I'm considering pitching an idea. Do you have any tips or advice?

Yes. First off, congrats on wanting to pitch. The effectiveness of the projects we develop and consequently the magnitude of the outcomes we obtain all trace back to starting with a solid idea. Kudos for seeking advice on how to do this foundational piece better.

A couple things to keep in mind:

  1. The prevailing advice in entrepreneurship is “fall in love with the problem not your proposed solution.” It’s far more important that you have a good understanding of the problem than a seemingly-polished idea of how you think it can be solved. The solution will almost certainly morph over time as you learn more about the problem, but you can achieve a fairly stable initial understanding of the problem with research.

  2. If you are indeed pitching a solution you are proposing to build spend half of the allotted time setting the table with explaining the problem, who is affected, what the ramifications of it going unchecked are. And only then switch into solution mode and pitch your idea. Get people to care first about the issue and then they will become receptive to your proposed solution.

  3. Depending on how many pitches and what time we have we usually allot half of your time slot for your pitch and the other half for audience Q&A. This interactivity is valuable in engaging people and refining your idea. Typically plan for a 2min time slot with 1min of that being your pitch. You don’t need a slide deck. With such a small window slides end up being a distraction. This is your opportunity to practice your “elevator pitch” - you essentially have a 1min elevator ride with us. Get us to care about the issue and intrigue us with your proposed approach for addressing it. Think of it like the trailer that makes you want to watch the movie.

  4. You should be aware of Problemattic’s revenue model and how things work with intellectual property licensing as it has implications for running your project.