This spring, I once again participated in several entrepreneurial “pitch competitions,” including overseeing the $50K Hospitality Innovation Competition at the Boston University School of Hospitality, and as a first-round judge for a major competition run by Harvard.
These are always exciting events. First, because they provide a window into what concepts and ideas may emerge in the future. And second, because I never fail to come away with a handful of practical ideas for how an organization — any organization, not just a start-up — can increase the likelihood of its success.
Here are three insights that jumped out at me this year…
#1. Tell a Compelling Story
Without exception, the strongest pitches — the ones most likely to attract support or investor funding — had a powerful story to go along with them. These serve to help the audience visualize and relate to whatever problem or issue is being addressed.
Sometimes, they are in the form of a “founder’s story” — a first-person account of what motivated the founder to launch the business or initiative in the first place. These are hard to ignore or forget.
For example, even 10+ years later, I still have a strong memory of a pitch story I heard in 2015 about how a terrible experience the founder’s father had resulted in the launch of RapidSOS (yes, they won the competition that year). In another pitch, the founder shared her experience facing sexual harassment at work. Her willingness to disclose this publicly to highlight the issue had a significant impact on both the audience and judges.
Anecdotes may not serve as objective data, but there is hard science suggesting clear and concise stories help move audiences both emotionally and intellectually, giving them a better understanding of whatever is being discussed. Indeed, according to some research, people are up to 22 times more likely to recall stories than facts or statistics alone. Backed up with a bit of supporting data, they help drive home your message.
If you are not developing and sharing stories about your purpose, goals, and organization, you are neglecting a valuable tool.
#2. Leverage Outside Advice
Often, the feedback these students receive between successive competition rounds results in significant revisions along the way. For example, during the final round, the winner of this year’s Hospitality competition openly acknowledged a significant issue raised by judges earlier in the process. Thanks to that feedback, he was able to ease the minds of the final judges by presenting his approach to overcoming that shortcoming.
Of course, not all input is useful, correct, or consistent. When sharing ideas with others, you are likely to hear a number of suggestions, some of which conflict with advice you’ve received before. (At one recent competition, one of my fellow judges and I ranked the pitches in reverse order of quality, despite being given the same criteria on which to judge!)
So while you don’t want to take all advice as gospel, you do want to listen carefully and make sure you are considering it against your own understanding and thinking. Then you can decide what to keep and what to discard. Your filter will grow stronger as you process more advice and suggestions. Trust it.
#3. Consider Outside Factors
New ventures don’t launch in a vacuum. They need to consider the context and ecosystem in which they operate, much of which is out of the founders’ direct control or even influence.
Electric vehicles (EVs), for example, are attractive to consumers for many reasons (not the least of which is the recent and drastic increase in gas prices). But many people who like the idea of an EV have “range anxiety” — concerns about the lack of an adequate charging infrastructure when they venture beyond their close neighborhood. For some potential buyers, this external limitation is enough to keep them out of the EV market entirely.
We saw another type of external constraint in this year’s competition for a team whose idea for helping students resolve interpersonal challenges with roommates required universities to buy and install certain hardware in each dorm. It’s a strong idea, but getting universities on board presents a significant sales challenge, and one with a likely very long decision cycle to boot.
Sometimes, a new idea requires substantial behavioral change on the part of the targeted audiences. An example this year was a platform to help restaurants turn tables faster by assisting its guests in navigating menu choices more quickly. But it required guests to fill out a brief survey about their preferences, something several judges felt was not likely to be favored by diners.
Reflections
My experience with this year’s pitch competitions was a strong reminder that having a good idea, while necessary, is generally not enough. Other factors come into play.
By learning to tell compelling stories, enlisting the advice of others, and making sure to consider outside factors, you increase the likelihood of separating yourself from the pack, enlisting supporters, and achieving your goals.
