What makes a great hackathon pitch - David McDougall

What makes a great hackathon pitch?

Tell a Story…

Start with the Customer Problem

Problem Solution What is the Customer Problem?

How do you solve it?

Demo What is the customer journey? How does the technology work?

Show Customer Validation How far along the spectrum can you push?

There is a lot of space in between the two.

Expressed interest

Paying customers

Market Sizing How large a problem are you solving? For how many people? For how much value?

Competition What do you do that is different? What unmet need do you serve?

Competition includes all customer alternatives.

Consider analyzing competition across 2 axes

Business Model What are your sources of revenue?

Even nonprofits need a business model.

Team Who are you? Why are you the best people to build this?

Put this last -- You can skip it if you run out of time

Additional Notes

Keep it short

Things to leave out: Financial Projections

Anything that doesn’t serve the story

Every business is different… Craft the narrative that works for you.

These are the key notes to hit – but the order may change.

Templates and Inspiration Guy Kawasaki’s Pitch Deck Template The Only 10 Slides You Need in a Pitch

AirBed&Breakfast pitch deck

Review – The Key Points Customer Problem Your Solution Demo Customer Validation Your Market Competition Business Model Team

Reminders Pitches will be 5 minutes, with 3 minutes for questions

No more than 2 presenters

Practice with a timer

Simplicity – focus is on *you* -- not the text on the slides

Thanks Dave McDougall @dmcdougall https://uk.linkedin.com/in/dmcdougall April 9, 2016