Pitch Like
a Pro
Melissa Sassi
Chief Penguin
Entrepreneur & Student Experience, IBMZ
CEO & Founder, MentorNations
CEO & Founder, XTP Hustle
@mentorafrika

Melissa
Sassi
Chief Penguin
@mentorafrika
Today's
Speaker

Use it with EVEYONE
You'll use it during face-to-face
meetings, online, and with potential
investors, customers, partners, and co-
founders.
Share the ingredients
to your secret sauce
You'll use it as a brief presentation to
give your audience insight into your
business.
Make it engaging
You'll use it as a visual prompt to pitch
your business.
DECK

Problem
Statement
What's the big, wicked problem you're
trying to solve?

Include data
Make sure it's measurable by throwing
out some stats to demonstrate the size
of the problem in percentages,
numbers, or financials.
Be concise.
Be concise and specific, and ensure
you are only demonstrating one
problem at a time. Make people
understand easily.
Persuade & influence
your audience
Tie it to a real person or scenario to
demonstrate the impact it has on the
community or the world.

01 03 05
02 04
WHAT?
What's the
problem
exactly?
WHERE?
Where exactly
does the problem
exist?
HOW?
How exactly
does this
problem impact
others?
WHO?
Who exactly has
the problem?
WHEN?
When exactly
does the
problem come to
life?
Do this in one or two
sentences

Base
Everything off
Solid Evidence
To demonstrate
your problem, you
need solid evidence
that one exists.
Be Data-
Driven
Remember the
Source of the
Data
Always check the
source of the data
to avoid getting
caught up in
conspiracy.
Reputable,
Credible &
Reliable Data
Make sure you
leverage solid data
that's reliable,
credible, and
reputable.
Don't Get
Caught up in
Fake News
Do not get caught
up in media
misinformation or
disinformation.

Motivation
Do you have a personal story that
connects you to this problem? Now is
your time to emotionally connect
your audience to the problem and
why your team is THE ONLY TEAM to
solve it.

The
Team
Different
Backgrounds
Countries, languages,
ethnicities
Different Levels
of Experience
Youth, juniors, managers,
executives, seniors
Different Genders
Male, female,
nonconforming
Different Abilities
Inclusion of people with
disabilities (better known
as different abilities)

What's your
management
structure?
What are the key
roles and
responsibilities of
your team?
Have anyshort bios?
What about your
advisory board?
Inclusivity
is Key
Be reflective of your customer
demographics

Product or
Service
Introduce your solution
and your company as
THE ONLY ONE to solve
the problem.

Showcase your tech chops
Know your audience and do not get into too much technical depth if
you are with tech newbies. Be prepared to dive into your architectural
diagram and your tech roadmap. Do not forget the importance of
regulations, data protection, privacy, and security.
Focus on the 1st 6-12 Months
Describe your solution, product, and/or services with specific details,
but do not get into the weeds too much and lose your audience.
Demonstrate the unique features and benefits of your secret sauce.
Highlight what's coming in V2.
If you are at idea stage, talk about your road to MVP. If
you are already at GA, talk about what's coming next.

Feel the
Product
Give people an
opportunity to feel and see
your product. Add
pictures, do a quick demo
if you have time, or add a
video.

Product
Market
Fit
Tie your solution to the problem
statement and ensure there is
true product-market fit. Does
your solution ACTUALLY solve
the problem and are people
ready for your solution?

Competition
What other solutions exist?

Indirect
Competitors
Direct
Competitors

Competitive
Insights
How will you approach each of
these and your competitors? How
will your approach vary?
Competitive Landscape
Don't forget that competitors can
also be partners.
Competitive Insights
How did they fail or what are they
missing? Where are they succeeding?
Competitive
Advantage
How is your solution a better
product-market fit for your
audience?

Incorporate Design
Thinking
If you aren't a design thinking practitioner,
become one. Be audience centered in all
you do. Understand them, talk to them,
know them, empathize with them.
Create Buyer Personas
for Each of your Target
Markets
How does your solution address their
wants, needs, aspirations, and frustrations

Showcase the
Market Size &
Bring your
Customer to
Live
What's the total available market,
serviceable market, and serviceable
obtainable market while
highlighting who your customer is
exactly.
Demographics
Tell us about your customer!
Geography(ies)
Where are you focused?
Deals in Place
Do you have deals in place
already? Tell us!
Customer
Testimonials
Already have paying
customers. Get some quotes.
Add a picture or video.

Be specific.
Not all marketing tactics will be relevant for
your audience.
Include your approach and your strategy for
each tactic.
Marketing
Tactics
How will you reach your customers?

Social Media
Influencers
Word of
Mouth
Print
Events
Affiliates
Ads
Email
Marketing
Tactics

Describe how you are pricing your solution.
Include one time and recurring costs.
Include your revenue stream, both primary
and secondary.
Outline your ongoing costs.
Business
Model
How are you going to make money?
Showcase your revenue model
using a graph that includes sales,
income, and growth projections. Be
realistic!

Investment
What do you need to get started or
move to the next level? Are you ready
if somone writes you a check today?
Where do you think you can get
funding? Don't be afraid to go big, yet
be realisitc.

Step 1
Q4 2020
Step 4
Q3 2021
Step 3
Q2 2021
Step 2
Q1 2021
Future
Roadmap
Think 6-12 months out.
Only include key milestones but think
about everything step-by-ste- behind
the scenes.
Prioritize. You cannot solve everything
with V1.
Do not try to do too much at once or
you will spin and never create
anything.

Captivate your
audience with your
close.
People remember how you start and end.
Reemphasize your key points.
Summarize your pitch consicely and in one minute.
Open the floor for questions.

Melissa
Sassi
Chief Penguin
@mentorafrika
Now, go off &
rock your pitch!