STIRR: Kickin' Butt at Banff Venture Forum

Why am I posing with the winners of best presentation awards at the Banff Venture Forum? Because STIRR PitchLab helped guide two of the companies towards the prize.

Two weeks ago, Manford Kwan, CEO of ASAT Solutions, and Dr. Mary Earle, CEO of TheraCarb participated in a 4-hour session where we concentrated on fixing the first two minutes of their pitch. That's how long you have to capture a potential investor's attention before they start checking their 'berry.

Both of these companies have been operating for over 5 years, and there wasn't anything I was going change in their business models the week before they hit the stage in Banff. So the challenge was to make the pitches interesting enough to attract conversations and get a few more meetings afterwards.

Even though there are 10 pitch tips we review in PitchLab, I've decided to highlight just a few of the more important ones in this post:

• Start Strong & Stay Strong: Don't welcome the crowd, ask them how they're doing, make small talk, or worse yet, come out with a "don't you hate it when . . ." statement. Nobody's going to answer, and you'll feel like a schmuck. Just tell them who you are, and in two or three sentences, give them a reason to believe that you're credible.


• Hearts, Minds, Wallets: Always make an emotional connection before diving into the logic, and always share the logic before asking for money. How do you like being asked for money from people you don't like for things you don't understand?


• Be Attractive: Be confident, but don't brag. Seek guidance, but don't appear desperate. Be passionate, but not emotional. It's a fine line, but you'll be surprised how investors are attracted to one set of qualities and completely repelled by the other.

I didn't realize how powerful these rules would be. When Manford and Mary made their presentations last Thursday, they hit the stage with confidence. And when they got off the stage, they were smiling from ear to ear. In my mind and theirs, they had already won - they were already stirring up more conversations in the hallways, speaking with more passion and enthusiasm than ever. And that's the power of having a good pitch - it follows you right off the stage and into elevators and boardrooms.

At the end of the conference, attendees had voted TheraCarb as best presenter in the Life Sciences stream, ASAT Solutions as the best in the Energy stream, and Akoha as the best in the IT stream.

In the picture: from left to right:
- Austin Hill, Akoha's CEO, simply one of the world's best pitch men.
- Manford Kwan, CEO, ASAT Solutions
- me, the proud pitch coach
- Dr. Mary Earle, CEO, TheraCarb