Unbound Miami, several Emerge Americas, Refresh Miami, Possible and many other pitch competitions gave me the opportunity to watch almost 100 startup pitches and get feedback from two dozen judges
All of these pitches had judges, and all the companies competed for some sort of reward, which made the experience fantastic. In general, I'd say 75% of the pitches were bad; 50% were really bad; 25% were horrible.
But, when some of those 25% hit it, they hit it out of the park.
After speaking with the judges and other people in the audience, this is what I think defined the outstanding, winning 3-minute pitches:
- What is the story (:30)
- Why did I create this company/what is the pain point it solves (:30)
- What makes the company unique/why is it going to do well (:30)
- Who is the team behind it (:30)
- What is the business model/how does it make money (:30)
- What are the revenues & profit projections & ask (:30)