[00:00:00] Speaker A: Every founder I work with, I do not let them touch their deck. I think most people try to reference it and it can falter. So the goal is that you always want to use language as if someone can visualize it themselves. And it's so simple that it's almost like you're pitching and talking to a five year old and explaining it in a way because you never want to assume you're pitching a target consumer.
[00:00:19] Speaker B: Welcome to the B2B Breakthrough Podcast. We're here to bring you all the best knowledge, insights and strategies from e commerce experts, successful business owners, and the.
[00:00:28] Speaker C:
[email protected] that you'll need to grow your business and achieve your next big breakthrough. I'm your host, Ciara Christo.
[00:00:37] Speaker B: Today's guest is the incredible Kat Weaver, founder of Power to Pitch. She's helped entrepreneurs raise millions by perfecting their pitch. And if you caught her at co create 2024, you know she delivered serious value. From coaching pitch contestants to sharing sharp insights on investing for female founders, you're in for a treat. So welcome Kat. Thanks for joining us.
[00:00:55] Speaker A: What an awesome intro. Thank you so much for having me. I'm like, wow, who is that?
[00:01:00] Speaker B: It's you, baby. You got the goods.
Tell us a little bit about how life started for you with Power to Pitch.
[00:01:07] Speaker A: Well, I joke that I'm a two time accidental entrepreneur. I thought I wanted to go into medicine, started a company out of my college dorm room, lost everything to a fire, and then rebuilt it by winning. Well, my claim to fame is winning 22 of 23 pitches that I applied for. And that really was the big inflection point that made me realize that I met so many other entrepreneurs who deserved funding but struggled to communicate. And I had clearly worked the system that was, you know, won over and over and over again. That was not an accident or a stroke of luck. And so I was kind of help coaching some other founders on the side and getting them some money and realized how rewarding that was. So after six years, I sold and exited that company to start what's now Power to Pitch. And my whole mission is helping founders get funded faster. And that happens through clear communication, a better pitch, fundraising materials, and we're at over 50 million in grants and venture capital raise with our founders. 50 million so far and counting and counting. It's going up every week. That's, you know, the goal. My next big milestone is to get them to 100 million.
[00:02:11] Speaker B: Wow, that's incredible. And it's all based on this real world experience that you've had with your own products, bringing those to market and selling?
[00:02:19] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, at the end of the day, getting money from, whether it's a grantor or an investor, it's not as much about the business as it is about you as the founder. And so it's a lot of, I call, like the psychology behind communication, pitching and funding. And then also I consider a lot of what I do, startup therapy. Imposter syndrome is a very, very, very big thing that happens in this space. And less than 2% of US businesses get venture dollars. And then 2.9% of that 2% goes to female founders. So the odds are really not in our favor. So I've got a lot of work to do.
[00:02:56] Speaker B: So do you focus in your, in your practice now on female founders specifically, or have you broadened your net to help founders from all backgrounds?
[00:03:04] Speaker A: I've never limited to just female founders. I will say as a woman who's the CEO of the company, I think a lot of other women resonate with that more because they know that I've personally experienced it. I've helped founders overcome some just really crazy stories. And I'm going to write a book one day. I mean, the things that these women have been told when raising capital would blow your mind in the worst ways. And so I think it's just kind of a natural draw. But I work with some and helped incredible male founders as well.
[00:03:35] Speaker B: I remember you posting about some of the things that female founders have heard in these scenarios. And I hate to put you on the spot here, but I found it really impactful to hear as a woman, I'm not a founder, but it's, it's something that you hear in interviews and you hear from other women in the space. So can you share with us some of those biases that affect female founders as they try to get funding?
[00:03:57] Speaker A: I will say one of the top things is whether or not the woman has children, plans to have children, is serious about the company because she's going to be affected by potentially having or has children.
I see that as a really big barrier, and I don't see dads get questioned like that ever. It's typically the moms who bear that burden, burden of question, and the conflict around whether or not they're going to stay serious and put in that effort or if they're going to be distracted. And so this is some of what I've been asked, as well as some of, you know, sharing stories anonymously from other founders who have messaged me that like an Investor asking you when you plan to get pregnant is not appropriate. An investor saying that they have already invested in a female founder this year. Like we're some sort of token not appropriate, or this is. This is a true story. These all are. But this one seems so bizarre that you wouldn't want to believe it, but this founder had gotten investment from this individual and she was going out to raise again and went back to the current investors to say, hey, I want to give you first rights if I'm raising again.
I'm going to give you a deal on the terms if you'd like to reinvest. And the investor said to her point, like, I will not invest if you plan to get pregnant again.
[00:05:15] Speaker B: I'm speechless. Which is not great. In an audio format. I.
Are you kidding?
[00:05:21] Speaker A: Literally real, real life. And it is 2025. Like, yeah, crazy. That's just some of it. I know of some women who have been sexually assaulted or just been told, let's go on a date, or when is your husband going to join?
So again, I work with some amazing male investors, male founders, but women, we hear this more often and I think it's a bit more shocking and that' just trying to bring some of this to the forefront because it's not okay.
[00:05:48] Speaker B: How do you respond to something like that in this context?
[00:05:53] Speaker A: Well, I would say, one, I love that that happened because then you know that you do not want that person on your cap table. You do not want their money. You do not need their money. Good. They told you those things run like, I'm glad that they share that. Hopefully too early where you didn't take on that money and then you're regretting it later. So that's a positive.
And two, one female founder had actually told me this line and I wrote it down because I was like, wow, this feels really powerful. I'm going to have to try it out myself. But it was. I'm surprised you feel comfortable saying that. And you say it in this questionable tone and you're not being combative. You're not trying to change their mind.
You're putting that out there and waiting for an answer, and that puts them on their toes of hopefully. They feel so stupid. But again, you're not going to want that person on your cap table anyway. So it's. It's actually a very positive experience, as jarring as it might feel, and it's a little shocking, but typically it's really hard to change that person's mind. And it's not your job to change their mind. Exactly.
[00:06:56] Speaker B: In that moment, there's so many barriers for women entering this world as it is that when you hear responses like that to, to a very standard part of starting a business, to a very, you know, expected phase when, when women are treated differently in that space, it's, it's jarring. And to know how to, how to react to that in a way that, that keeps you grounded in your power and then also addresses the issue at hand. I think that's, I think it's a really powerful phrase. So thank you for sharing that.
[00:07:25] Speaker A: Well, I appreciate you asking because again, like, it's in one post, who is it really going to see and reach? But my goal is like, if I can just one more at a time.
If that's what it takes, it's what it takes.
[00:07:37] Speaker B: I love following your content because everything that you post on LinkedIn is so, so clear. It fosters community because there's these things that you think, am I the only one experiencing this? And so thank you for shining a light on those moments and creating teaching moments out of them. I think there's a lot to work with there.
[00:07:54] Speaker A: LinkedIn has changed my life, literally.
I wish more founders were on there and more active because it's one of the most untapped platforms.
[00:08:02] Speaker B: Absolutely. So listen, just shameless plug now and we'll circle back at the end of the episode to share the links and the resources. But definitely a useful platform to capture some advice along the way. On that note, I want to start talking about the process of pitching and how to adequately prepare. You've built a whole business around this and really understanding how to make the most impact in this so crucial part of, of creating a business and getting funding. And I think that first element is the preparation phase, leading right up into the moment when you hook your investor at the beginning. So let's start at the very beginning and talk about what are some things that you need to be doing as a founder leading up to a big moment in your career and walking into a pitch room. How do you ground yourself? How do you prepare yourself for what you're about to face?
[00:08:53] Speaker A: Founders underestimate the amount of research. In addition to nerves comes with a lack of preparation.
And a lot of the founders that I've met or worked with started very lazily or think that it's just going to come to them when you should have spent hours researching exactly who you're going to pitch to, ensuring they invest at your stage, ensuring they have experience in your industry. There are similar or previously successful portfolio companies because you have to think about going in, vetting them just as much as they're vetting you. And that's when I talk about the psychology of things is because an investment is a marriage. It's not a one way. One person is going at 100%. There's going to be some give and take and you are both supposed to win as the relationship grows right until that exit. So that that research portion is so underestimated. And two, there's a lot of imposter syndrome around the space. And I mention this a lot because even personally, as someone who's already exited a business help founders do all these things. I still experience imposter syndrome. I am not invincible and by any means. Like I had one, one female founder. So she's done 18 million in lifetime sales, won Cupcake wars twice, has a cookbook, started a new product line and doesn't think that she deserved to raise capital. And I was like, are you kidding me? Of all, like all your accolades. Like I sat there in shock. And so we had a whole session of like the mindset shift that you have to take of any time you're going after funding. The mindset is you're welcome. I am giving you an opportunity to have a small piece of something so major.
You're not saying you're welcome to them. Right. But it's that mindset of like I'm vetting you. I am giving you the opportunity.
And one of so I have a business coach myself. As even coaches need coaches. And I love what my business coach says. Borrow my confidence. So if you're struggling doesn't always have to come from you. You want to think about taking that different perspective and you have to internalize and borrow it from someone else. You'd be surprised how far that will go.
[00:10:59] Speaker B: Borrow my confidence. I like that. I like making confidence feel like it's a commodity.
[00:11:06] Speaker A: You can exchange it at any time.
[00:11:09] Speaker B: Yeah. And just really put it to work for you to get in the right space as you walk into that room.
[00:11:15] Speaker A: Doubt is a big killer of rounds and potential.
[00:11:18] Speaker B: When doubt creeps in for a business owner heading into a pitch, how can you identify that as someone reviewing the pitch? How does that present itself to you? And what are things that you look for that we can kind of reverse engineer to better understand how to conquer that doubt in our own physicality or tone of our voice? What are some of those dead giveaways that someone has doubt in the back of their brain?
[00:11:41] Speaker A: So I this is a pitch I did two weeks ago. The founder I had started to tally because it was so distracting. She used 72 times.
[00:11:49] Speaker B: Whoa.
[00:11:50] Speaker A: And it was a 45 minute meeting. And that was when I started to tally. That isn't even all of it. And at the end, I had said, you know, it's, it's very obvious that you're nervous. And I can say that because we were in a mock investor call. I was literally training her for that moment.
And it was funny because she's like, you're so right. I didn't even know what to say. And you try to pause and by having her think through that of like, you're not a bad founder, but it's something you need to internalize and put in the reps.
So if you have those nerves. But if I could tell she didn't do the amount of things that she said she'd practice when she didn't. And she admitted it. Because if you put in that amount of repetition, your body will already know what to do.
[00:12:35] Speaker B: Right?
[00:12:36] Speaker A: All our blackout moments, I, When I first started pitching, I would get so nervous that I thought I would just go yak and run out of there. Like, I had a debilitating, like, fear and didn't even want to talk to anyone. Like, total introvert. I would have rather curled up in a ball. I thought I was going to freak out, but I had put in so many reps that it was impossible for me to forget it or to fail. And I did it in multiple scenarios. And so it's the preparation. It's not just in that moment.
And two, a lot of founders forget that they're pitching people. Yeah, we make emotional decisions. Investors are people too. They also make mistakes. They do not have all the answers. They do not have the golden ticket in that sense. And so when you think of them making emotional decisions, it changes your perspective of. Also, it's okay to be transparent that you don't know something. So preparing a potential answer of, like, no, I don't have an answer for you on that, but I'm happy to get you it after this call changes the dynamic of, like, prepared, not overwhelmed, still willing to get me an answer. It changes the course of a future check.
[00:13:43] Speaker B: Well, and it also feels like, you know, we've talked about how this is the beginning of a partnership with an investor. And if you kind of demonstrate, you know, and this is me speculating here, I'm not the expert, but if you kind of demonstrate that you have that willingness to do, to dig deep and find the answers that you don't know just offhand, it's kind of reassuring from an investor perspective, knowing that this is someone who I can trust to get the answers I need. At the end of the day, investors.
[00:14:08] Speaker A: Know that you're not perfect and that your growth is in a pure hockey stick and that you haven't never had a hard experience. And so I always have our founders prep potential answers to hard questions to think through it. But I tell them, like, you're not supposed to be perfect. It's okay. Like, you should admit your challenges and faults and what you've learned. They will appreciate that and acknowledge and recognize that you're actually one step ahead of the person who's pretending that it's all sunshine and rainbows.
[00:14:34] Speaker B: They're maybe concealing some information that they shouldn't be in a conversation like that.
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
So, you know, so when you go into these, these investor pitches, and I think investment pitching and, you know, competition pitching are two very different, you know, skill sets as well. And we can get into that in a second, but for both of them, I just wanted to gauge with you, what is something that, you know on the flip side of the doubt coin, what is like an indicator that this person knows their stuff, that this pitch is well rehearsed, well researched? This is someone who I am going to listen, who I'm going to hang on every word. How do you project that in those opening sentences of your pitch?
[00:15:16] Speaker A: I'll tell you what it's not. It's not rhetorical questions or cliche buzzwords and phrases like, okay, so from a rhetorical question, I hear so many founders use the. Have you ever. Do you know someone? Can I get a show of hands? It feels so staged and stale and awkward and it's like, do I really want to raise my hand? Am I lying now if I don't experience it? Am I not a part of this pitch anymore? It excludes so many more people than you think and is creates such an awkward pause in moments. We never recommend that. And then avoiding the buzzword phrases is such a big one. Cliche like revolutionary, disruptive, game changing, sustainable, holistic. You couldn't tell me out of those phrases what I do, what stage I'm at, why it matters, and every single founder I meet uses them. So when I coached some of the founders last year or co create, I probably removed an average of 20 plus buzzwords per pitch. And they're like, wait, but we are, we are different. And I'm like, prove it. Just come out and actually say, while you're different, quantify you've got great sales and five star reviews. How many compared to what? Why does it matter? That's why I just want to take the flip side of your question because I see more of it done of like the opposite of that's not the way to go. Even though it might feel natural to some and it's just a matter of that confidence also comes from quantifying things. So two rules of thumb. If you can quantify something, always do it. Always add a number statistic comparison.
Two is if you can take your language and go paste it in another pitch of a different industry, different stage, whatever and it makes sense, you need to delete it or add more detail. The founders who get granular are the ones who are actually prepared to answer questions and be detailed and are probably going to do the most right by the money at the end of the day.
[00:17:06] Speaker B: And that can be really challenging, especially knowing how, how accessible it has become to become a business owner and how congested some of these categories just inherently are. You know, beauty and, and consumer electronics. They're some of the biggest categories. You know, for us on Alibaba.com and for small business owners entering these spaces, that differentiating factor in this repetitive language or maybe, you know, vague language is kind of hard to resist because the roadmap has been drawn. So how do you in congested spaces kind of go off course to create something unique?
[00:17:45] Speaker A: You want it to be so clear that someone else could go pitch you to your target consumer website language and marketing language is different than investor centric language. So that's okay that maybe it feels a little bit more generic there you're using different phrases. But when you're talking about actually funding in that sense, it's gotta be specific. And I like to say and live by niches, get riches like okay to be niche. It is okay to be specific in who you serve. For example, a beauty line that I was supporting get funding. You know, she was so generic in terms of we're helping, you know, agitated skin clear up and this and that. And when we actually dug to the root of what she was trying to do and what she formulated, it was for densely polluted cities.
That's where the breakouts occurred. And her specific products specifically were meant to counteract the pollution and enhance the skin microbiome. Like that level of detail in that area of target consumer gives confidence to the investor which is going to turn you know, hopefully into a checkpointing a lot of other details. But you know, the sales retail marketing language, again very different from what does an Investor want to hear and see.
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[00:20:01] Speaker B: So as we move past that hook that opening moment with your investors, how do you continue to build that narrative and build that story with language that is appealing to them and will foster a good dynamic in the room asking the right questions. How do you guarantee that successful dialogue in the pitch?
[00:20:19] Speaker A: Well, nothing in life is guaranteed. So 1 that's a mindset shift and 2 investors want to see particular categories and I'll name them in a second but the first is that initial meeting is relationship building. It's not all right, I'm going to pull up my pitch, I can pitch you and hopefully you write a check at the end. It is literally that vetting stage of do we feel this out? Are we going to be strategic for each other? Just because someone has the title of investor doesn't mean that you should be pitching them. So the official categories are initially I would say problem and story. Investors make decision off of emotion. At the end of the day, whether you think so or not, there is some sort of emotion. Whether it's toward some of the actual tactics and market data and things that you have, it is it is still an emotional decision and so problem and story and then we always back up with statistics. Your opinion doesn't matter. You are not a billion dollar founder which a ton of exits most likely. So like don't use your opinion as leverage of I think I feel I believe they don't care Use industry data to actually show this is not just my thought of the market, this is what's Actually going on that third bucket is like now, now tell me what you do. You're building up to it of like problem, story, connection, proof to now I'm solving it. I'm crazy enough to want to do this, to fix this for whatever sector and space. And then it's traction what you've done, proof, validation, the size of the market, who you're serving, how you're making money.
It's your competition, it is your financials, the team and an ask. There are a ton of other details that you can add in between and that can float necessarily, but from a high level. Like those are the most important categories. And an initial investor pitch should be five to seven minutes and you can fit all that in five to seven minutes. And I do it every day, all day long with our founders because no one wants to be talked out for.
[00:22:05] Speaker B: 45 minutes as we try to hit all of these beats in a pitch presentation. How can we make sure that we are hitting all of these main points and, and really capitalizing on this advice if we don't have a visual aid or a written aid like a pitch deck, how do we better set ourselves up for success without that resource?
[00:22:25] Speaker A: Okay, this is my favorite question because every founder I work with, I do not let them touch their deck. I do not review the deck. I say, I would be doing you a disservice if I don't know the language associated with what you want to communicate. And so that's when I said I've helped founders raised up the deck. It's because we stress on that language as if they weren't to need a visual aid. And the reason for that is like, we had a founder who was pitching eight investors and no one told her that her deck wasn't working and through the entire pitch until after, and they were like, actually, we didn't need it. You did a good job of verbalizing it, like all good. And I think most people try to reference it and it can falter. You know, there could be AV issues. There could be someone who might not be able to see it or interpret it well.
So the goal is that you think of it as your sidekick, like a backup dancer. She is not the hero. They were not the main event.
You always want to use language as if someone can visualize it themselves. And it's so simple that it's almost like you're pitching and talking to a five year old and explaining it in a way because you never want to assume you're pitching a target consumer. So how simple is that? Language that someone could remember it, recall it and go communicate it in their own way to someone else. That's the goal. It's not I'm going to be super technical and need to show you a demo or you won't get it, or oh, you need to be in my industry to get it. That is not true. And that is a recipe for failure as a founder even, no matter how technical you are. I've helped some of those complex peritoneal dialysis fundraising founders communicate their business when they are so technical and raise money. And so it's about thinking about explaining it to a five year old, like how simple can this be if you were to picture it. And it's hard when you're like that day to day to take that bird's eye view. But it comes from brain dumping on those categories and then pulling out the most crucial information thinking about in like bullet points. So I, I have, what I've coined is like script building blocks as I call it for our founders. And there's certain categories we have, certain questions we ask. If you answer them in this way, it's going to give you all your answers and brain help you brain dump all of it out. Because as an audience member or an investor or whoever it might be, they don't need all the details. The goal is that they get just enough where it incites them to ask questions, creates a little FOMO to get you into that next meeting.
[00:24:40] Speaker B: And when we talk about getting into that next meeting, I think this is, I kind of want to bring us back to the conversation about an investor pitch versus a competition pitch because the next meeting is something, you know, in a, in an investor pitch that, that you are, you're banking on, you know, that's, that's the next stage in this relationship to keep pushing us forward to that end goal. Whereas you kind of only have one opportunity to make that lasting impression in pitch competition setting. So how do you navigate that balance and is there more that you bring into a competition setting versus the investment setting that kind of helps answer those questions as succinctly as possible in, in an abbreviated format?
[00:25:22] Speaker A: I will say it's even more important to dumb down in a pitch competition setting because you've got a whole audience. It's actually not about the judges, it's about who in that room is there and feels compelled to go talk about you, pitch you, or even come up to you and find you and say I can help with that or where can I buy that? That's actually who you're communicating to in the room. So you never want to use industry jargon or complex language. It should exactly be for a five year old. And when you think about Q and A, if you feel not confident in certain questions, whether it's financials, your competition, or you feel like, gosh, I do not know how to say this in less than 30 seconds or answer that. You need to write your answers out to be able to pull out that fluff language and practice that. Because I had one founder, I'd asked her about how she's going to move faster than the competition or something like how easy is it for them to copy your idea? And she went on a five minute long tangent and that was a whole Q and A. No one else got to ask. She looked unprepared, defensive.
So should be so short and to the point and impactful because you don't have long to answer and that's okay. And I will say in a competition setting, you should make it clear of your ask whether it's from the funding, where to find you, how to buy you, because that's for the audience. Again, like you're not there for the judges, you're there for whoever is watching you instead.
[00:26:47] Speaker B: For sure, it's, it's a little, it's a little entertainment, a little informational. There's so many disciplines to kind of pull into that one brief moment in the spotlight. So, you know, again, in terms of kind of balancing out the proportions of how you're bringing this presentation to the table, how do you structure that between the dialogue, the presentation, all of the language you're using, and a demo? You know, I know we talked about in a PowerPoint situation, you don't necessarily want to have, you know, a highly intricate demo in the deck itself, but if you're bringing your product to the table here, how do you integrate that into the presentation without being distracting?
[00:27:28] Speaker A: There's a couple different variations in a competition setting. One is you put it in front. You put the physical product or a sample in front of the judges before you go up and pitch so they can look at it. Two, you give them a one pager of the breakdown of how it's going to work and visuals of how to unpack it. Just one sheet for them to see it. Option three is you hold the product as you're talking and you point or whatever it might be. And option four is your language is so clear you actually shouldn't need it at all. And that's totally okay if you are maybe in the sampling phase, you don't have enough. You shouldn't have to rely on a visual or something physical or the link to a demo for someone to understand it because you've already lost them, you've given them extra work and we're bombarded and overwhelmed by so many things that give them the least amount of work to do. And that's why I say, like, you've got those few options. But it doesn't have to be complicated. No one wants to read a huge packet or a binder worth of information.
No one wants to take a bunch of huge bulky samples home. So keep it clean, keep it simple, and technically you don't even need it.
[00:28:31] Speaker B: It feels like a hot take to me to not need the visual aid.
[00:28:35] Speaker A: Everything is content.
[00:28:37] Speaker B: Everything is content. No, I think that's great. This conversation is really important to know that you don't need to rely on having your product as your right hand man.
[00:28:45] Speaker A: Feels like a crutch.
[00:28:46] Speaker B: Yeah, that's interesting. So, you know, as we, as we talk about, you know, the, the flow of your presentation in either investment or a pitch competition setting, how do you ensure that after you've had this dialogue with your investors or judges that you're closing on a memorable note that you are, that you're really sealing the deal and ensuring that everything that you've discussed is wrapped up neatly. How do we, how do we master that phase of the process?
[00:29:12] Speaker A: First, take out the mindset of perfection. I would have blackout. I swear, every time I go up there, I don't even know what happened. I don't even know what I said. So it's taking away of like, oh, I could or should have done that. Sure. Reflect on the changes, move on. You cannot go back to that moment. Two is do everything in your power to get the judge's contact information or ask if they'd be willing to share feedback or meet you after or if they have a, you know, that one ask. Let's say if you want a strategic contact, you're struggling with something, would they be willing to help you with one thing? Not 10 things, not a slew of overwhelm. It is one specific ask and you'd be surprised how many are open to just helping with one simple ask because you are clear and concise. And then the third is asking for feedback from the competition. If you can't get it from the judges, ask the organizer. Was there in any way any feedback shared? How can I improve?
Because an opportunity to pitch is never one wasted. And that happens from asking for the contact info, asking for the Feedback on the investor side. It's a matter of when you're on that call, set up the next meeting or what do you need from me for next steps? What does the team need, what do you need? And you're setting the expectation of I want to talk again.
How are we going to push this forward? And those seem very simple, but you'd be surprised how many people forget about them.
[00:30:28] Speaker B: Action items in any business setting is so important to conclude your your conversations. Feeling like you have that authority to ask for what you need, ask for what you want at the end of the discussion is key. It's that borrowed confidence that we talked about earlier to say this is what I need to move forward. What do you need Exactly.
[00:30:47] Speaker A: Yeah. That directness is, shows confidence and is actually going to move the needle because you're going to be waiting on a bunch of emails and this maybe. And so that direction is, is going to be the difference between a check, a yes, a no or a maybe.
[00:31:03] Speaker B: Now before you even get to the point where you're asking for those next steps, this is another space where we talked about in the opening section. You know, not to ask rhetorical questions and those what not to do's are really helpful in the opening phase. How do you avoid cliches and overly polished rehearsed language to say and that's my product, that's my business.
Let's talk next steps. What mistakes have you seen come out of of closings?
[00:31:30] Speaker A: It's okay to be rehearsed, but it's a matter of that. We talked about making sure like everything sounds perfect, that's okay that it's not or that you fumble or you stutter like we're humans and that's okay. I will say I cringe internally when I hear a founder end on thank you. Oh, interesting line of thank you is a waste of your words. Go thank someone separately for listening after ending on a branded one liner of Join X Company two insert something specific or something actionable and you put your tone of voice down to showcase. I'm done speaking.
That is so much more confident in when you've like actually standing up straight, your shoulders back. Especially if you're pitching live. It is not. Thank you so much for listening. It's like okay, you're welcome. You know, it's give me something powerful branded and that you know your stuff and I'm going to leave with a different feeling at the end of your pitch.
[00:32:26] Speaker B: So it's bringing more value. Add even in that, in that last.
[00:32:29] Speaker A: Sentence you've got the space in this pitch, for example, 90 seconds. It's not pitching in 91, 92, 93, 90. It's not pitching in 80 seconds. It is using every single second rehearse. 90 seconds is not hard to practice. Pitching might take you 50 to 100 reps, but that's really short practice time. And so you should have that rehearsed. You should not be doing that off the cuff. And it will show if you do.
[00:32:55] Speaker B: What are those tells in the closing phase?
[00:32:58] Speaker A: Getting caught off at the 92nd mark during the timer go off, not even getting through the last bit of information like their ask or something specific about the company because they took too long on other parts and were distracted or not well rehearsed that you're like wait, I feel like I missed out on half of the detail.
Or they try to stop themselves and try to finish or they end on a thank you of like and that's it. If someone ends with that's it, I'm like, oh my God, they've already lost. Like that. That's it is such a passive, unfortunate line to end on, you know, and it's so easy to tell that someone's like flustered, frustrated, not ready to be there and not ready to win.
[00:33:38] Speaker B: Have you experienced any like really memorable closing remarks in pitches that, that have stuck with you over the years?
[00:33:45] Speaker A: I work on closing pitch lines every day. There are so many. There's one, it's a app for skill based competition social media app and it's join company name to show the world who's got game and it's a play on the company name, it's a play on what they're doing and it's super short. It doesn't have to be anything crazy. That's the only moment I say you can do something a little cliche and memorable. But it's going to be that short. But I help founders craft them every single day and I'm seeing more bad than good because they want to do this brain numb of this full paragraph of this is what I do. But the goal is not to give everything away. I'm going to leave you with something so sharp and curious that you're going to want more from me when this is over.
[00:34:29] Speaker B: It's invest in X to be a part of. Yes, more or less. That's cool. That's really, you know, I think my instinct is, is to come in with gratitude in every, in every instance like this. And I don't think by ending on a, on a powerful action oriented note like that takes away the gratitude of the situation. We're all happy to be in the room, but having that, that confidence to ask for what you want in the end, you know, I think it all comes down to not being afraid to ask for it and I think that's really, it's a really impactful formula and.
[00:35:00] Speaker A: Use thank you in the Q and A. Thank you so much. That's a great question. Da da da da. When the Q and A is over. Thank you all so much for listening. Thank you for the judges, whatever. Like that's your moment. Sure that that is the only time that you need it or you find them individually after. I so appreciate your feedback. If you have any, like, that's the time to kind of wedge yourself in and use that portion of gratitude to try to get that like, little bit of feedback or connection to a judge. After it all is said and done.
[00:35:27] Speaker B: What does that follow up protocol look like? How do you find those moments to connect with your judges or potential investors and kind of continue that conversation? Is it an email afterwards or is it, you know, more face to face to really stay in their minds?
[00:35:42] Speaker A: Face to face is hard. When I say LinkedIn has changed my life, I mean it because every single one of those judges, I would send a personalized note. Thank you so much for have your one simple ask in there. Or would you be open to sharing feedback? Don't ask for a call right away.
You'd be surprised how many are active on LinkedIn, Instagram, X, whatever other platforms. Like, look where they're active. You can literally see their level of activity there. It is public information. Why would you not do that? Not everyone's going to reply to their emails. If you can get one, great. But if I do get an email, I follow up three to five times until I get an answer like, respectful persistence. Apologies. All the judges listening.
You better believe that the person who is really, really trying is going to do right by your advice and they really do want it. I've had judges that I think years later hire me for contracts, send me clients, invite me to certain events. Years, this is years down the road. This is not like, oh, this moment. But because they've seen what I've done over the years and like showed up and proved that I'm going to do something right by whatever it might be, then you know, that relationship will compound. So it's not a just in that moment add someone on LinkedIn just because.
[00:36:54] Speaker B: The respectful persistence is a phrase I really, that's really stuck with me. I like that. Be, be memorable be, be there. But you know, just boundaries a little bit.
[00:37:04] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:37:05] Speaker B: As we're coming up on time, I want to just connect on what are some resources that folks can use to prepare for pitching, you know, other than this podcast?
[00:37:13] Speaker A: Well, I'm sharing daily pitch tips and founder experiences and advice and connections on LinkedIn @Cat Weaver as well as my Instagram at I am Catweaver and YouTube at I Am Cat Weaver. So from the YouTube it's the verbalization and deeper breakdowns and then obviously the other platforms are some more written content, but I have a ton of free stuff out there. Or you can apply to work with
[email protected] but that free pitch template is on my Instagram for there for every founder to get. I want to make that information accessible for anyone to start.
And so it's my life's mission to help more founders get funded faster in that regard. So I hope that you find me as a resource so you can send me on LinkedIn if you've got any questions. I am there every day hanging out. It's my favorite place to be.
[00:37:58] Speaker B: I love it. Well, and you know, a shameless plug on our side as well. We've got co create 2025 coming up in September where we're doing Co Create pitch and we'll have you there as a judge in the semifinals. So we're going to be working together on some content as well to help folks prepare and get their pitch in a good place prior to coming to the stage.
[00:38:17] Speaker A: I'm very excited and it is very difficult and it is nerve wracking and not everyone has the guts to do it. So we want to make sure that all participants feel fully, fully prepared.
[00:38:28] Speaker B: I love it. Well, I really appreciate your time today. I appreciate all of the energy and effort you're putting into this pitch competition with us. We're so happy to have you on board as a partner.
[00:38:37] Speaker A: Well, thanks so much again. Ciara was an honor to be here and excited to help more founders.
[00:38:41] Speaker B: Awesome. Us too. All right, thanks so much, Kat.
[00:38:45] Speaker C: B2B Breakthrough is produced by Alibaba.com to find out how Alibaba.com is empowering its customers with the tools, services and resources they need to grow their business. Visit Alibaba.com, and then make sure to search for B2B Breakthrough on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you find your podcasts. Make sure to follow us so you don't miss future episodes. On behalf of the team
[email protected], thanks for listening.
