How it Works

1. PAIN
   What is the problem that you’re trying to solve? How big is the problem?
2. PREMISE
   How are you going to make the pain go away? KISS: Keep it simple, students. If you read just the premise out loud with no other information, someone hearing it should understand what it is you do. If not, keep simplifying/refining your message.
3. PEOPLE
   The people are one of the most important parts of your business. Their character, experience, expertise, availability and drive all influence their ability to obtain funding from angels and venture capitalists. In this section, you should answer the question why you? Why not someone else?
4. PROOF
   The best proof is sales, but if you’re at a pitch competition you may not have generated sales yet. In this case, the next best proof is people that say they’ll buy. This can come from interviews, focus groups, surveys, or other market research. Crowd-funding pre-purchases can also be helpful. If your concept is B2B (Business to Business), rather than B2C (Business to Consumer), letters of intent from prospective business customers can be helpful as well. Other great forms of proof include prototypes and intellectual property. Though they do not provide evidence of market demand for your product/service, these types of proof can bolster your credibility and help you build a case for feasibility and competitive advantage.
5. PURPOSE
   The purpose of a business is to make money and contribute value. What is your profit potential? If you have a social endeavor, you will need to provide an alternative metric to revenues or profits. For example, if you are launching a nonprofit to feed the homeless, your metric might be the number of people fed. It often makes sense to explain why the metric you choose is important.

1. CLEAR
   Use plain English as much as possible. Avoid acronyms and jargon. Never use a large word when a diminutive one will do.
2. CONCISE
   You don’t have a lot of time, so it’s important to be as brief as possible so that you can get it all in.
3. CREDIBLE
   People should believe you when you deliver your pitch. There are two complementary ways to accomplish this. First, you can explain why you’re qualified. Second, you can sound like you know what you’re talking about. This should be because you have practiced what you’re going to say a lot and because you really do know what you’re talking about.
4. CONSISTENT
   Have a message and stay on it. If you have numbers for something, use the same numbers throughout. Don’t contradict yourself within your pitch. It’s easier to do than you might think.
5. CONVERSATIONAL
   You shouldn’t sound like you’re reciting the pitch, even though you probably are. Keep in mind that the elevator pitch is the beginning of a real conversation, one in which you hope to convince the listener that your idea is amazing and they want in on it.
6. CONCEPTUAL
   Do not go into details in the elevator pitch. You don’t have time. For instance, when discussing proof, if you’ve done market research you may know that 15% of college students will buy your product. You may also know a breakdown of that number based on other demographic information. The 15% is enough in most cases.
7. CONCRETE
   Be as specific as you can. This sounds like the opposite of #6 above, but it’s not really.
8. COMPELLING
   You typically address this most in the pain section. You explain the pain, and part of that is convincing us that it’s important to ‘fix’ the pain.
9. CUSTOMIZED
   Insomuch as possible, tailor your elevator pitch to your audience. In a contest setting this will not be easy. It might not even be possible. But remember, the skill of pitching, and perhaps even the pitch you’re developing for this contest, may prove useful elsewhere. You might actually get on an elevator with Bill Gates, and wouldn’t it be awesome if you had a fantastic opportunity for him?

Thank you for judging the Coastal Pitch Competition. The purpose of the competition is for the students to gain confidence and experience presenting their ideas. To that end, please let them deliver their pitch, and hold your questions until after they finish. After the pitch feel free to ask them a question or two, but don’t expect them to have things like detailed sales projections or capital requirements.

You will be given a scoring rubric to use as a guide. It is not necessary that your scores precisely match the content of the rubric. It is not required that you use the rubric at all. It is provided for your convenience as a way to keep track of the differences between contestants. Your scores will most likely not match the scores of the other judges. This is normal. However you use the rubric and score sheet, please try to do it consistently. Don’t let the quality of a previous presentation change the way you score future presentations.

At the end of this contest, there will be four prize winners. It is important that they delivered a high-quality pitch. Other things are important too, such as the viability of the idea, and the way the idea would represent USA if it were to be printed in a paper or picked up for a TV news spot. Every attempt will be made to make sure that all ideas presented will be legal, moral, ethical, and at least theoretically possible. However, you are USA’s last line of defense. Judge with consideration of this fact, as well as kindness for our students. This will be the first time many of them have done anything like this.

Elevator Pitch Evaluation Rubric