No Spiels

I get pitched all the time with story ideas, because what’s not to like about free publicity for your company? I’m sure you do, too, since everyone in business needs to sell something, and everyone in business probably has a 30-second elevator speech down pat.

Three local investors who hear pitches for a living, however, recommend listening rather than talking.

“The first thing I want to see, is the person really aware and present?

Are they really listening to me? Are they looking at me and connecting with what I’m doing, because if they’re not I’m just getting a spiel,” said Pamela York, founder of Capita3, a new fund in Minneapolis looking to finance women-owned and –led companies.

“Awareness is a huge factor in entrepreneurs,” she added. “I want to hear — here’s this big problem and here’s the solution I have. And more or less, here’s how we can make money.” York was one of three panelists at a Network Connect event, which aims to connect entrepreneurs and investors, at the University of St. Thomas this fall.

I like her idea about awareness and I know from experience many entrepreneurs have it, but a few, not so much.

I also know how disarming it is when a person I’m interviewing for a story turns the tables and asks about Upsize. When that happens, it usually leaves me sputtering a bit as I’m not used to it, but it also makes that person stay in my memory more as a fellow business owner rather than as just another story.

Another panelist, Marc Kermisch, is president and chief information officer at Red Wing Shoe Co., and separately an angel investor who advises early stage companies.

“I want to look for a team that wants to pivot and hears my feedback,” he says. “I’ve run into a lot of entrepreneurs that are closed-minded about it. They are so passionate that they’re closed off to new ways of thinking, and end up shutting down the person they’re pitching.”

Rick Brimacomb, moderator of the panel and co-founder of Network Connect, asked if there were “soft” mistakes that could turn the panelists away from a deal.

“So for me,” he offered, “it drives me crazy when they say it’s an X-billion-dollar industry and I only need one percent.”

That’s one of my turn-offs, too. I’d rather see laser-sharp focus on the particular niche the company is targeting and how it will gain customers in that niche — the rest is just noise.

Andrew Murphy, managing partner at Loup Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm, is trying to raise his first fund, of $20 million, and so is pitching his own opportunity to investors right now.

“When you’re given the opportunity to pitch a potential investor on the elevator, the temptation is to try and spit it all out and get in all your good points,” he said, and he adds he tries to follow his own advice. “I think you miss the opportunity to hear what they’re interested in. So asking more questions than making points seems to resonate, because it shows an emotional intelligence.”

What about you? Is your elevator pitch so polished that you’re shouting down your connections? It may be time to re-tool.

Beth Ewen

Editor and co-founder

Upsize Minnesota

be***@*******ag.com