Top tips for standing out at a startup pitch event

Whether you’re seeking a network to tap for collaboration or an opportunity to obtain venture capital funding, you’ve decided that joining a startup pre-accelerator program is the way to achieve your goal.

As an early-stage startup founder, you’ll undergo weeks of grueling mentorship during the program – an experience that will turn your idea for an innovative solution into a working prototype with market viability. The program will culminate with a demo day, and it’s your chance to pitch your idea to an audience of potential partners and investors. All you need to do is stand out enough to capture their attention.

Photo credit: Kane Reinholdtsen / Unsplash

Participants of The Start pre-accelerator found themselves in that situation last month. The program, a joint collaboration between StartupX and Singapore investment firm Temasek, aims to help early-stage startup founders get their business off the ground. It concluded with a demo day on April 15, where 10 founders showcased their startups’ solutions in five-minute pitches.

For those with a pitch in mind, Tech in Asia asked attendees of the demo day for some advice on how to set yourself apart from the crowd.

1. Find your core message

What’s the takeaway of your pitch? What do you want people to do at the end of it?

These are questions that presenters should consider before going into a pitch, suggests StaffAny co-founder and CEO Janson Seah, who presented the startup’s hourly workforce management solution at The Start’s demo day.

“Start with a blank slate, tie down what you really want the audience to know, and focus on that first,” he advises. “Find the core message of your pitch and build on that.”

Seah adds that gathering feedback from fellow founders, mentors, and team members shaped StaffAny’s pitch in the weeks leading up to the demo day. It helped him understand how the audience would eventually receive his pitch and how he could improve on it to allow them to better grasp his intended message.

2. Get the audience hooked

“What I have in my pocket is a classic thing that my grandmother probably used. They’re called punch cards, and they still exist in Singapore today,” Seah said in the opening minutes of his pitch as he held up a stack of cards then tossed them to the ground.

StaffAny co-founder and CEO Janson Seah / Photo credit: StartupX

The move effectively captured the audience’s attention, and Seah thinks the key is the effective use of visual aids coupled with his relatable analogy.

“I think the act of holding up the cards and pausing for a second: that’s what got their attention, because the audience had to wait for what I had to say,” he says.

Scofield Li, executive director of proptech startup HomeyDays, which uses virtual reality technology to allow overseas renters to view a home in Singapore remotely before moving in, employed a slightly different tactic to captivate people during his pitch at The Start’s demo day.

He put the audience in the shoes of a bird flying into a house through a window, before the video on the screen transitioned to show a 3D virtual recreation of the house’s interior. That earned the amazement of the crowd, who subsequently gave Li their full attention for the rest of his pitch.

3. Speak with passion

Another aspect of Li’s pitch that helped him shine was the passion with which he spoke. Even during rehearsals a few hours before the demo day, other participants stopped what they were doing to listen to him. Some even took their phones out to record his pitch rehearsal.

According to Li, the secret is simple: believe strongly in the solution you’re offering.

HomeyDays executive director Scofield Li / Photo credit: StartupX

“You must be really passionate about your solution before you can create an impact on others,” he says.

Li adds that he closely observed the way his lecturers in school taught their classes, and even the way iconic speakers like Steve Jobs showcased their ideas. He learned from the way they articulated themselves, and applied those lessons to his own pitch.

4. Don’t pad the pitch

Pitches are designed to impress. However, presenters should be cautious not to oversell, warns Sang Shin, director of digital technology at Temasek, who was in attendance at the demo day.

“The bottom line is you want to be genuine,” he explains. “The moment that genuineness is lost, the trust factor is gone and the pitch will go south.”

Shin’s advice is to be “completely honest” on stage and “show the grit and commitment you’re willing to put in.”

He emphasizes: “You should be truthful about what you can achieve, including what obstacles lie in your way and the solutions around the obstacle that you’ve identified. Showing that buys a comfort level from the investors and the audience that you are someone who can tackle challenges in whatever form or fashion they arrive.”

StaffAny and HomeyDays were two of the 10 startups that participated in The Start pre-accelerator, a joint collaboration between Temasek and StartupX. The program helped founders of early-stage startups refine their ideas and build their prototypes into a reality.

Visit the StartupX website to learn more about the startups that participated in the program.