4 Good elevator pitch examples for business and startups

• Could you spare me a couple of minutes? I have a really interesting idea!
• Okay, you have 1 minute.

So, what is next? How to impress the savvy investor? How to make him invest in your project? Let’s check what skills are required from examples of successful elevator pitch examples for business and get some inspiration for your own future elevator pitch as well.
Any business needs a pitch. It’s not just for startups looking to invest. You need a pitch when you present yourself at conferences, in the media, on social networks, communicate with partners and potential clients. A good Elevator Pitch will help you present your business quickly and vividly.

What actually is an elevator pitch for business?

Elevator pitch is a short story about the concept of a product, project, or service. What does the elevator have to do with it? Imagine that you “caught” an investor in the elevator who is going up to your office. Your task is to interest him while you are both in the elevator. That is, you have only 30-60 seconds, maximum of 2 minutes. Can you handle it?

Elevator pitch rules

So, what is the main rule of presentation for an elevator: you have to identify the problem that your business will solve. For example:

“According to a * some real * survey, the owners of cats are in dire need of non-scratchable wallpaper …”

And then you talk about how you will solve this problem. You must perfectly understand who your buyer (target audience) is, what pains he has, and describe to the investor the DREAM of such a buyer. It is most important, but here are some more important rules:

1. Your presentation should be extremely short (that’s why it calls “elevator pitch”);
2. You must show the potential profit for the investor: answer the question of how you plan to monetize the product and how many percent do you plan to “bite off” from the market;
3. Pitch presentation should be clear to the owner of any horizon.

Well, let’s see if real presentations for the elevator correspond to these, while theoretical, rules.

Examples of a successful elevator pitch

Let’s look at three good examples. Our first video is the winner of the 2011 University of Dayton Competition.

Compliance with all the rules is obvious: we see that from the first seconds the girl-presenter speaks about the relevance of her product – “two-thirds of adults believe that it is possible to find friends while traveling, but none of the services makes it possible to simplify the search for new acquaintances”.

The following is a brief but sufficient description of the service. Information about how the creators plan to make money on it. How much investment is needed and how much profit the investor will receive

Elevator pitch example for Ad business

This is the winner of the elevator presentation competition again.

In the beginning, there is no designation of “pressing problem”, but there is a teaser: “We are doing the most effective advertising! And advertising is needed by every business” – that’s the relevance. What follows is a description of how the company delivers advertising with coffee cups (seemingly huh?) And numbers that make it clear to the investor that this will actually work.

Check also A Pitch Meaning in Business: what is and how to use it properly?

Our next example is another competition winner, this time on a sports theme.

And again the presentation starts with a problem: the sports equipment that exists now is difficult to use. Further – a description of the developed analog, a list of already completed transactions, as well as a listing of sales sites. Then – how much investment they are looking for and how much the investor will earn.

In the end, a promising line: “So who’s ready to get a grip on getting rich

Elevator pitch – is not only right words

And the following example shows how the presentation of the material can greatly affect the mood of the opponents.

It is important to note that the speaker created a positive mood, which is exactly what the theme of his product is. It would hardly be possible to represent the theme of life and death in such a way, but in this case – he organically blended into the Wontsep and conveyed his emotion. Emotion alone, of course, is not enough – you need to rely on the numbers (which, by the way, are also good for him), but there is a psychological trick – the likelihood of getting approval is higher on an emotional rise – I’m sure you’ve come across a request to rate the application after you won another level)

Summary

Elevator pitch is not just a method of negotiation, but a special skill of communication in a business environment. This skill can be improved. Therefore, even if the first time you fail to convince the interlocutor, do not despair.

If you need to collect a certain amount of investment for your project, it is not necessary to look for partners only in the elevators of skyscrapers where potential investors work. A much more successful strategy is to put together a small pitch presentation to be ready to speak with such a person, not only in the elevator but also in any place such as an exhibition or a business lunch.

 Make sure you don’t miss the most interesting of the previous parts of the Startup series:

1. Stages of Startup Funding – A step-by-step guide 
2. What is startup capital? 
3. Typical Startup Equity: structure, employees, percentage 
4. Role of CEO in a Startup – The complete list of traits 
5. Financials for a startup 
6. How to evaluate a startup 
7. Definition of a startup
8. A Pitch Meaning in Business: what is and how to use it properly?
9. Top 15 Types of Fundraising for Startups 
10. How to get funds for a startup in 2021 – Short guide