Developing Your Pitch Sponsored by The Wharton Business Plan - PDF document

Developing Your Pitch Sponsored by The Wharton Business Plan Competition Committee Glenn Rockefeller Lecturer, Wharton Communication Program April 5, 2005 1 Elevator Pitch Workshop Objective You’ve got 30 seconds to explain your business proposition to a potential investor (elevator pitch), you better be prepared…. This workshop will help you identify the most important issues to communicate… It will focus on developing memorable taglines and delivering them effectively… Participants should come prepared with a business idea so that they can work on the pitch that they actually want to present. 2

Elevator Pitch Components Most Important What is the What is your approach to What are the expected opportunity or problem the opportunity or benefits to the initial you want to solve? solution to the problem? users? What is the size What are the key activities What resources are required of the opportunity? and milestones to and do you have them? launch the business? What are the key What is the expected risks/challenges and how returns for investors will they be managed? 3 Developing Your Presentation Sponsored by The Wharton Business Plan Competition Committee Glenn Rockefeller Lecturer, Wharton Communication Program April 5, 2005 4

Workshop Objective • Discuss the critical elements that should be included in a 10-15 minute overview presentation of your business plan. • This workshop is open to the public, but specifically targeted at helping the Great 8 begin to develop their slide deck for the Venture Finals. 5 Building Blocks for Excellent Communications Focus of discussion Dialogue Delivery Structure/Content Persuasion Awareness 6

Business Plan Pitches Contain: • Description of your business – Problem you’re solving – Your solution – Value proposition • Components of your business concept; order depends on your plan – Market – Attainable Market – Competitors – Unique, novel or proprietary element to withstand competition – Management Team (actual; or characteristics of executives you would like to hire) – Financial Projections – Funding needs 7 Objectives for the 10 minute Venture Pitch • Communicate high level information about your venture – Resist temptation to give too much detail about any one component of the plan • Pique the interest of the panelists/investors to request further information and to get to another meeting 8

Three Common Mistakes of Short Pitches: • FORGET OBJECTIVE • GET BOGGED DOWN IN TECHNICAL DETAILS • INEFFECTIVE USE OF Q&A 9 Other Common Pitfalls • Misallocation of time, often due to too much detail – Too much detail on technology, financials, etc. – Opportunity to clarify technical issues may come in Q&A period or in future meeting • Too much text/hard to understand slides – Slide should enhance, not detract from the speaker’s message • Use of jargon – Assumption that audience members are experts in your field • Failure to build credibility 10

Most Common Delivery Mistakes • READ SLIDES • LOSE ADVANTAGE OF A SPEAKING OPPORTUNITY • FORGET BASICS OF PRESENTATION SKILLS 11 Communication Basics That Drive Every Presentation Element Comments • Ensure compelling content: sound logic, well- supported arguments, persuasive structure Verbal • Keep language simple, sentences relatively short • Rely on conversational, not written word patterns • Use words that visualize ideas • Avoid jargon and filler words • Use clear articulation and proper pronunciation • Vary volume level • Vary rate of speech Vocal • Use pauses and keep them free of filler words • Breathe while you pause • Avoid “uptalk” if not asking a question • Stand tall and move naturally • Maintain eye contact with the audience; glance at slides and monitors only when necessary Visual • Avoid pacing and shifting weight • Avoid crossing arms/legs • Use gestures to emphasize words • Avoid letting your slides overpower you 12

PowerPoint Basics • Chart should support you, not visa versa − Convey ideas and facts…not details − Keep simple/easy to understand − Minimum number of words − Use similar font throughout • Use graphs and charts where possible to support key ideas − Label axes − Clear, uncomplicated • Dark background (blue or black) with light lettering (yellow or white) for high contrast • Talk to the audience, not the screen − Form triangle between screen, audience, and presenter − Refocus attention to presenter 13 How To Improve Three Common Types of Slides • TEXT • DATA • VISUAL – TELLING THE STORY 14

PRODUCTS & SERVICES: Value Proposition • Reduce Direct Labor Costs- Reduce the amount of clerk staff previously required to prep and manage paper-based medical record. Centralized data center model offers flexibility and experience to staff to the changing demand across multiple client hospitals. More importantly, any authorized user can simultaneously access the digital medical record, which eliminates process flow problems associated with working with only one paper document • Reduce Punitive Indirect Labor Costs- Authorized personnel within the client hospital can access digital records quickly from any PC terminal • Lower Accounts Receivable Balances- Reduce prep work and automatically prioritize the oldest, un-coded records to coders to optimize workflow • Reduce Implementation, Switching and Administration Costs for an Electronic Medical Records System- Serve multiple clients to leverage economies of scale for back-end data storage and systems administration and high cost of investing in and managing their own electronic medical records systems. • Reduce Waiting Times for Request of Information- Release of Information (ROI) Clerks can quickly disseminate medical records to requestors via fax-modem. • Reduce Compliance Risk- Authorized physicians will be able to log on to MedInfo system to finish incomplete medical records from any location and Compliance/Quality Control Clerks can easily monitor physician compliance through a decision support tool • Mitigate HIPAA Risk- MedInfo database administrators can monitor the access to and distribution of medical records and regularly audit who is accessing medical information PRODUCTS & SERVICES: Value Proposition • Reduce Direct Labor Costs • Reduce Punitive Indirect Labor Costs • Lower Accounts Receivable Balances • Reduce Implementation, Switching and Administration Costs for an Electronic Medical Records System • Reduce Waiting Times for Request of Information • Reduce Compliance Risk • Mitigate HIPAA Risk

Benefits Begin with Cost Containment Our Service Reduces: • Labor Costs • Accounts Receivable Balances • Implementation, Switching and Admin Cost • Waiting Times for Information Requests Compliance Risk Mitigate HIPAA Risk 17 iPremier Will Continue Showing Strong Growth in Sales & Profits $40MM $40 $32MM $35 $30 $25 $20 $15 $10 $2.1MM $3.5MM $5 $0 1999 2000 2001 2002 Sales Profits 18

Cost Effective, Mobile Medical Imaging System For Detecting Brain Hematomas Wharton Business Plan Competition 26th April 2004 19 The application will create value at multiple points in the TBI clinical chain and be used extensively by different members of the physician community 1 2 3 4 5 1 Pre – Hospital 1 Monitoring Hospital Monitoring 2, 3, 4 5 Post-Hospital 20 Monitoring

Presenting to Angels/VCs – Communications Tips • Use desktop publishing if possible – look professional but not slick • Keep talk to a maximum, handouts to a minimum • Never leave proprietary materials behind – especially after initial meeting • Demonstrate good teamwork with your management team members that are present 21 Issues VCs Are Sensitive To Team • CEO’s credentials • Caliber of the founders • Completeness of the management team • Degree of drive of the core team Product/Market • How revolutionary/unique? • Will the competitive advantage be sustainable? • Does the company have a nifty product or is this a business? • Size of the market, revenue potential • Potential customers (names and phone numbers) Structure • Pricing of the finance round • Control • Vesting terms of the employee shares 22