Doorbell Pitch Ring

The latest effort of Richard Branson to encourage startup ideas as you'd expect garners business press coverage this week.

Wannabe entrepreneurs can walk into one of his hotels, go to the lift, press the Ring doorbell (hopefully) affixed, and deliver their 'elevator pitch'. Here's a selection of his launch PR, in this case from London's The Times;

Branson has advised would-be start-ups not to over-complicate their pitches and to cut “the waffle”.

“When I hear pitches, the founders that really impress me are the ones who can keep it simple and snappy. If it’s too complicated to get your head round quickly, the public likely won’t understand it either.”

Further advice he offered was to “be disruptive”, “let your passion shine through” and to “test it on your mum or a close friend”.

[His originator partner added they would award] “businesses that have a purpose beyond making money and businesses that solve problems” run “by people that are dedicated to solving that problem”.

Anything there you haven't heard before?

I've written plenty down the years about just this kind of intro pitching. It's a regular in solution sales. From my earliest cubrep days three decades back the concept of Elevator Pitch was commonplace.

Yet strangely, usually paid merely lip-service. As trying to craft one went decidedly shunned.

In the rare moments I myself was involved in batting around forming such, I did kind of get why at the time.

Stilted templates never seemed to align with the actual instances in the field you'd end up realising you could deliver your sub-minute marvel.

Yet the underlying theme was - and still is - essential. Namely when you bump into someone important prospect-side for the first time, you are going to have a few precious seconds where you set your tone with them. When they're likely in that moment to be in listening mode.

And that doesn't have to just mean their chief exec as you by chance ride in a lift together.

Then there's the achingly, tearfully neglected yet essential 'new product pitch' situation. Which I've been helping rescue much of my career.

So best have something at the ready.

In searching around the promo blitz, I also happened across his 'Napkin Test'. Aka, the beer mat or back-of-an-envelope pitch.

If the idea cannot be written on these relatively small spaces, then he will rather go read someone else's that does fit on.

Partly his 'cut the waffle', 'simple and snappy' edict.

Even searching on this, I was bombarded with ads begging me to subscribe to master this. Along the hook-story-offer vibe.

When mapped onto this, hooks that lead with the way you're going to change their world in your own little way start you off. The problem you can uniquely resolve for them being your first frame.

There's many variants on a succinct story. Origin or backstories have their place. As do testimonial proofs. One can also run through how things look now, how they can better look, and teaser on what gets from A to B.

Then with offer, away from price, planting seeds of the professional and/or personal legacy that awaits can entice.

There's several flavours of all this. With an enjoyable choice of mini-section templates to get you going with sculpting prep.

Have you such a response primed?