“Good design can’t fix broken business models.” — Jeffrey Veen

You have 30 seconds to convince someone that your idea is gold. How do you do it? A good elevator pitch is like any other form of good communication: clear, concise and dynamic. What makes an elevator pitch unique is that it’s also short.

So, what should it contain?

The Pitch

What is your product? Explain this like you were explaining it to child. Remove the fluff, remove the buzz words and cut straight to the meat and potatoes. If you sell advertising on Facebook, that’s what you should say. No one cares about your “reinterpretation of the Social Graph.”

Why is it special? There are at least a dozen other companies exactly like you. Why are you special? Give a reason, the best reason you have. You’re not begging for attention, you are explaining why your product is worth hearing more about.

How will it investors rich and famous? None of the other parts mean anything unless you have a clear path to income. State as simply as you can how your product can be transformed into dollars.

This entire process should be no more than 4 sentences. If you find yourself going much longer, cut out anything that doesn’t directly answer these questions. If you find that your pitch is much shorter, make certain that you are actually covering the points that you need to cover.

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