Best Practices for Pitching to Judges - Startup Weekend Doha 2016

Best practices for pitching to judges Emad Saif Entrepreneurship Trainer @esaif March 23 2016

AGENDA Judging Criteria Useful Tips Q & A Preparation

1. Business Model 2. Customer Validation 3. Execution & Design Judging Criteria - 5 Min Presentation -

1. Business Model • Address the 9 building blocks • Customer acquisition • Competition • Scalability • Risk

• Are teams building something that people actually want? • How well does the team understand their customer and their customer’s needs? • Did the team get out and talk to customers? • What is the value proposition to customers? 2. Customer Validation

• Have they established a “Minimal Viable Product” for the weekend (software, hardware, etc.)? • Does it deliver a compelling and captivating user experience? • Were they able to demo something functional? 3. Execution & Design

AUDIENCE WANT TO BE ENTERTAINED

USE SIMPLE LANGUAGE

SHARE YOUR PASSION

HOOK YOUR AUDIENCE

DON’T MEMORIZE

DON’T READ WORD FOR WORD

KNOW YOUR CORE MESSAGE 7 min 3 min 1 min •Hook •Customer Problem •Value Proposition •Team •Product •Market •Financials •Millstones •Risks • Hook • Customer Problem • Value Proposition • Team • Product • Market • Hook • Customer Problem • Value Proposition • Team Pitch Pitch Pitch

5GB 1,000 songs BENEFITS vs. FEATURES

WATCH YOUR TIME • Time your self • Plan your pauses • Use images triggers

NON-VERBALCOMMUNICATION Body Distance Clothes & Looks Body & Arm Positions Movement Gestures Eye Contact Face Expressions Touch Voice Voice Tone Speed & Pauses

END WITH “CALL TO ACTION”

PRACTICE. PRACTICE. PRACTICE. Steve Jobs did it for hours!

WHY Q & A ? • Feedback • Additional clarification • Challenge certain assumptions

DOs & DON’Ts • Don’t give long explanations limit to 2-30 sec • Ask for clarification if question is not clear • You don’t know everything and that’s OK

Handling Feedback • Accept the feedback • Don’t respond – this is not a question • Don’t argue – this is not a debate • Say “Thanks for your feedback

Common Questions • Do you have evidence customers want it? • How big is your market? Is it scalable? • What’s the team look like? What are your backgrounds? • What is your product differentiation? • What risks exist? How do you address them? • What do you need? Milestones?

THINK LIKE AN INVESTOR

Market Attractiveness Product Differentiation Managerial Capabilities Resistance to Threats Expected Return Perceived Risk Decision to Invest + - To Invest or not to Invest?

PITCH VIDEOS

LEAVE AN IMPRESSION

You can do it!

QUESTIONS? Emad Saif Center for Entrepreneurship emadsaif@qu.edu.qa @esaif