The sentence
Write it down. Say it to someone who does not work with you. If they repeat a different sentence, yours is not finished.
How to Pitch a Startup
Pitch a startup as the company, not as a fundraise. Customers, candidates, accelerators, and press should all hear the same first sentence. Only the ask changes.
Ein einminütiges Projektvideo
Wer im Raum sitzt
Anyone who has thirty seconds and no obligation to care: a customer at a booth, a candidate, an accelerator screener, a journalist. Investors are a separate room, with a separate ask.
Twenty to thirty seconds for the company. Three minutes if they stay. The three minutes add the workaround, how it works, and proof. They do not add a vision.
[Name] helps [who] [get a result] without [the painful workaround].
Was zu sagen ist, in dieser Reihenfolge
Who it is for
A job title or a situation, not “everyone who…” . If the listener cannot picture a person, the sentence is still a category.
The workaround
What those people do this week instead. Name the tool, the spreadsheet, the agency, the queue.
What you replace it with
The one-sentence definition, then the two or three steps. This is the whole product pitch inside the company pitch.
Why you win
One difference they can check, with the evidence next to it. A second difference can wait until they ask.
What you want from this person
Try it, introduce you, join, or take the meeting. One ask. The investor version of this beat is the round, and it belongs on the investor page, not here.
Klammern füllen
Hat eine Klammer keine Tatsache, streichen Sie den Satz. Erfinden Sie keine Zahl.
- The company
[Name] helps [who] [result] without [the workaround they use today].
- The scene
Right now they [the concrete weekly habit].
- How
They [step], [step], and [step]. That replaces [the old thing].
- Proof
We know because [the fact: customers, a pilot, or what you saw].
- This listener
If you are [a customer / a candidate / introducing us], the next step is [one action] by [date].
Was bereitliegen muss
The weekly habit
The thing the customer did last Tuesday. Not a persona slide.
One proof
A customer, a pilot, or a count of interviews. Leave the second proof in your pocket.
Three asks
Write the customer ask, the hiring ask, and the intro ask separately, so you do not accidentally pitch a round to a buyer.
One sentence for every room, then one that changes
A startup pitch breaks when every audience gets a different company. The company sentence stays. The last sentence is the only one that knows who is listening.
Customer: ask them to try it on one real job. Candidate: the role and the problem they would own. Someone who can introduce you: who you want to meet and why that person. Investor: leave this page and pitch the round.
Wo es scheitert
“Uber for X” and nothing else
An analogy is a shortcut into a sentence you still have to say. If the mechanism is missing, the analogy is the whole pitch, and it will not be remembered correctly.
A vision with no first customer
“We will be the platform for…” is a wish. Name the first group who pays, and what they pay for this quarter.
Category jargon
If the sentence only works for people who already use your acronym, it does not work at a booth.
Pitching the round to everyone
A customer who hears “we are raising” has been told they are not the point. Save the round for investors.
Zum Film machen
Record the company sentence, the workaround, and the proof as a one-minute project film you can send to a customer, a candidate, or the press.
A project video runs about a minute, in three chapters: the painful situation, the solution, and the advantages. You submit the name, the audience, the situation, the solution, how it works, the evidence and the next step, and you can upload a plan, a deck, a PDF or photos. You see the production plan before anything is made. Do not include a result you cannot source. A film is delivered only after it passes checks, and charged only once delivered.
In der Beta braucht eine neue Adresse einen Einladungscode. Sonst schreiben Sie an den Vertrieb.
FAQ
How is a startup pitch different from an investor pitch?
The startup pitch says what the company does and who it is for. The investor pitch adds the round: amount, use, and milestone. Use the same company sentence in both, and do not open a customer conversation with the round.
How long is a startup elevator pitch?
Twenty to thirty seconds. One sentence for who and what, one for the workaround, one for how, and stop. Three minutes only if they ask you to continue.
How do I pitch a startup nobody has heard of?
Lead with the person’s weekly habit, not with the brand. Recognition is not required. A picture of the workaround is.
What if we do more than one thing?
Pitch the thing a customer pays for this quarter. The platform story can follow a question. It cannot lead.