Showing posts with label JohnSculley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label JohnSculley. Show all posts

Monday, May 1, 2023

Creating a Winning Pitch Video that Attracts Investors and How Steve Jobs Pitch Punched Pepsi's CEO John Sculley in the Stomach





Now that virtual pitching is rapidly becoming the most common way to pitch investors, it is critical to do it the right way. There are two ways of pitching virtually. Either you join a live pitching event on a platform like Zoom or you send a pre-recorded pitch. We will focus on a pre-recorded videos in this article, although most of the tips apply to both.  

Since pre-recorded video pitches are often reviewed by potential investors without the founders present, you need to make sure your video pitch is a complete representation of your opportunity. I recommend focusing on the following three areas, elevator pitch, audio/visual, and a stomach punch.
 

Elevator Pitch  


An elevator pitch is a short, concise way of describing your business to outsiders who have no idea about you or your business. It is a prepared mini-speech designed to spark interest in potential investors, customers, and employees. A good elevator pitch is succinct, intriguing, and memorable. A great elevator pitch makes your listener want to learn more. An amazing elevator pitch makes your listener drop everything and join you. More on this later. Imagine you are riding in an elevator with someone for 30-60 seconds. Can you describe your business idea to that person before the elevator ride is over? I recommend you hit as many of these elements as possible. -Who you are
-Business name and tagline
-What you are doing
-Value proposition -Why you are doing it
-Why others should care about it -Where you will do this -When this will happen -How you are doing it
-Your ask(s), maximum of 3


Audio and Visual


When it comes to recording your video, it is essential that you record your screen but also yourself while pitching. If you already don’t have the chance to meet the investors in person, they should at least see you (and hopefully your passion) in the pitch. Therefore you need to record your screen as well as yourself.

If you use slides with text, we recommend that you do not use fonts smaller than 30 point size as recommended in the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint coined by Guy Kawasaki (Rich Dad, Poor Dad.) There has also been research done on colors. Pay attention to the color palette of your slide deck. People are drawn to colors that stand out and make them feel warm. Use blue, purple, or green as a background for a calming effect. You can use yellow to highlight the important points. Red can be used for talking about competition. It is good to avoid color contrasts such as red and green, orange and blue, and red and blue.


Steve Job's Stomach Punch?


As I wrote earlier, an amazing elevator pitch makes your listener drop everything and join you. Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, made one of the more famous elevator pitches to John Sculley of Pepsi.

Back in 1983, John Sculley was the president of Pepsi. He was a very highly paid executive sitting atop of one of PepsiCo's most important divisions, and the youngest president in Pepsi's history. Apple was looking for a CEO. Steve Jobs needed someone to run the company while he focused on product development. Although Sculley was intrigued by Apple's rise to become a Fortune 500 company in only six years, he said he was not interested.

Jobs persisted. Eventually, Jobs had a final opportunity to pitch Sculley. During the pitch, Jobs looked Sculley in the eyes and said, "Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want a chance to change the world?"

That challenge hit Sculley like a fist in the stomach. That one sentence that haunted him. It gnawed at Sculley. It would not let him sleep. It was so powerful, it finally convinced him to leave Pepsi behind and join Apple. Today, that elevator pitch is considered one of the best elevator pitches in history.

Make sure your pitch delivers a stomach punch to potential investors.



Are you looking for funding for an idea or business, send us your stuff and we will take a look, Funding@OmegaSeedFund.com

Are you interested in investing time or money into any of our businesses, Info@OmegaSeedFund.com

Are you interested in promoting your product or service to our audience, contact Opportunities@OmegaSeedFund.com



Sources:

https://rencarlton.blogspot.com/2021/05/how-entrepreneur-steve-jobs-elevator.html

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-entrepreneur-steve-jobs-elevator-pitch-stole-john-ren-carlton

https://youtu.be/X5O3eaYfaaI

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/elevator-pitch.htm

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/undertheinfluence/the-best-elevator-pitch-in-history-1.4721353

https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/1056/steve-jobs-guy-kawasaki-powerpoint-best-practices.aspx#:~:text=The%2010%2F20%2F30%20rule%20of%20PowerPoint%20is%20a%20straightforward,to%20create%20excellent%20PowerPoint%20presentations.

https://medium.com/@Inn_ex/9-tips-for-virtual-pitches-and-a-step-by-step-guide-how-to-record-it-b84e5c86fdcf



Disclaimer: This is only for informational and discussion purposes. This does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation of any security or any other product or service. We are not offering any legal, investment, tax, or medical advice. 


Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Mark 12:30 




Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Building a powerful elevator pitch - How Steve Jobs' Stole John Sculley From Pepsi During the Early Days of Apple

Find Angel Funding & Venture Capital for Business Startups, Entrepreneurs, & First Time Founders – Episode 2


This video is part of my series - Find Angel Funding & Venture Capital for Business Startups, Entrepreneurs, & First Time Founders, learn more by visiting https://bit.ly/3hExYJX


After you pick the business idea you want to explore, it is time to go to work. The next step is for an entrepreneur is to build an elevator pitch. What is an elevator pitch?

An elevator pitch is a short, concise way of describing your business to outsiders who have no idea about you or your business. It is a prepared mini-speech designed to spark interest in potential investors, customers, and employees. A good elevator pitch is succinct, intriguing, and memorable. A great elevator pitch makes your listener want to learn more. An amazing elevator pitch makes your listener drop everything and join you. More on this later.


Imagine you are riding in an elevator with someone for 30-60 seconds. Can you describe your business idea to that person before the elevator ride is over? I recommend you hit as many of these elements as possible. 
-Who you are
-Business name and tagline
-What you are doing
-Value proposition 
-Why you are doing it 
-Why others should care about it
-Where you will do this
-When this will happen
-How you are doing it
-Your ask(s), maximum of 3 
  
Perfecting your elevator pitch takes time and will likely change, especially if you have not finalized your business idea. At this stage, I definitely think it is beneficial to leave room for flexibility and pivoting. The earlier you work out the kinks of your business idea the better. Changes down the road typically cost more time, money, and effort. 

I have one more quick suggestion for all of you entrepreneurs out there. It is easy for thoughts to change or even slip away if you keep them in your head. This will not happen if you write them down. Document all your thoughts about your business idea in a journal, or even better on your Smartphone. Then you can revisit your thoughts, and document potential changes or ideas, so you can create the perfect elevator pitch for your billion-dollar idea.   

Would you like a little more convincing about the importance of an elevator pitch? Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, made one of the more famous elevator pitches to John Sculley of Pepsi.

Back in 1983, John Sculley was the president of Pepsi. He was a very highly paid executive sitting atop of one of PepsiCo's most important divisions, and the youngest president in Pepsi's history.

Sculley had dedicated his career to Pepsi, and was widely believed to be a serious contender to become PepsiCo's chairman one day. Sculley constantly turned down offers from other companies. Then Steve Jobs reached him.

Apple was looking for a CEO. Steve Jobs needed someone to run the company while he focused on product development. Although Sculley was intrigued by Apple's rise to become a Fortune 500 company in only six years, he said he was not interested.

Sculley eventually agreed to meet Jobs. Initially, he was taken aback by how young he was. Steve was only 27, but he and Sculley had a lot in common. Both were detail-oriented perfectionists, and both liked to build companies.

However, Sculley was shocked by Apple's headquarters. It looked like the branch office of an insurance company. Completely unimpressive. Sculley also noticed he was the only person wearing a suit, as all the Apple employees were dressed less formally than the maintenance staff at Pepsi.

Jobs told Sculley that Apple was going to be the most important computer company in the world because it was going to put the technological power of corporations into the hands of the individual.

Sculley was impressed with Jobs. Jobs was fascinated by Pepsi's marketing. However, at the end of the meeting, Sculley reiterated that he was not interested in leaving Pepsi. 

Jobs persisted. Eventually, Jobs had one more opportunity to pitch Sculley. During the pitch, Jobs looked Sculley in the eyes and said, "Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want a chance to change the world?"

That challenge hit Sculley like a fist in the stomach. That one sentence that haunted him. It gnawed at Sculley. It would not let him sleep. It was so powerful, it finally convinced him to leave Pepsi behind and join Apple. Today, that elevator pitch is considered one of the best elevator pitches in history.



Are you looking for funding for an idea or business, send us your stuff and we will take a look, Funding@OmegaSeedFund.com

Are you interested in investing time or money into any of our businesses, info@omegaseedfund.com

Are you interested in promoting your product or service to our audience, contact Opportunities@OmegaSeedFund.com


Disclaimer: This is only for informational and discussion purposes. This does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation of an offer to buy, or a recommendation of any security or any other product or service. We are not offering any legal, investment, tax, or medical advice. 



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