“I suppose that I have a natural gift of communicating to people and a natural gift to be able to pitch an idea so I was able to get co-founders on board. So, even from the outset pitching is really really critical.”
Ryan O’Neil, Co-Founder and CEO of LegitFit speaks about how pitching has led to the success of his business and gives us some tips and hints on how to improve our pitching skills.
We basically started our business about 18 months ago.
It is an app business; software to service and basically what we do is provide health and fitness professionals, specifically independent professionals, the opportunity to earn an extra €10,000 a year through software solutions.
So, essentially what that is, is an online platform that centralizes different tools that help them track their business and track their clients.
We have moved onto our second phase, two weeks ago which is our paying beta and at the end of this week we are doing a trial release of it and we have 12 paying customers on board.
Why is Pitching Important?
Co-Founders
Ian O’Sullivan, Co-Founder of LegitFit
The Start-up journey is a really tough journey so it’s important to have the right people there.
There is a statistic to say that 9 out of 10 start up businesses fail and I would say that the biggest reason for that is the team. So, I suppose that, that side of pitching is very important.
You pitch your idea to people who can follow you to what you’re looking to do and have the vision that you have.
Supports
We’re lucky here in Cork that we have programmes that help us to get our business off the ground.
We are in the New Frontiers programme in the Rubicon Centre and last year we were in a programme called Ignite.
These are all great supports but they are only available to you can communicate well when pitching your business, the service that you are providing and the opportunity that is there.
Funding
In those top issues for start-up, I think that funding is probably number one; running out of cash.
So that’s one area that you really have to be good at pitching for and you’ve actually caught me at a good time as this is what we are trying to do at the moment. We have raised over €70,000 in the past year.
I’m actually pitching tomorrow for a place in New Frontiers phase 3 at 9am and then i’m pitching at 3pm up in Dublin to the CSF which is Enterprise Ireland’s competitive start fund. We’re only at the initial stages of fundraising, trying to get the Competitive Start Fund but it can lead on to bigger and better opportunities.
But, a lot of start-ups would go down the funding route and pitching is number one there!
Most of the time, in fundraising, people would bet on the jockey and not the horse. You could have the worst idea in the world and if you could pitch it well!..Ah now you would have to have due diligence behind it but yeah.
It’s critical to all stages essentially.
Pitching Tips:
It’s actually funny that I am giving these tips because I used to be terrified of pitching.
Do you know that it’s generally people’s number one fear; to stand in front of an audience and pitch or to talk. And there’s that finding that people would rather be in the coffin at the funeral that giving the Eulogy. People fear public speaking more than they fear death. Which is incredible but understandable. I mean you are standing up in front of your peers.
So, these tips are things that I have learned over the past year and some advice that I have received.
- Prep and Practice
Today, I am 18 months in and people would say that I am a very good presenter which is fantastic but what goes on in the background, they obviously don’t see.
I have been practising for about 4 hours already today for tomorrow and I will practice another 6 hours. This 10 hours will be spent brushing things up and getting the pitch refined for the audience. So, the prep work is really really important. The more and more you practice, the more second nature it becomes. You won’t have to think about the words that you are saying – you’ve done it so many times. I will probably, once I have the pitch totally refined, say it again about 50 times before I step in the room.
- Know your audience
This kind of goes hand in hand with Prep but know you audience that you are pitching to and adjust your pitch accordingly.
I remember last year that I was pitching to a small room and the pitch that I was doing was more for a big audience and it really went down poorly.
I pitch to investors and funders a lot but sometimes I have to go out on the road and pitch to a customer – in a sense that I am trying to sell them the product. And, it’s a completely different pitch and a completely different way you need to be. You need to adjust everything, from your body language to the content of what you are saying.
So that’s very important – know who you are pitching to and adjust your pitch to that situation.
3.Confidence
Obviously confidence is pretty important. People will buy or buy into someone who is quite confident when they are pitching. Now, that’s probably the one that most people struggle with. But, there are different techniques that they can look up.
For instance there is the Superman/ Superwoman pose and basically what you are doing is putting your hands on your hips before you pitch, as if you are Superman (hands on hips, chest out and deep breaths). The idea behind this is that it is a hormonal thing. It kick starts your adrenaline hormones when you are in this position from your fight or flight response and that allow people to be more confident.
There is another technique called the red dot technique. And this is for people who struggle to look the panel in the eyes when pitching to them – it tends to throw them off. So, what you do is you imagine a red dot in the middle of their head and if you focus on the dot, it looks like you are looking that them even though you’re not.
So, there are loads of tips online and you should test them all out and see what works for you.
- Know your Information
This one also ties in with Prep and Practice but make sure that you know all the information that you are putting across in your pitch. It is really really critical that you know what you are talking about but at the same time know; they don’t know what you are going to say next.
This is something that has really stuck with me in the past year; you know when you trip up but they don’t so don’t give yourself away. You may think ‘I was meant to say ‘but’ there and not ‘and’’ and then you can throw yourself off but just remember that whoever you are pitching to – they don’t know your pitch. You’ll fault yourself on different elements but they don’t actually know those elements so just keep doing what you’re doing.
5.Breath and Pause
This one is pretty important. A lot of people, when they are nervous, tend to speed up and forget to breath and pause. Yet pauses are a very powerful way of communicating. You can say just as much saying nothing as you can by continuing the sentences and letting them run on and on.
6.What can you consume before hand?
What you consume before you pitch is very important. Lots of people think that coffee before you pitch is a good idea. It’s not! Caffeine dries up your mouth and you will stutter over your words and struggle to pitch and be licking your lips the whole time
Caffeine is probably the worst thing to drink. The best thing for it is probably drinking loads of water and suck on mints.
Last Tips and Hints
I suppose these are things that I have learned over the past year and that have worked for me. But I would say, pick one tip on one pitch; practice that really well and then move on to the next one. Once to do that you will know it but it’s not about needing to do all of this and be the best at all of this. It’s about practicing what you need, seeing if it works and keeping it if it does work.
Know yourself and know your strengths and double down on those. If that’s communicating then that’s fantastic because then you can basically get everybody else to do stuff. But, if communicating isn’t your friend, so to speak, then get somebody on board. I cannot stress enough how important co-founders are. Besides the fact that they have expertise that you don’t have and you can progress the business a lot faster with that, it’s great to have someone else on board for the stability of the business and your own mental stability. It a tough time starting out, the first 18 months have been tough but it’s great to have someone else to lighten the load.
