am so passionate about sharing the story. Yes, I would sometimes rather sleep every day, but it’s exciting because it’s my own. It’s like being on a train, but I’m the one laying down the tracks.”—Geary

“A good idea always solves a problem for some group of people, especially ideas that solve what we call a ‘hair on fire’ problem. Early on, products or ideas can be bad, so the problem needs to be so serious (like your hair being on fire) that people will use whatever they can get their hands on to solve it.”—Wong

“Success can be embedded in an entire journey, not necessarily the destination—there is not just success, but multiple successes.”—Geary

“If you’re looking to build an app or flesh out a business idea, start by validating the assumptions surrounding it: what are the problems you’re solving, and what are the critical features people are paying for? You can even use no-code programs like Google Bubble to build out first iterations to test it.”—Wong

“When it comes to finding the right people to work with, put in time to build a good relationship. I get down to the nuts and bolts of what they’re doing and make a judgment call if their values align with mine.”—Geary

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