• last year
On the new episode of "Fix My Pitch," business coaches Anthony Sullivan and Tina Frey break down the ingredients of a knockout pitch.

"If an entrepreneur can't pitch their business, they can't succeed."

So says legendary pitchman Anthony Sullivan, who you probably know from his iconic OxiClean commercials. "It's something we see happen all the time on Entrepreneur's show, Elevator Pitch, where entrepreneurs have 60 seconds to pitch. If they don't get an investor's attention, they're done for."

To help entrepreneurs who didn't succeed on the show (and to offer all entrepreneurs the tricks of the pitching trade) Sullivan teamed up with business coach Tina Frey to host our new show Fix My Pitch. Over the course of this season, four failed Elevator Pitch contestants will receive training from world-class pitching and startup experts. Their ultimate goal? Scoring a second chance in the elevator to win a life-changing investment from our board.

On this episode, Anthony and Tina meet two contestants with science-based companies and break down some of the basics of a winning pitch. Anthony says it comes down to the three P's all lining up perfectly: "The pitch, the person and the product."

Here are some of the big areas Tina and Anthony drill down on with the entrepreneurs:

- Exuding confidence with your words and body language
- Finding that inner salesperson even if you are an introvert
- Keeping your message simple and digestible
- Selling by telling a great story

See how the contestants respond to their first round of blunt criticism, and see if any of Anthony and Tina's tips can be applied to you and your business. (Spoiler alert: 100% of these tips can be applied to you and your business!)
Transcript
00:00 She had 60 seconds to pitch her business to investors and possibly change her life.
00:05 But instead, attention, Ashley, your pitch has been denied.
00:11 If an entrepreneur can't pitch their business, they can't succeed.
00:16 It's something we see all the time on our show, Elevator Pitch,
00:20 where entrepreneurs have 60 seconds to pitch.
00:22 If they don't get an investor's attention after that, they're done for.
00:26 So we picked four entrepreneurs who failed on the show
00:29 and teamed them up with world class experts in pitching so that they and you
00:35 can make a good impression in the time it takes to ride an elevator.
00:38 This is Fix My Pitch.
00:58 Never heard about the P's?
01:00 I've never heard about the P's.
01:01 It's not just the pitch.
01:02 It's the right person, the right product, the right place.
01:06 Do you think that we've helped the folks that we've seen so far?
01:10 Yeah, I think so.
01:11 Let's do it again. Let's do it again. Let's watch.
01:13 Hi, my name is Arvind and I'm an AI researcher and founder of Super Intelligence.
01:20 Being an adult is difficult.
01:22 It requires managing your life, including your personal work and financial.
01:28 Super Intelligence is here to make it easy.
01:30 Super Intelligence is a dashboard that integrates all aspects of your life
01:34 all in a centralized place.
01:36 When I was watching Arvind's pitch, all I kept thinking about was Arvind, smile.
01:42 I really like Arvind a lot.
01:44 However, he came off cold.
01:46 Super Intelligence began as a project
01:50 and now has grown to 34,000 users with more than one million questions asked.
01:57 I'm no stranger to building apps.
02:04 When I was 14, I built my first app and it reached over 20 million downloads.
02:09 I'm here to raise 250,000 for 2.5 percent,
02:13 make the world a smarter place and stress free.
02:18 Simpler for you.
02:20 Oh, I love this guy.
02:24 I want to help this guy.
02:25 We're going to help this guy.
02:27 Love this guy.
02:28 I like he came out with very simple.
02:30 This sounds too good to be true.
02:31 You got my attention.
02:32 Being an adult is difficult.
02:34 Who is not going to agree with that statement?
02:37 My name is Arvind Bangu, and I am the founder of Super Intelligence.
02:42 And Super Intelligence is building an AI that helps people live their life day to day.
02:47 My goal with being on this show is being able to tell the world
02:51 of what I'm building and being able to help them with their life.
02:55 Hey, Arvind, how are you?
02:58 Tina, nice to meet you.
02:59 Hi, Arvind, how are you?
03:00 Nice to meet you.
03:00 Come on in.
03:01 Let's start with the positive.
03:03 What did you think went well?
03:04 Kept good composure and good eye contact with the camera.
03:09 Mm hmm. Yep.
03:10 You also didn't die.
03:12 Right. You got you were brave enough to do this.
03:14 You got in there.
03:15 You were able to communicate. Right.
03:16 So you're over that hump now.
03:18 I mean, it was it was all in there.
03:20 We're rooting for you.
03:21 So now we need to do is just hone that a little bit.
03:23 You got stage fright.
03:24 You got one on one stage fright.
03:27 And it happens to a ton of people.
03:29 Big, big fears in life.
03:30 Spiders, sharks, public speaking.
03:33 It looks to me without knowing you that you're scared.
03:36 And it forces you to stutter and stop and start thinking.
03:39 And once you get in your head, but you did get through it.
03:42 And I love your first line.
03:43 Out of all the lines I've heard today, adulting is difficult.
03:46 Being an adult is difficult.
03:47 You have my attention.
03:48 What I found for me, even if I'm on camera talking to millions of people,
03:52 just talking to one person, just talking to that guy behind.
03:55 I'm talking to one person.
03:56 I get a smile on my face.
03:57 I know what I'm talking about.
03:58 I'm having a casual conversation.
04:00 You know, you want what I've got.
04:02 And I didn't realize that super intelligence was the name of the company.
04:05 I thought super intelligence was something with the descriptor of the script.
04:09 Yes. So we can we can.
04:12 Brains here is going to be.
04:14 She's going to help you compartmentalize it and I'll help you present.
04:17 So we will meet you in the workshop.
04:19 All right. And let's get it done.
04:21 I think Arvin is a case of just relax.
04:24 You got this.
04:25 He's a natural born salesman.
04:27 I just don't think he knows it.
04:29 I think we can dial up and up a little bit.
04:31 We can get him to smile.
04:33 So I'm looking forward to working with Arvin.
04:35 All right. We're ready for the next person.
04:42 One more. Let's do it.
04:43 Hi, my name is William Bolton.
04:46 I'm the founder and inventor behind Pelletero Pharmaceuticals.
04:48 And we're developing a platform medical device
04:50 coding to prevent up to 99 percent of antibiotic resistant infections.
04:54 Our primary indication is as a coding for urinary catheters.
04:57 Infections from urinary catheters are responsible for 10,000 deaths
05:01 and a one point seven billion dollar economic deficit in the American market alone.
05:06 Williams in a niche category and niche categories are hard.
05:10 He's got it.
05:11 I just don't know if he's actually got it.
05:15 We're working hard to address a major health care crisis.
05:17 And our beachhead market is around nine hundred and forty million dollars annually.
05:21 Looking at a two billion dollar AUM based on our three product pipeline.
05:25 We're working hard.
05:26 We are the future of health care and medicine.
05:29 We are protected by Pelletero.
05:32 Thank you.
05:32 Interesting.
05:36 What I was waiting for him to finish.
05:38 He what? He's all over the place. Right.
05:41 And that's the thing.
05:42 He clearly knows what he's talking about.
05:44 The where's the enthusiasm?
05:46 Get the peas in there. Yeah.
05:48 Right. Get all the pieces in there that would answer the questions
05:50 and pique the curiosity of the body language.
05:53 It's almost very defensive.
05:55 Yeah, I personally am big hand talker.
05:58 I've got, you know, here's how to order and.
06:00 But wait, there's a there's a there's a rhythm to it, right?
06:04 I'm overwhelmed.
06:05 This is my first time in New York.
06:06 It's an incredible city, but it's a lot all at once,
06:08 especially coming from a small town in Oklahoma.
06:10 But I'm really excited about the experience, the opportunity.
06:13 Hey, there we go.
06:14 It's great to meet you guys.
06:15 To meet you.
06:16 How are you?
06:16 Nice to meet you.
06:18 You want to take a seat?
06:18 Yeah, let's go ahead and take a seat.
06:20 So we're going to start with what did you think you did well?
06:23 I think the beginning was good.
06:25 I was staying on track.
06:26 I kind of followed what I was thinking.
06:27 I could see kind of throughout that beginning kind of phase, the first
06:30 30 seconds, I was seeing the key points that I wanted.
06:32 And then kind of as it went on, I got a little bit off track.
06:36 So what are some of the things that you would want to work on?
06:40 I really want to tell a story when I incorporate it to the pitch.
06:43 That way, it's easier for people to understand and relate to.
06:45 I think if I can incorporate that in some way,
06:48 just to make it a little bit more personal, because it's biotech.
06:50 It's really hard for people to understand.
06:52 It's boring.
06:52 It is very boring.
06:53 Super boring.
06:54 Tell them what you really think, Anthony.
06:56 It is boring.
06:57 Facts tell, stories sell.
06:59 That's a very famous pitch person told me that.
07:03 And I think that is a good observation.
07:06 If you want to work a story and you got 60 seconds, do you think you sold it?
07:09 Uh, you would have said yes.
07:12 You would have said yes.
07:13 Yeah, there's work to be done.
07:15 Well, I will be honest, I was I'm a little confused.
07:18 You got me the antibiotic crisis, which I understand enough to be dangerous about.
07:22 And then the urinary tract.
07:24 There was quite a bit going on and I was trying to
07:26 trying to figure out what you actually were selling.
07:29 Like it's a lot going on.
07:31 And plus, I don't think anyone likes to think about urinary catheters either.
07:34 We have to address that.
07:35 Good point. Let's remove the visual and get to the facts.
07:37 All right, William.
07:38 So what we're going to do next is we're going to meet you in the workshop room
07:42 and we're going to do exactly that.
07:43 We're going to do a little work.
07:44 We're going to help you craft and then we'll take it from there.
07:46 You're going to be a master.
07:47 So be ready to work. All right.
07:48 Absolutely. OK. All right.
07:51 I really need to work on my storytelling.
07:53 That's the biggest thing I need to work on while I'm here.
07:55 But I think today and tomorrow are going to be great for me
07:57 developing over these next couple of days and really getting my pitch together.
08:00 When William was giving his pitch, I felt like William was giving his pitch.
08:05 And I feel like if I asked William right now what time it is,
08:08 that he would say, well, in 1792 in Switzerland,
08:11 that he has so much data and so much science and so much information.
08:16 It's too much.
08:17 And if he can just craft that into a story, then I think he can hit a home run.
08:21 So what do you think? Like, really?
08:24 I think there's a lot of lumps of clay here.
08:27 There's there's definitely work to do.
08:30 I don't know that we have enough time.
08:31 That's my biggest concern.
08:32 I know I could spend a week with each one of these.
08:35 We've got a small amount of time to do a lot of work.
08:38 There's a lot riding on this.
08:40 We're going to see. All right.
08:41 All right. On the next episode of Fix My Pit.
08:44 I feel my way to success.
08:46 Without failure, there is no success.
08:48 But I wanted to get your guys' opinions to see like what things I should keep in there.
08:52 Keep it simple. K-I-S.
08:54 I do expect to see improvements if they take the advice,
08:58 but they have a lot of work to do.
09:00 [MUSIC]

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