A guy at a meetup told me my elevator pitch was all wrong and I completely changed it

Last month at a networking event in Austin, someone I'd just met listened to my 30-second pitch and said I sounded like a robot reading a spec sheet. He asked me what problem I actually SOLVE for real people. That made me scrap the whole thing. I rewrote it to focus on a specific client story instead of listing features. Now I get way more follow-up conversations. Has anyone else had a total stranger give feedback that actually helped?

3 comments

3 Comments

scott.drew6d ago

Three years ago at a Denver startup mixer, a guy named Mike told me my pitch made him want to take a nap. He said I sounded like I was reading terms of service out loud. I was so embarrassed I actually changed it that night to be more about how my service saved a customer from a huge headache instead of listing every button my app has. Now I get people actually nodding instead of checking their watches. Still, my first attempt was so bad my own mom once asked me to just send her an email instead.

skylerrobinson6d ago

Mike's advice worked for you and that's great, but I don't think every pitch needs to be a dramatic story about saving a customer. Sometimes people just want to know what your product actually does, not hear a parable. If you're talking to a room full of engineers or investors who care about the mechanics, listing features isn't always boring. It can be exactly what they need to decide if your thing even applies to them. Your mom might not be your target audience either, so I wouldn't base everything on her reaction. Isn't there a middle ground where you can have a clear feature list AND show how it solves a problem?

carter.laura6d ago

That Mike guy from Denver sounds like he saved you from a bad pitch too. My own pitch was so bad I had a guy at a coffee shop in Portland tell me to "just say what you do in three words." I literally walked outside and tried it on a stranger. It worked way better than my scripted nonsense.