A first-session recording
Even a silent capture of the real taps. A deck of screenshots is not the session.
How to Pitch an App
Pitch an app by the first session, not by the feature list. The listener should know what happens after they tap the icon, and why it earns a place on the home screen.
Who is in the room
A user who might download, a partner who might distribute, or a buyer inside a company who might roll it out to a team. Store copy is a later artefact. This is the spoken pitch.
Under a minute. An app pitch that needs three minutes is still a feature tour. Show the first session if you can; narrate it if you cannot.
When [who] needs to [the job], they open [app] and [the first session], instead of [the current habit].
What to say, in order
The moment they open it
Where they are and what they were about to do in another app, a chat, or a notebook. The home screen is a competition, not a category.
The first session
What they do in the first minute, and the result they can see before they close it. Onboarding that explains the product is not a first session.
Why it stays
The reason it is still there a week later: a repeating job, a saved thing, a person they talk to. Downloads without a week-one reason are a spike.
What it replaces
The other icon, the group chat, the notes file. Name it. If you cannot, you do not know the habit yet.
How to get it
The store, a TestFlight, a work rollout, or a QR in the room. One path. A pitch that ends on the vision of the platform is an app that does not get opened.
Fill the brackets
If a bracket has a missing fact, cut the sentence. Do not invent a number to make the line sound finished.
- Moment
When [who] is [the situation], they currently [the habit in another app or chat].
- First session
They open [app], [the first actions], and they can see [the result] before they leave.
- A week later
They keep it because [the repeating job or the saved thing].
- Replaces
That takes the place of [the other icon or the thread].
- Get it
Get it [on the store / in TestFlight / as a work rollout] today.
What to have ready
The habit it interrupts
The other app or the thread they already live in. This is the competitor, whether or not it is in your category.
A week-one reason
If you do not have retention language you can stand behind, say what you have seen in tests, and do not invent a curve.
One way to install
Store, TestFlight, MDM, or a link. Decide before you speak.
The home screen is the competitor
Apps are not pitched against other apps in the same App Store category. They are pitched against whatever the person already opens to get the job done: Messages, Notes, the incumbent tool, or doing nothing.
A film of the first session, with the job said out loud, travels better than a list of features. If the session does not exist yet, pitch the idea, and do not dress it as a shipping app.
Where it goes wrong
A feature list
Offline mode, widgets, and dark mode are not a reason to download. The first job is.
Onboarding as the demo
If the pitch is the tutorial, the app does not have a first session yet.
Downloads as the win
A spike that does not stay on the home screen is not a business. Talk about the week, or admit you are still measuring installs.
Calling it an app when it is still an idea
Store badges on a product that cannot be opened will be checked. Pitch the smallest version you can actually hand over.
Make it a film
Make a one-minute film of the first session and the job it replaces, from the captures you already have.
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.
During the beta, a new address needs an invite code. If you do not have one, write to sales and ask for access.
FAQ
How do I pitch an app to investors?
Use the startup or investor pitch for the company, and this page for the product. Investors still need the first session and the week-one reason. They also need the round. Do not let a feature list stand in for either.
How long should an app pitch be?
Under a minute spoken, and as long as the first session if you are showing it. Cut anything that is not that session or the reason it stays.
Do I need a live demo?
You need the first session to be visible. A recording of real taps is enough. A rendered tour of screens that do not exist is not.
How is this different from pitching a product?
A physical product is held. An app has to win a tap against things already on the phone. The first session and the week-one reason are that difference.