The Art of Pitching - (Part 1)

The Japanese have a martial arts concept of Shuhari (守破離) where you first (1) learn the rules, (2) break the rules, and then (3) transcend the rules.?

This philosophy can be applied to all art forms, not just fighting. The Art of Pitching is no different.

Shu 守

"Shu" means "to protect" or "to obey". It represents the first stage of learning where the student follows the teachings of one master precisely.

The structure that I follow was most clearly explained to me by Rachel Renock at Wethos during a mentorship session back in 2020.?

1. Why You?
2. Why This?
3. Why Now?

Every Founder should learn, by heart, how to do a 3 minute pitch which clearly and concisely answers those three questions.

In the first part, “Why you?”, cover who you are, your credentials, and how you have the skills and expertise to deliver something BIG.?

The “Why You?”, part of a pitch is the most critical part when you’re an early stage founder. Frankly speaking, the business that you start today will look nothing like the one that actually works.?

For that reason conveying your knowledge of your space, and your adaptability to problems highlights to investors that you’re worth taking a bet on.?

The next part “Why This?”, is to convey how your credentials have given you a unique advantage in your field. Specifically a key insight into the industry that nobody else sees.?

Usually there’s an underpriced asset, overlooked technology, or unrecognised potential.

Side note: NEVER SELL ON COST CUTTING!?

That’s a recipe for disaster. Firstly, investors won’t get excited.?

Secondly, and more practically there’s a limit to how much cost you can cut, there’s no limit to how much money you can help someone to make.

You will always earn more if you help someone earn more, than you would by helping the same person to cut costs.?

The final part is “Why Now?”, what has prevented anyone from trying this before? What technology was missing last year that is available to you this year? What regulatory, customer habit, or environmental change has made your venture possible now, when it wouldn’t have worked a year ago?

When you can clearly articulate those three things confidently, and they’re fully bought in, then you’ve successfully mastered the Shu.

In the next article, I’ll talk about how you can then break with the standard pitching format to stand out from the crowd.

How do you break the "rules" of pitching to say things that make you and your company instantly memorable and interesting??

That’s the Ha (破)