A pitch is a short presentation that summarizes your company’s mission, business plan, and goals. Often, invention makers pitch ideas specifically to investors to secure capital to grow or scale their company. One of our clients did exactly that a few weeks ago on the hit reality TV show Dragons’ Den.
After successfully pitching their idea, Samir and Bobby of ChaiEasy secured a $250,000 investment from Manjit Minhas, co-owner of Minhas Brewery in Wisconsin, for a percentage of equity and royalties.
Your pitch is important – so how do invention makers pitch and stand out from the rest when it’s finally their turn at bat? Watch the episode and follow along with the notes below to find out.
1. Start By Creating a Narrative
Invention makers pitch by starting with a concise and compelling story and hook to keep their audience engaged and interested. Samir starts the pitch by saying “In front of you is the world’s most popular drink.” As an investor, this is great because what you’re hearing is that there’s an existing market for your product. Samir reinforces this fact by stating that “worldwide, three billion cups” of chai are enjoyed every day.
2. State Precisely the Niche Pain Point You’re Solving
“I must show you how painful it is to make a traditional cup of chai.” Samir is clear and to the point as he and Bobby demonstrate how long it takes and how many steps are involved in creating just one cup of tea. Not to mention the time it takes to clean up afterward as well…
3. State Precisely How Your Solution Simply Solves the Pain Point
When invention makers pitch a solution, it should be a simple solution. Kevin, Mako Design’s President and Founder, is adamant about this. The simpler a product idea is, the easier it is for it to be successful. This is exactly the case with ChaiEasy. “It’s the world’s first automatic chai maker,” Samir states as he unveils the product, “it makes the same authentic-tasting, homemade chai, minus the pain.” So first, they state what their product is. Bobby follows this up with, “It cuts down the time by a third, and it’s fresh. One press, no mess.” His comment is short, sweet, and easy for all the Dragons to understand.
Well said, Bobby, well said.
4. Demonstrate that the solution is an easy user experience
When invention makers pitch a product idea, they should be prepared to actually demonstrate that the product is easy to use. What’s ingenious is that ChaiEasy is using a solution that people are already familiar with – capsule coffee machines.
With ChaiEasy, users can enjoy chai as easily as making a fresh cup of coffee at home with a Nespresso or other similar machine. When you watch their demonstration, you can see how few steps it took to make a cup of tea and all the customization options available for the user.
5. State your revenue streams.
Again, like capsule-style coffee machines, ChaiEasy plans to make money through recurring purchases of their tea pods. As a premium product, ChaiEasy pods are competitively priced at just over one dollar per pod.
As the judges mentioned, overall, it was a great pitch. Even in the end there some of the Dragons were fighting amongst themselves to invest in ChaiEasy. It just goes to show how important a pitch really is. Before invention makers pitch to investors, they should follow some of the steps that ChaiEasy took.
Along with the points above, there are some other important elements to consider, including marketing and target audience acquisition. It’s a lot of information to cover in a short amount of time. But do your best to keep your pitch short, sweet, and to the point.
About: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about MAKO Design + Invent!
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