Pitch It to Me in One Sentence

Most pitch feedback focuses on the details: the wording, the order, sometimes the presentation style. "Change this title."

When I get founders ready to raise, I start somewhere else: "Forget the presentation. Pitch it to me in one sentence."

If you can't, your problem isn't the presentation. You haven't decided what the company is yet, and you're trying to make up for it with detail.

People focus on the details instead of the thing underneath. It's like handing someone a template: they fill in every part, even when 90% of it is irrelevant.

Take the team. Rather than starting with "Should I mention this advisor, or my CV?", stop and ask what that part is for.

"Convince investors that we have the team that can make this ambitious vision a reality."

Say it in one sentence. Then expand that sentence into two or three sentences with proof points. That's your team story.

Then ask the same of every other part of the pitch: what is it trying to achieve? If the answer is nothing, remove it.

Start with the details and you end up wordsmithing a mess. Simple and concise is harder, but it forces you to get something good before you start polishing.