Venture Capitalists with Short Attention Spans

from the no-wonder-some-of-these-dot-coms-get-funded dept

Tue, Feb 29th 2000 12:23pm — Mike Masnick

If you wanted confirmation that the VC industry is all about investing in the latest buzzword here's a report about how many VCs now give people 30 to 60 seconds to pitch an idea. It's wonderful when you've been working on a very detailed and complex idea in a month and have 30 seconds to convince someone who believes they know it all that you've got all the answers. The trick seems to be buzzwords.

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anon cowrd, 1 Mar 2000 @ 12:49am

elevator pitch
The 30 second pitch is essential.
If you can convince sombody that you are
competent, capable, and excited about
delivering on your new-found opportunity
then you can win people to your cause and
bring in funding, employees, and keep up
a strong team spirit.

If you can only stumble through a monologue
that doesn't begin to describe what you do,
then you will have much trouble getting
the attention of the people you need to
make your business successful.

You can't win the game if you don't know how
to pitch. And a good honest 30 second intro
that really shows your enthusiasm goes further
than a methodical plan from someone who
doesn't have the energy to make it happen.

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Mike (profile), 1 Mar 2000 @ 2:02am

Re: elevator pitch
Trust me, I know all about the elevator pitch (or the more important "urinal pitch"). I understand how it works, why it's done, and why it's important. I disagree, however, with your statement that those 30 seconds is more important than a methodical plan. It's certainly possible to cram 30 seconds of excitement and buzzwords but not be able to see the bigger picture and how to execute.
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