How a startup found a bold and unique voice and managed to convey their pitch before the latte even gets ordered.

Doloop Digital’s Gaurav Rastogi, "This was before AI became a household name and was still a buzzword used to inflate startup valuations. We met the prospective client at a coffee shop during mid-morning. I asked the entrepreneur to describe the product while we waited in line to order our coffee. I ordered my usual extra-hot latte while he kept describing his product. By the time he was done with one complete overview of the product, my coffee had arrived, been sipped, and cooled down to room temperature. We had taken 24 minutes to do a first pass, and I needed another extra-hot coffee to keep up with all the details."

The truth is that entrepreneurs know too much about their products but invest too little into storytelling. We now needed a whiteboard to sort everything out. Within a few sprints, Doloop Digital had the pitch down to 2.2 words. The product was an “AI for Documents.” This boiling down into a simple phrase had a magical effect on the product roadmap, the go-to-market, and the demo storytelling. By the end of the year, the client had done 236 product demos, most of which resulted in next-step conversations. The product could be explained in an ordering line at the coffee shop, and the sale could be made when the coffee was still warm.

Being memorable, brief, and impactful is important when presenting your product. Here are a few steps you can follow:

• Use a whiteboard instead of slides to explain your idea.
• Use mindmaps to condense your ideas progressively until you have a strong core message.
• Test your message with your intended buyers.
• Track all meetings and outcomes with discipline since throw-away ideas can be converted into sales fodder.
• Continue to nurture the relationships long after the roadshow into the next.

Further learning. Contact us for Gaurav Rastogi’s “Running Your Campaign Cadence,” our three-month custom campaign cadence workshops.