Original Agenda (for Barb and Neil agreement)

Original Agenda (for Barb and Neil agreement) Time Topic 05 mins. Welcome and Objectives by Barb / Introduce Neil 05 Why Pitch? 10 Offering Value 15 Pitch Delivery and Content (through Competition) 05 Self-Assessment Exercise: Your Solution vs. the Competition 10 Writing a Few (Very) Brief Impactful Sentences on Financials / Preparing to Answer Questions 05 Practice Exercise: Making an Ask of Your Neighbors 05 Giving and Receiving Feedback 10 One or two volunteer pitches and feedback on content and delivery 05 What Comes Next? (Using it at receptions, hallways) / Send bulleted draft by midnight

Notes on Session Needs: Forms 1. (25 x 2 x 50)/3 = 1,250 audience feedback sheets for during the competitions. My experience is that only half or less of participants fill one for each team. (See form blank in next email.) 2. 100 feedback forms for my work (will use from above stock). 3. 100 copies of the Judges form for teams as outline, plus 110 for judges to use. 4. Hotel conference site or NSF pens in abundance.

Program Blurb Having the skill, confidence and knowledge to communicate the importance of your innovation to others is crucial for team leaders and key members. You will learn how to master attracting the interest of investors, university officials, team recruits, corporate co-development sponsors, advisors and others. You will produce a content-rich and interesting pitch that will help you secure the opportunity for more detailed further discussions with such key partners. You will do a quick selfassessment of your innovation against the competition, as well as produce basic financial details to offer a complete introduction to your company s plans. Finally, you ll learn how to make a specific Ask of your listener, setting the stage for a positive next discussion. Our program includes learning how to give and receive terse, helpful feedback which we will use to refine the pitches. A pitch competition among the 50 AIR grantees will give all a chance to demonstrate what you ve learned and recognize how you can be impactful in promoting your company. We look forward to seeing you at our training session. (The preceding was a pitch.)

PFI: AIR Investor Communications I Workshop NSF SBIR / STTR ANNUAL CONFERENCE JUNE 2016

Objectives Having the skill, confidence and knowledge to communicate the importance of your innovation to others is crucial for team leaders and key members Learn how to attract strong initial interest to your team / company Do a quick self-assessment of your innovation against the competition Produce basic financial details and answer financial questions Learn how to make a specific Ask of your listener, setting the stage for a positive next discussion

About Neil Sheridan Taught / coached thousands of entrepreneurs and executives MS IT (GMI) / MBA Finance (NYU) Chair, Entrepreneurship Task Force, Small Business Association of Michigan US National Science Foundation innovation reviewer US Department of Commerce export program volunteer Consulting: Strategy, Marketing, Organizational Development, M&A, Financial Management, Innovation Entrepreneurship

NSF AIR 2016 PITCH COMPETITION Setting the Stage

Our Work Today Offering Value: Is There Something There? Why Pitch? Pitch Elements You vs. the World Basic Financial Details / Answering Financial Questions Giving and Receiving Feedback If Time Permits: A Few Victims Volunteers

Setting the Stage Do not disclose unprotected intellectual property use a substitute fictional concept if necessary. Respect each others courage and efforts. Death before pitching? No need to fear. Purpose is to secure a chance to talk at length later. Use with investors, university officials, recruits, codevelopment partners, advisors

Any Starting Point is Fine May have worked in an entrepreneurial setting, company or with a professor, or, not at all May not be at all familiar with the idea of pursuing investment or commercial connections May not have had business studies May not be comfortable with public speaking or ad hoc question and answers

Notetaking vs. Download These Slides and Forms Now or Later svpi.com/air.zip

+ - o Please Give Me Feedback

Continual Improvement Please start to fill out the feedback form Open, honest and direct 3 Things You Liked And, 3 You Didn t Like 3 Suggestions for

Focus of Our Communications Work Today Value Proposition Elevator Pitch Agreement to Discuss Further

Benefits of Learning to Pitch Well Getting customer or stakeholder buy-in to your ideas and merit Additional use cases: For resources, funds, space and time at a university or corporate research setting Or even, an effective marriage proposal

Value Propositions NSF AIR INVESTOR COMMUNICATIONS I WORKSHOP

What is a Value Proposition? Primary reason A positioning statement An identifier that separates your business from the competitors in the minds of your customers Credit: innoxiuss NSF AIR INVESTOR COMMUNICATIONS I WORKSHOP

What is a Value Proposition? Solves a need by a customer ready to buy using a rational, effective approach (unique?) imparts clearly definable and recognizably delivered benefits superior to the competition at a price willing to pay

Imagine this Value Proposition You are forced to pay for it; most of us will never use it You pay for a bunch of people to sit around, study, sleep and work out most of the time Put them up in a nice house and feed them, too

A Compelling Value Prop NSF AIR INVESTOR COMMUNICATIONS I WORKSHOP

Compelling

Exercise: Free-think Your Value Prop Credit: innoxiuss NSF AIR INVESTOR COMMUNICATIONS I WORKSHOP

Three Sentences [Your Team Name] addresses [important need] with a [your solution in 4 words] that [approach in 5 words]. Improving [name 2 good outcomes] and reducing [2 bad things], this [positive adjective here] [your solution in 2 new words] will be available [now/next year/after what]. Representing significant value over existing alternatives, our [your solution in 1 word], will be priced at [how much?], meaning both cost and profitability will be highly attractive to our initial customers and early investors. NSF AIR INVESTOR COMMUNICATIONS I WORKSHOP

Tip: Brainstorming the Value Proposition using Xmind.net NSF AIR INVESTOR COMMUNICATIONS I WORKSHOP

Who Do We Proposition? Customers By segment By need / By emergent need Talent Investors / Lenders / Licensees / Franchisees Partners / Referrers / Influencers / Public

Communicating It NSF AIR INVESTOR COMMUNICATIONS I WORKSHOP

The Elevator Pitch NSF AIR INVESTOR COMMUNICATIONS I WORKSHOP Credit: Microsoft

What is an Elevator Pitch? Credit: innoxiuss NSF AIR INVESTOR COMMUNICATIONS I WORKSHOP

Credit: Microsoft Tight and persuasive verbal communications that leave the listeners wanting more NSF AIR INVESTOR COMMUNICATIONS I WORKSHOP Image: Microsoft

Why Structure Our Message? Consistent Intentional rather than accidental impact Easier for those less comfortable speaking Honed to be listener-orientated Practice it until it becomes natural (not canned) Variants for different audiences

No One Right Formula* Many differing pitch formulas: Rules Preferred Content and Order Delivery Style and Length Experiment with your own* * Except tomorrow

Strong opening (a Punch in the Nose, or PIN), then: Need Approach Benefits at the given cost Competition (and why yours is superior) Financials (relevant to listener) Close with The Ask Our Pitch Elements Credit: Microsoft

Group Exercise: Posture 1. Hair Spinal alignment 2. Loosen shoulders 3. Purposeful gestures 4. Make 20 seconds of eye contact 5. Dress to impress or Jobs t-shirt

Pay Attention to Time 1. Practice with a timer 2. Be able to skip content and finish with a strong Ask 3. Be aware of e.g.o. 4. Only 3 minutes to pitch 5. Up to 3 minutes for Q&A Credit: Fellows (auctioneers)

Who is our Competition? Doing a Basic Competitive Self-Assessment Credit: innoxiuss NSF AIR INVESTOR COMMUNICATIONS I WORKSHOP

Types of Competition for Direct Indirect And 3 years in the future? Logos are Registered Trademarks of their Respective Owners

Who is the Competition? 1. Make an rank-ordered list of your innovation s competition at launch and 3 years later? a) Direct = Very much like your offering b) Indirect = Substitutes, do nothing 2. Size? 3. US and international

Addressing the Finances Confidently and Concretely

Three Key Numbers (There are many more to know, eventually.) 1. Revenues how much will you make in sales, in what ways (product, warranties, training ) 2. Costs how and what will it cost to produce, sell, administer, refine ) 3. Investment Sought how much are you asking for in this phase and how will you use it? NSF AIR INVESTOR COMMUNICATIONS I WORKSHOP When do estimate that you will be profitable? Revenues exceeding costs. It s OK if that s in intermediate future if you can explain why (costs of scaling up, further R&D, expansion to new markets )

Read-a-Long Example Statements Next year, we will begin commercial sales in the Northeast, California and Texas with total five year revenue estimates of $15 million and costs of $50 million. Our principal cost drivers are for scaling up production, adding to our salesforce and for marketing campaigns. We have raised $5 million in angel and grant funds. Now, we are seeking $10 million over the next 2 years to fund our go-to-market product development and initial marketing.

Answering Financial Questions Memorize and understand numbers and key assumptions. Paraphrase back if needed to comprehend or for time. Use professional language: Estimate, predict, calculate. NOT: About, like, approximately, more or less, or how much do you have? Do not joke at all about these questions. If you absolutely do not know: May I please review this with my colleagues and contact you tomorrow? No B.S. Make sure the numbers are realistic, neither too optimistic or overly conservative, and match the pitch.

Making a Warm, Positive and Specific Ask Credit: innoxiuss NSF AIR INVESTOR COMMUNICATIONS I WORKSHOP

How to Make an Ask that Leads to a Further Discussion 1. Confident, friendly, humble but positive 2. Suggest a specific date, have a backup. Can you both pull out your calendars and set it now? 3. Get their contact info (direct email) 4. Express that you will have something additional: Your team, the prototype, financial pro formas, your investor presentation (you ll have one in the future).

Sample Ask My team and I have a working technical prototype and fuller details on our financial projections. Could we please schedule a (visit / conference call / Skype TM ) for Wednesday? We would be delighted to share our market research findings to further address your questions. Yes? Great, could I send you a meeting invitation now? What s your email, please? Thank you very much for your interest and insights into our work. (Shake hands and walk away.)

You re Done! Value Proposition Elevator Pitch Agreement to Discuss Further

Exercise: Make a Warm, Positive and Specific Ask of Your Tablemates Credit: innoxiuss NSF AIR INVESTOR COMMUNICATIONS I WORKSHOP

PiN, NABCF, The Ask Writing and Checking Your Pitch

Using the Scoring Sheet as an Outline and Proofing Tool NSF AIR INVESTOR COMMUNICATIONS I WORKSHOP

+ - o Giving Feedback

Use + / - / o Bulleted feedback Open, honest and direct Legible

What Happens Tonight? Credit: innoxiuss NSF AIR INVESTOR COMMUNICATIONS I WORKSHOP

Reception and Technology Showcase NSF AIR INVESTOR COMMUNICATIONS I WORKSHOP

Credit: NSF

Outline a Pitch and Practice It on the Unsuspecting Bullet point some key thoughts into the Judging form as an outline Remember: PiN, NABC, F, The Ask Try it out at the dinner and networking tonight, keep jotting revisions. Have your partner watch and suggest improvements. Then

Please Send It to Me by Midnight A photo of your messy outline form is OK Even more appreciated is a quick text document Bullet points Need not be perfect or final LIFO: Last in, first on stage Tuesday

What Happens at the Competition? NSF AIR 2016 PITCH COMPETITION

Enjoy It It is a learning experience, one you will have many years to refine No notes: Use the acronyms PiN, NABC, F and The Ask speak from your heart and head, no need for notes. 3 minute each hard stop for pitches and then the judges Q&A You will fill out a Peer Feedback form for each pitcher (and get a stack back) Awards ceremony Wednesday AM

Credit: Microsoft Elevator Pitch Practice WHO S FEELING BRAVE? NSF AIR INVESTOR COMMUNICATIONS I WORKSHOP Image: Microsoft

Do We Have A Volunteer? Credit: Thesupermat

APPLAUSE! NSF AIR INVESTOR COMMUNICATIONS I WORKSHOP

Download These Slides and Forms svpi.com/air.zip

Thank You! ns@svpi.com or LinkedIn: Google Neil Sheridan Also facilitating discussion on Wednesday (twice) Accelerating Growth: Challenges and Strategies for Your Innovation Company

svpi.com/air.zip