Software Pitch
I reviewed this pitch from
What I liked about the ThoughtFarmer pitch was that it has a good wrapper meaning that it starts and ends well. The speaker introduces himself as the co-creator of the venture right at the start which provides instant credibility to his talk. He then launches into a general description which is easy to understand. He ends the pitch with an impressive list of customers that had me going online to look up the company. While he did a good job with the general description he did throw in some technical terms that may be offputting to some. Overall though he kept the language general and touched on key pain points such as security, democracy, collaboration, and ease of use as differntiators. However, I didn’t think these points were enough to differentiate the product from competitors which I would assume to be MicroSoft Sharepoint teamsites.
There was nothing in the pitch about the financial benefit of the venture to the venturist so this was targeted only to potential customers, but he was clear about who those customers are.
Posted in: Week 03: Analyst Bootcamp
Kristopher 9:30 pm on September 20, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Julie,
I agree with your analysis– his closing made me actually listen to it again as I found it to be a lot more legitimate when I heard the list of companies that are using the product. I would have suggested that he focus on some of the pain points of Sharepoint (sort of a competitor, but I understand SP is a lot more in depth a product) such as the complexity and difficulty with startup.
Thanks for the post,
Kristopher
jenaca 3:02 am on September 23, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hey Julie and Kristopher,
I too was drawn in after listening to the closing remarks. The companies he listed that are currently using his product definitely made me think more about this company and his pitch. Although, he should as David already pointed out, begin with an exciting problem then move on to what he believes to be solutions!
hall 3:29 am on September 21, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
In my view, I think you have given a clear analysis of the thoughtfamer pitch. As Kristopher has mentioned the presenter need to focus on this pain point and also differentiation. I also think the definition of intranet was not necessary.
David William Price 9:29 am on September 21, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I have to agree with the posts here. The pitch “buries the lead”… it hints at the problem (wanting to do social stuff while keeping people inside the firewall). I would rather start with an exciting problem (here’s what we want but here are the horrible consequences) then move into his solution. That’s the way I’ve done pitches… you get buy in about the problem with your audience, then you hit them with the solution. I don’t see the point of long lists of features.
Everton Walker 7:22 pm on September 21, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Well I listened to it four times. Quite simple and believable. His emphasis on security and that they were directing it at persons who hate intranet impressed me. The inclusion of the web 2.0 features was deliberate as they intend to attract the net-gen cohort. This is definitely a venture I will explore.