Pitch Practice

Solid crew today at . Great energy. Great story telling. Great pitches. And we are always improving! Thanks to all who joined!

The pitch isn’t a job interview.

When you pitch, you are not trying to sell yourself, you are trying to sell the problem. Convincing the listener that this is a worthwhile problem to solve is the ultimate goal of the pitch.

The problem may seem obvious to you but you are going to be presenting to people that may not have the same experiences as you. Make sure to tell a story throughout the pitch, one that starts with background information.

Looking to practice your pitch? Join us this Friday! RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pitch-practice-tickets-225597316647

“If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” - Albert Einstein

It is always safe to assume that the people hearing your pitch are not subject matter experts in the field that your startup is in. A lot of presenters get misled when they only practice with their team or family members.

Come join us at Pitch Practice next Friday to present your idea to unbiased strangers, receive feedback, and hear from seasoned entrepreneurs.

“How long do you think that pitch was?” 🤔

This question is asked to the presenters after every single pitch, and the answer is almost never correct. Here at Pitch Practice we strongly encourage practicing your 30-second pitches (although you can practice and length you’d like) and the answer is something along the lines of “I definitely went over, probably about 45 seconds.” Turns out, they went for 2 minutes!

It's easy to lose track of time when talking about something you love (your company), but the people listening don’t have time to hear you ramble. And rambling is unfortunately the default when you haven’t practiced your pitch. Try it! Explain your company to someone and record it. Mark down how many sentences were redundant or useless, and the percentage is probably over 50%.

Don’t get caught in this self-imposed trap. Come join us at Pitch Practice! You will get unbiased feedback from experienced mentors and other founders.

"The will to win is not nearly so important as the will to prepare to win." - Vince Lombardi 🏈

It’s easy to want to become an entrepreneur, it’s another thing to take steps toward that goal. Moments in your founder journey that you want are going to happen (talking to potential customers, talking to potential investors, impromptu elevator pitches), but what are you doing to prepare for them?

Working on the product is not enough. You have to be able to convert that work into a succinct few sentences that can prove to the listener that your product has value.

There’s a new face in town 👀

Join us in welcoming Melissa Bolen Heffner as one of the new Pitch Practice facilitators. Melissa is an innovation leader who is passionate about human-centered research and design. She is:

Program Director for Georgia Tech's VentureLab
Co-Director of the Institute's CREATE-X Female Founders program.

As an adjunct instructor for the National Science Foundation’s Innovation Corps program and a lead instructor for Georgia Tech's I-Corps South Node, she has taught the lean methodology to over 400 startup teams.

Join Melissa and other fellow founders at Pitch Practice this Friday! RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/pitch-practice-tickets-225597316647