Being pitched at, often feels like being picked-up. Investors don't want you to be boring or sleazy or worse, feel manipulated and end up with buyer's remorse. There is a WEALTH of great stuff online about how to structure a great pitch. So this is not one of those. This is a peek into the subtle ways to win the long game between investors and inventors. [This deck probably won't make much sense if you weren't there, but for my amazing crowd at #SparkUp - thank you, hope this is a handy revival]. Books mentioned: Think like a Freak - Dubner and Levitt; Anti-Fragile- Nassim Nicholas Taleb; Art of War - Sun Tzu and the War of Art - Steven Pressfield; Sherry Turkle - Alone Together (the robot jealousy story) STORYCRAFT asides worth checking out: http://www.spokepoint.com/ - http://www.jasonshen.com/2012/eleven-compelling-startup-pitch-archetypes-with-examples-from-yc-companies/ - Jason Shen on the 11 archetypes emerging from YCombinator http://www.writersstore.com/the-8-steps-to-a-powerful-pitch/ Embed the Hero's Journey into your psyche - it comes up everywhere, we humans find it compelling. Use it. Pic credits again: Investorpitches.com (those great pitcher archetypes) and tarotastic on Flickr.

1. PITCH UP
70% of success
is showing up
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2. PICK UP
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3. LONG GAME?
or
QUICK WINS?
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4. REPUTATIONis long
BUYER’S REGRET bites
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5. TRUST
engineering
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6. FOMO
oh, and..
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7. WITH THE
RIGHT ONES
make a self-weeding garden
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8. even if you don’t YET have:
POWER
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9. Image: Tarotastic on Flickr
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11. nourished on
REJECTION
ANTI-FRAGILE
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12. you don’t need to be anointed with anyone’s
approval. Seriously. Just get on with it >>
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13. words tell
STORIES SELL
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19. credit: INVESTORPITCHES.COM
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20. INSPIRE
CHALLENGE
EDUCATE
EMOTE
anger! awe!
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21. Can they see THEMSELVES
AS HEROES
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22. Gettysburg Address
the Austrians didn’t
realise the value of 5 minutes
- Napoleon
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23. CLIFFHANGER
TWIST+
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24. FORMULAE
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25. We solve [problem]
by providing [advantage],
to help [target]
accomplish [target’s goal].
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26. We make money by
charging [customers]
to get [benefit].
PS. your obvious customers may not be
the ones who pay
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27. fear not
CROWDED
SPACES
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28. MOTION
be in
>>This is what we are doing.
This is how we are going to do it.
We can do it better if we get some money in.
This thing is going to happen with or without you.
Are you in or are you out?
IT’S INEVITABLE...
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29. be lightly
OBSESSED
guerilla wow factor+
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30. OBLIQUE
be (slightly)
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31. LIKE THEM
be (kinda)
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32. yes, looks do count...
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33. be confident [not hopeful]
NUMBERS
COUNT
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34. is strategically powerful
VULNERABILITY
Be forthright about the weaknesses
before they spot them. This builds trust.
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35. trumps
PREPARATION
PERFECTION
reflexes, improv, SPARTA!
gorgeous, but generally thin (markets that is)
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36. psst... clear monetization?
It’s okay if you haven’t got it
IT’S LIKELY TO BE THEIR SUPERPOWER.
LEAVE ROOM FOR IT
all locked down just yet.
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37. ASKCLEARLY
CALL TO ACTION
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38. BYAF
weird little tricks:
+
“but you are free”
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39. FU!quickly & regularly
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40. FU!
FOLLOW UP - obviously
without being annoying
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41. Image: thanks xkcd - because no presentation is complete without at least one
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42. preparation : courage
PRACTICEFriday 08 August 14

43. preparation : courage
PRACTICE
It’s a ratio.
You need more of one when you have less of the other.
A LOT. ON EVERYONE.
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44. LONG GAME
Head to Vimeo and search for:
or Delve.TV
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45. maxkaizen.com/dare
@maxkaizen
THANKS
PITCHING UP
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