How many emails have you received this week/day/minute? Since the dawn of email (which occurred at some point since the Bronze Age), our efficiency at work has supposedly increased. There are some contexts in which email is appropriate and more effective. But there are crucial, often-forgotten advantages of picking up the phone. If you would hate to pitch your startup by email, don’t do all your networking by it either!
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Follow up: 2 step process to get real results from networking
For any startup, it is often during a meeting or phone call that an investor or contact agrees to help you by completing an action: for example send you a document or introduce you to a useful contact. But because of poor memory and fading enthusiasm, a great opportunity will often be lost - unless you employ two simple techniques: follow up and chase up.
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Vocal delivery: 4 techniques to make your elevator pitch captivating (even for blind cats)
If you have ever listened to a speech by someone who speaks monotonously, you will know that strong vocal delivery is vital to: 1) communicate your message clearly and 2) stop your audience going to sleep. The quickest way to make your startup elevator pitch stand out from the rest is to practise it with a simple technique: The Blind Cat Test.
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3 types of startup friend: How to pick the RIGHT advisor
As any startup founder knows, you need an advisor: to listen when things go wrong, to bounce ideas off and to tell what you need to hear: even when it’s not pleasant. But don’t make the mistake of picking the wrong friend for your startup. Do you recognise these 3 types of startup friend?
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Show your startup: 4 types of demo to make investors see, believe and invest
When you pitch your startup to investors, you need them to understand it. The easiest way to do this is to show them your idea visually: through screenshots, a video, a prototype-as-a-prop or a live demo.
But be warned: although it is the ultimate show of authenticity, the live demo is fraught with danger. Even Steve Jobs was only a falsified phone signal bar away from disaster.
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Run with it: Excite investors with your startup's possibilities
How do you excite an investor with your elevator pitch? It’s not enough to explain to them your startup idea. You need to show them your idea and then run with it: show them could happen with their investment. But be careful: there are two places you can run to with your idea, and only one is a place where the investor will stay excited about your startup.
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Crowd-sell your Elevator Pitch: the 5 types of social proof
One influencing technique that you can use in your elevator pitch to sell your startup is social proof: the idea that we are more likely to do something if we see other people doing it first.
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Memorise your elevator pitch (without sounding like a droid)
Have you ever changed to the next slide in your elevator pitch, seen two long sentences and been forced to start reading them word-for-word until your brain remembers exactly what you’re trying to say?
Pitch rescue tip: You will remember your pitch, and present it more fluidly, if you memorise only 1-3 key words for each slide.
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Focus - choose when you deal with the Notification Mosquito
Have you ever glanced at a notification on your phone and been distracted by something that you didn’t have time to deal with? This post shows why having the willpower to choose when you look at your notifications will benefit you enormously.
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