Innovation Management

Effective Communication

Agenda

1. Introduction

2. Lessons from the startup world:

- The Value Proposition

- The Slide Deck

3. How to communicate your value: presenting

yourself: Assignment

1. How to communicate

effectively

Definition of communicate

• Share or exchange information, news, or ideas.

• To convey information about; make known.

• To reveal clearly; manifest.

• To have an interchange, as of ideas.

• To express oneself in such a way that one is readily and

clearly understood.

• To be connected, one with another.

Information

Communication skills

Oral

Non verbal

Written

Public Speaking

3 secrets to convey an effective message:

1) Focus on the MESSAGE you want to deliver. It must be short,

clear and immediate. Use proper words and language.

2) Pay attention to non verbal communication: BODY

LANGUAGE is essential. Show energy and passion.

3) Learn to LISTEN and do not interrupt.

Public Speaking: examples

Carly Fiorina (Former CEO at HP and former California

Republican candidate for the United States Senate):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBZtM63i5xo&feature=relat

ed

Terri Sjodin (Consultant on Public Speaking)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nt7YWymVak

President Obama

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnvUUauFJ98

And what about this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YivQYeI0vys

1. The content of the speech:

structure your talk

• Get attention

• Key points

• Call to action Conclusion

Body

Introduction

Language

• Clear articulation

• No fillers: “like, you know, stuff “

• Get to the point

• Slow down (especially with accent)

• Main points at beginning

• Brevity vs. eloquence

• Clarity vs. complex vocabulary

elisabetta ghisini© - www.verba-international.com

2. Body language is important

Expressive: 50% Passive: 10% Involving: 70%

What is your

opinion?

elisabetta ghisini© - www.verba-international.com

11 © C. Versaggi 2013

Verbal

(What you say)

7% Vocal

(How you sound)

38%

I have three

points …

Visual

(How you look)

55%

elisabetta ghisini© - www.verba-international.com

Research by Prof.

Albert Mehrabian,

UCLA

Delivery determines impact

Energetic Delivery

1 Show passion and knowledge

2 Don’t read

3 Make eye contact

4 Smile and walk around

5 Prepare Q&As – hold the fire, be direct

elisabetta ghisini© - www.verba-international.com

2. Communication: Lessons from the startup world

Startups presentation tools

Since the very beginning startups have to deal

with 2 basic concepts:

• The value proposition

• The slide deck (a 5 mins presentation of the

project), which is required to talk to investors,

customers or other entities

The value proposition

Definition:

Products, services and benefits that create value for the

customer by solving a problem or serving an unmet need.

PROBLEM (Pain)+ YOUR SOLUTION

(Value Proposition)= Business Opportunity

YOUR BUSINESS STORY

Articulating the value

proposition

• What do you do better than anyone

else?

• What will your company offer that

competitors can’t match?

• Why would customers buy your product

as opposed to another’s?

• What is your competitive position?

16

1. Start with the elevator pitch

17

Distillation of your business plan into a

short statement to hook your listener.

K I S S = Keep It Simple, Stupid

KISS - Examples

18

Leveraging its leadership in pressure-mediated

transfection of oligonucleotides and single

nucleotide polymorphisms to regulate

transactivation of intron genes, LifeTek Biosciences’

research engine is focused on promising therapeutic

targets that may provide novel treatments for

serious, unmet medical needs.

We develop gene therapies for life-

threatening diseases.

18

KISS - Examples

19 19

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUXnJraKM3

k

Is this effective communication?

Why the Attention on

Elevator Pitches?

20 20

• It’s the purest distillation of your VISION (Value

Proposition/Positioning Strategy)

• It’s not just an end result…

but a MENTAL PROCESS

• It forces you to FOCUS

• You learn to articulate WHAT REALLY

MATTERS

20 © C. Versaggi 2013

2. Tell a compelling

story

21

• THE PROBLEM — WE FOUND the market pain was…

• THE CUSTOMER said…What’s the CUSTOMER’S

STORY?

• We INTERVIEWED key DECISION INFLUENCERS

• We understand the customer’s VALUE DRIVERS

• After weeks of brainstorming…research…programming, we

discovered…OUR SOLUTION

• We spoke with the COMPETITION

• Based on extensive analysis…our POSITIONING

STRATEGY

Who, What, Why,

Where, When,

How?

21 © C. Versaggi 2011

Word of

Mouth

What Drives Your Story?

22 © C. Versaggi 2013

The Slide Deck What’s the secret to present effectively

the business idea?

The McClure Model: How to pitch a VC

Why the Dave McClure

Model?

• First of all his model is simple and immediate. He focuses on

10 strategic points, essentials for delivering an effective

presentation.

• Dave has been a geek for over twenty years. He has been a

software developer, entrepreneur, startup advisor & investor,

blogger, and internet marketing nerd. He has invested in over

100 startup companies including: Mint.com (acquired by

Intuit). He also has worked with companies such as PayPal,

Facebook, LinkedIn, SlideShare and many others.

There is more..

• He is a venture capitalist and founding partner at 500

Startups, an internet startup seed fund & incubator

program headquartered in Mountain View, CA.

• He is regularly invited to the Startup Weekends’ events

around the world, he has been invited at LaWeb in

Paris and to many other international conferences.

• Therefore, he is well known by the startup community

allover the world!

Yeah, he is a funny and charismatic person too.

An additional reason for choosing him!

First of all, consider a few

essential things

Remember:

1)VCs see tons of pitch every day be short and immediate, use body language and show passion

2)They don’t know your product use screenshots, videos, prototypes

3)They are positively impressed by big numbers and they look for big market opportunity be ambitious since the beginning but have realistic objectives

4)They are not always expert as you are about the topic use simple words, get straight to the point

GOAL

McClure identifies 10

Erogenous VC Zones

1. Elevator Pitch

2. The Problem

3. Your Solution

4. Market Size

5. Business Model

6. Proprietary Tech

7. Competition

8. Marketing Plan

9. Team / Hires

10. Money / Milestones

The Money Shot:

Demo

Screen Shots

Video

Money Shot

Goes Here

Teaser Image

Goes Here

Business

Metrics

(NOT Revenue

Projections)

Cu$tomer

Testimonial$

1. The Elevator Pitch

• Short, Simple, Memorable: “What, How, Why.”

• “We’re X for Y” is ok if 1) it’s true 2) X & Y are well-known

• Max 3 key words / phrases, 2 sentences.

• “SlideShare is the world’s largest community for sharing presentations.

• “TeachStreet is a place to teach or learn anything.”

• “Mint.com is the free, easy way to manage your money online.”

• Logo and/or Image ok

• Make it easy for non-experts to understand.

• Smile. It’s ok to have fun when you pitch

2. The Problem

• What is The Problem? Make it Obvious.

• “Ouch. Yeah, I have that too…”

• Who has it? How Many? How do you know?

• stats, examples, research, links.

• “Painkiller not Vitamin”

• Vitamins are great, but you NEED painkillers. BAD.

3. Your Solution

• Great Companies do 1+ of 3 things:

• Solve a problem in a way that is emotionally powerful for them.

• Get PAID (= money)

• Get MADE (= power)

• Describe why your Solution:

• Makes customers very happy

• Does it better, different than anyone else

• Remember “NICHE to WIN”

(Customer Case Study can also go here)

4. Market Size

• Bigger is Better

• Top Down = someone else reported it

• Forrester, Gartner, Your Uncle

• Bottom Up = calculate users/usage/rev$

• Avg Txn = $X

• Y customers in our market

• Avg customer buys Z times per year

• Market Size = $X * Y * Z annually = a big friggin’ #

• Market growing @ 100+% per year

note: “top down” and “bottom up” have nothing to do with giving VCs hard-ons. Get your mind out of the gutter.

no idea what this is, but

it looks really

impressive, doesn’t it?

up & to the right.

5. Business Model (How Do You Plan to Make Money?)

• Describe Top 1-3 Revenue Sources • Prioritize by Size, Growth, and/or Potential

• Cite current market activity / customer behavior as proof

• Show How You Get to Break-even (or Profitable) • Ideally, on the current round of funding you’re raising

• Common Revenue Models • Direct: ecommerce, subscription, digital goods, brands

• Indirect: advertising, lead gen, affiliate / CPA

• See Andrew Chen presentation:

• Revenue: The Internet Wants to Be Free, but You Need to Get Paid

6. Proprietary Tech / Expertise (What is your Unfair Advantage?)

• VCs *really* like unfair advantage

• big market lead

• experienced team

• ex-Google PhDs

• core / “breakthrough” tech

• “defensible” IP / patents

• “exclusive” partnership

• great sales/marketing

• balls of steel

7. Competition (+ why they all suck, why you’re different, yellow, better)

• List all top competitors

• (especially top ones; we’ll find them anyway)

• Say how you’re better, or at least different

• If not better or different -> “NICHE TO WIN”

• position(-ing) matters

• 2-axis graph is trite, but still useful

• see next page for example

• useful comparisons / differentiation:

• simple vs complex

• value vs cheap (tougher to prove tho)

• cheap vs expensive (but careful you don’t race to bottom)

• consumer vs enterprise

• open vs proprietary (in this case, open usually better… but not always)

We’re Better, Different. (and You Suck.)

Funny!

Shocking !!!

Accepted

Not Funny.

again,

up & to the right.

8. Marketing Plan

• PR

• Contest

• Biz Dev

• Direct Marketing

• Radio / TV / Print

• Dedicated Sales

• Telemarketing

• Email

• SEO / SEM

• Blogs / Bloggers

• Viral / Referral

• Affiliate / CPA

• Widgets / Apps

• LOLCats

Ok, so your product / technology rocks, but…

… how do you get customers / distribution?

lots of channels, lots of decisions… choose a few:

3 Things That Matter / To Measure :

1. Volume

2. Cost

3. Conversion

9. Team

People that Get VCs all Hot & Bothered

• Geeks with deep technical background

• Entrepreneurs who have sold companies

• Sales/Marketing who Make it Rain

Also Identify:

• Key Hires you Need but *Don’t* Have, and…

• … you’ve got candidates lined up in those areas

• ... ready to hire as soon as you close funding

• … or at least job descriptions / est. salary

10. Money, Milestones

• How Much Money Raised / Now Raising? • Show 3 Budgets: Small, Medium, Large • Show how you’ve got “Small” already lined up • Show “Optionality”, Competitive Interest (if poss.)

• What Will you Do with the Capital? • Key Hires (Build Product) • Marketing & Sales (Drive Revenue) • CapX, Ops Infrastructure (Scale Up)

• Map Out Achievable Milestones with Non-Linear Increase in Value • Show what will get you to next milestone (product, customers, hires) • Show how the capital you have is more than adequate • Show substantial UPTICK in value when milestone is achieved

• functional product • initial customers / revenue • break-even or profitable

Happy Ending?

• Close with a Bang

• Leave‘em Wanting More

• Show Interest in next date

• Leave them a Memento • educate them on market report

• send link to private beta

Links to Dave MCCLure’s pitch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsGcymH3rYQ

http://500hats.typepad.com/500blogs/2009/03/how-

to-pitch-a-vc-aka-startup-viagra-how-to-give-a-vc-a-

hardon.html

Closing Points To Remember

• Tell a good, easy-to-repeat story — Your Story

• Understand your Elevator Pitch — your Value

Proposition — so you can say it in your sleep!

• Understand the needs of your Customer, Investor, or

Partner

• Explain how your company is the best fit for the

customer, investor (or partner).

42 © C. Versaggi 2013

3. Assignment

• Imagine you are applying for a job and you are writing to

the HR Manager of the company where you would like to

work.

How would you present yourself ?

Please send the e-mail to Max Brigonzi

mbrigonzi@mindthebridge.org by Thursday Nov 10th 6pm

CET indicating your name, last name and student number

(matricola).

44 © C. Versaggi 2013

Your e-mail presentation