Inventors and entrepreneurs across the country are prepping and refining their elevator pitches to submit for a chance to win $10,000 at the 2016 Black Enterprise Entrepreneurs Summit.
As you prepare, BlackEnterprise.com has gathered advice from pitch competition judges so that you may have a trusty guide to follow for your submissions.
[Related: Entrepreneurs Summit: Who Has the Best Small Business? We Need Names]
Take this advice into account as you sharpen your 2 minute business pitch detailing the problem your business solves, who your primary customers are, what you’re selling your business for, and your current/projected sales revenue.
Click here for all of the information you need to prepare and submit your pitch. Register now to secure your spot at the 2016 BE Entrepreneurs Summit, May 4-7, Loews Hotel Miami, Miami, Florida. Best of luck!
Be sure to follow Black Enterprise on social media @BlackEnterprise for Entrepreneur Summit news, highlights, and updates. Use hashtag #BESummit to stay in the loop. Please be on the lookout at BlackEnterprise.com as speakers, activities, and sessions are announced.
Peep what the judges had to offer below. Best of luck.
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Lisa Ascolese — Founder, Inventing A-Z
Deal maker: A deal maker for me is when someone is pitching a product and they are clear, concise and can deliver information about their product in two minutes or less. I also appreciate when a person can give three accurate bullet pointed explanations about the product. Additional positives are having a great diagram, prototype, completed product and most importantly, having the product protected.
Deal breaker: A deal breaker is when someone talks about their product longer than necessary, unclear about what the product is and the reason the product was developed. Topping my list is when the person lacks passion and is simply looking to get rich quickly.
Sound advice
: My words of wisdom when pitching the product, always come prepared knowing all of the reasons why anyone would want to purchase your product in addition to understanding the demographic to whom you will be selling the product too. Make your product dance!
Lorine Pendleton — U.S. Director Business Development, Dentons/Angel Investor
Deal maker: When evaluating pitches I look to see whether the business idea is a sound one. My criteria for this is as follows: what is the problem this company solving? Is the solution to the problem a sound one? How large is the addressable market, can the company scale? What’s the competition and how does this company differentiate itself?
Equally important, if not more important, is the founder. There’s an investing adage, ‘Bet on the jockey and not the horse.’ Essentially you can have the best company, but if the founder is not good it will not succeed. Conversely, you can have an ok/average company, but if the founder is great (executes well, knows how to pivot when necessary) you can have a success.
When making an investment I evaluate the founder(s) and my criteria includes whether they have domain experience/knowledge related to their product or service. Are they a leader and can they inspire people to give them money, join their team, etc? What is their mindset and are they coachable?
Deal breaker: Â If the company is a lifestyle business. If it is a business that is not scalable I will not invest in it. The only way an investor gets a return on investment is if the company is acquired or has an IPO. Lifestyle businesses do not have either of these exits.
Sound advice: Know who you are pitching to and do your homework on the investor. Often people contact me to invest in a company, which is not the type of company I typically invest in. Also, cold emailing or calling a potential investor will likely be a waste of time. Investors are interested in deal flow emanating from referrals from people they know. If you do not have access to investors, go where they go. Attend your local networking event or meetup related to angel or early-stage investing. Most major cities have angel groups. I suggest every early-stage entrepreneur who is seeking investors read David Roses book called Angel Investing. This book provides great insight into what angel investors look for.
Marlon Nichols — Founding Partner, Cross Culture Ventures
Deal maker: New solutions to new and real problems.
Deal breaker: Â Copycat solutions, ‘me too’ types of solutions.
Sound advice: Attack problems/ challenges that are authentically relevant to you and that you can solve in a unique way.