Pitch Intention. Not Tech.

December 28th, 2011

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Just about a year and a half ago I sat through a very small talk by Bill Warner. I’m a big fan of Bill’s in Boston. He’s had some real big wins, and losses, and speaks honestly and openly about all of them in a way that few people I’ve ever met are able to do. And he seems like a really humble, good guy. I dig him.

Well. In that small talk that Bill gave, he asked five people in the audience to pitch their ideas to the rest of the crowd. Each person stood up. Did their 30-second pitch. And sat down. The exercise lasted only but a few minutes.

Each pitch went something along the lines of the following: “Hi. My name is John. And I run a company called X. X is a digital media solution that connects brands with consumers in a unique way. Our algorithm does a, b, and c. This piece of technology does THIS, and THAT, and THIS, and THAT.”

Directly following, Bill asked three members of the audience who had not pitched to repeat what each of the five people had pitched. It was a mini game of telephone, testing to see if the three could remember what each of the five pitchers had said. And guess what happened. Yep. All three of the people bumbled through trying to repeat what it was they THOUGHT each person had said. Almost all were off by a sizable degree.

Then Bill said something I’ll never forget (this is not a direct quote, but is damn close): The next time you are pitching your idea, I want you to pitch intention. Not tech. I want you to tell me what you intend to do. Not what your technology does. It’s unbelievable how little human beings relate to technology. They will forget your technology. They will not forget your intention. Pitch intention.

Bill went on to demonstrate how beginning your pitch with the words “I intend to BLANK,” is a significantly more successful way to pitch than beginning with “my technology does x, y, and z.” People do not relate to technology nearly as much as they relate to humans, what they intend to do, and what problems they are solving.

Next time, instead of pitching your technology, pitch your intention.

Here are some examples:

“I intend to make collecting payments online easier” (WePay).

“I intend to transform the way people shop for jewelry” (Gemvara).

“I intend to change the way people consume content” (CampusLIVE).

Tell people what you intend to do.

Then do it.