
Ask HN: First time pitch in front of a big company. What do they want to hear? - colloqu
Hi,<p>in two weeks i have the first opportunity to talk in front of a really big potential customer (together with other 20 startups). Everyone has 3 minutes. We definitely solve a problem for them - so there is a use case, a problem, a solution and we provide value.<p>How do i make sure to stand out of the others?
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nunobrito
Talking from experience if you want to stand out:

    
    
            go straight to the point and stop.
    

One thing you will notice when going on stage with 20 other startups is that
everyone stops listening after the fifth or so startup. Everyone does the same
"Problem, Solution, Team, go-to market, bla, bla, bla".

Put yourself in their shoes. At the beginning they don't really care about
your team nor about anyone else's problems. They care about their own
problems, so don't be generic and say "80% companies have this problem". Say
something like this when possible:

"You have this problem since 2014 and it costs you over 400k EUR/year, here is
how we can solve it for you".

For this to work, it needs to be targeted for that specific big company.

If you really need to be more generic and explain what you do and how big the
market is then do it, just remember that the human attention span to hear you
will be around 90 seconds. And they will only remember the first 10 seconds
and the last 10 seconds of whatever you say.

So, score points by getting in contact with the potential customer to
investigate real values (talk with an engineer, someone in management, etc).
If you know nobody, usually what I see working is picking up the phone and
calling the company. You will talk with their secretary, if you are sincere
and explain what is happening she might be able to connect with you with the
person that can help you succeed (preferably not the person in the audience
watching your presentation).

Don't show animated slides. Only show 3 to 4 slides. Might seem hard but
reality is that you don't have much attention from them anyways.

When concluding the pitch, end with something memorable such as "this is the
type of thing that we are good in solving, come and talk with us after this
presentation"

Good luck OP.

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colloqu
Thanks! A lot of great advice.

I'm really good at public speaking. This is one of my greatest strength so it
is a no brainer how to do a presentation where i communicate my vision. But i
never had to "close a deal". That is where i'm struggling. So how much does it
divide from that?

Can you recommend any online resources?

~~~
petervandijck
Number one tip to close the deal: ask directly to close the deal. Are you
ready to sign now?

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wrath
I think @nunobrito covered most of what I wanted to say.

Without knowing your product it's hard to give you the best advice, but here
are things that worked for me in the past:

* Use real data that they can relate to. For example, if you're software does case management for non-profits. Find out who their customers are and create an "fake" example of how your software would work to manage a case for that company, from start to finish. This is partly for the 3 minute presentation, but more so for the barrage of questions you'll get asked afterwards once they like what they see. It's always easier to sell something when you find a solution to a pain your customer has right now, with one of his customers!

* Use only the terminology that they use and understand. Similar to #2, use the language that your customer speaks. Know your user and which language and acronyms they are using on a daily basis. I've seen so many times young startups use scientific terms or executive mumbo jumbo that the audience didn't understand.

* The 3 minutes is only the beginning. Whether you succeed or fail, it's not the end. Before, during, and after, identify the lead of the group that will be using your software and try to identify the decision maker. The person who signs the check if often different then the person evaluating your software. This is a sales cycle and they are both important for you to convince. Get a meeting with them, figure out what makes them tick, what their budget is, when will they be in a position to evaluate your software, etc..

Hope this helps a little, good luck!

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floppydisk
First of all, good luck! It's exciting to get your first major pitch to a big
potential client. Hope it goes well and you guys close the deal. There's also
some great advice in this thread.

With regards to your question, Zig Zigler had a great line about pitches in
the Secret of Closing the Sale ([http://www.amazon.com/Zig-Ziglars-Secrets-
Closing-Sale/dp/04...](http://www.amazon.com/Zig-Ziglars-Secrets-Closing-
Sale/dp/0425081028)). Put your best point up front and communicate your value
to the client and save your second-best point for closing rather than
hammering them in order from strongest to weakest. Reason being people tend to
listen to the beginning and end of pitches and ignore most of what's said in
the middle. Hammer your best value proposition up front and save your second-
best one for last. I strongly recommend Zig's book for learning sales. You get
a good idea of what goes into pitches and selling and how to deal with the
various objections you will get as you try to close a sale.

Your job is to communicate to the client that the value your product provides
outweighs its cost and you solve some of their major pain points. It sounds
like you already know what they are so hammer them. Spend your time explaining
what you do for them, not "we have a team of rockstars yada yada yada". I
start tuning out at that point because everyone thinks they have a team of
rockstars. I care more about the value you provide and your ability to deliver
and less about your team of rockstars -- unless you have a major
differentiator like the creator of a technology commonly used in the space on
the team for instance. Solve my problem and tell me when you will have it
solved. "We solve XYZ, saving you $BUCKOO_BUCKS and we can deliver it next
week."

Good luck and happy hunting!

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joshuaellinger
If possible, find out who is going to be there and what their top three pain
points are. Focus on showing the person(s) in the room that you are relevant
to the problems they personally face -- IT has totally different concerns from
Marketing.

Your goal in the first meeting is to get the second meeting. Thus, it doesn't
do you a lot of good to have them think they understand what you offer
(especially if they get it wrong). You want them to need to talk to you before
they make any decisions. This all points to focusing on the problem and
convincing them that you _can_ solve rather than explaining how you solve it.

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JSeymourATL
> really big potential customer (together with other 20 startups). Everyone
> has 3 minutes.

There is a subtle technique known prizing. Subconsciously, you must convey to
the audience, "You are trying to win my attention, I am the prize, not you. I
can find thousands of buyers/clients like you. But there's only one of me."
You control the Frame.

On this subject, Oren Klaff is the Master >
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSYWFRfPUs4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSYWFRfPUs4)

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threesixandnine
What do they want to hear? One and only one thing. How will you make them more
money. Either lower their cost of operation or bring them more business.
That's it.

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rajacombinator
Going in to pitch alongside 20 others means you've already lost. The fact that
you don't know what they want to hear only confirms this.

