The Pitch

I was raised without fear of public speaking. Speaking in front of an audience is not just non-threatening to me. It's exciting.

It seems that that would make me an exception. Last Thursday, I got the chance to attend two pitch events. The first was an Idea Pitch hosted by IDEA Fund at Launch. Representatives from three startups came by to pitch their ideas. The first was delivered by pros- it was concise, well expressed, and impressive. A second was a well rehearsed pitch by an inexperienced entrepreneur, but a strong speaker. The last was a mess. He was a middle-aged entrepreneur who had been part of an accelerator for 5 months and, in theory, had the chance to be critiqued and coached on his delivery. He bumbled and stumbled on so far over the time limit, and with so little direction, that the judges were forced to interrupt him and say, "I have no idea what you've said, but I don't know a single thing about your company."

Lesson learned: be concise, well rehearsed, and have a framework for your pitch. Skills that many, apparently, do not have.

Later that evening, I volunteered at the Startup Grind's event at which they brought in big time angel investor David Gardner for a talk and a Q&A. My job was to sit at the registration desk and sign people in. I was also told to recruit guests for an impromptu 30-second pitch-off, the winner of which gets a private conversation with David Gardner. A chance for The Triangle's entrepreneurs to pitch their ventures in front of the region's top investor and 50 other entrepreneurs? To earn a chance to practice their pitch, invite guests to ask questions, and get feedback from and placed on the radar of the region's top investor? Sounds like an easy pitch!

But try as I might, no one seemed up for it. 50 entrepreneurs, each with their own startup, and no one could be convinced to make the pitch. "We're not ready," or "we won't win," or "I'm not in the right mindset," or "I don't know, I haven't really practiced." All of these excuses bounced off of my disbelieving ears. When else might any of us get the chance to pitch David Gardner?

Finally, after dozens of flat out 'no's, a few hesitant declines, a couple nervous laughs, and one person who eagerly signed up, then nervously crossed his name off, then came back to sign up again, then returned 10 minutes later to remove his name off the list once more, one brave soul signed up. He was clearly not prepared or well practiced. He had not done anything like this in the past. But I convinced him of the worth of the opportunity- both as a self-development exercise and a chance to pitch his venture.

So, as he was the only one who had agreed, I would join him. He and I go up to pitch. He delivers his written out word for word on a piece of paper, reaching a minute in length, and in-concise, but  nevertheless brave pitch. I give mine- a 30 second hot points of our value, our market size, and our traction to date.

I won, but I was more proud of the man than of myself. He did something difficult. He challenged himself. He put himself in an uncomfortable situation which no one in the entire room was brave enough to do.

Lesson learned: Public speaking really does seem to be America's greatest fear. I am grateful to my upbringing that I am invigorated by speaking instead of turned off. It won me a private meeting with Gardner tomorrow morning, that I look forward to taking advantage of.

To anyone who hasn't spoken in public at least once- go get on stage and preform stand up comedy. If you bomb, you'll never be afraid of speaking again. And if you do well, you'll be addicted.