SmugMug Elevator Pitch The SmugMug elevator pitch by Doug Macaskill (CEO) focuses on SmugMug’s competitive advantage and somewhat tackles a pain point from an eGiant: the CEO highlights SmugMug’s premium, part-of-the-club nature with no advertising which contrasts it with Google’s everyone’s welcome and targeted advertising. The CEO’s delivery is a different approach: he is calm, […]
Continue reading SmugMug Elevator Pitch Posted in: Week 03: Analyst BootcampTagged: 60 second pitch RSS Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kristopher
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andrea
Duck Duck Go pitch
I reviewed a pitch from 2008 for the search engine Duck Duck Go. Aside from looking at the pitch, it was interesting to be able to see how the company/tool has fared since then. The pros The description of how it works is really clear – “it’s like Google,” but with “human-powered” results at the […]
Continue reading Duck Duck Go pitch Posted in: Week 03: Analyst Bootcamp-
jenaca
Hey Andrea,
I really like the way your formed your analysis and sectioned it off through pros and cons. After watching the pitch you chose, I too agree with how you decided to group it. It is so much like google and does seem like it will save people time and effort.
Thanks for sharing this pitch!!
Jenaca -
David William Price
But how does he make money?
And do hand-picked results mean we have to wait longer for valuable results?
He claims hand-picked results are better than Google but why? I find the Google database is so large that I can often enter a natural language question and find forums and blogs where someone asked the very same question, and I get the answers they received.
When it comes to publishing, I think there is value in gatekeeping (see my comment on weBook for instance) but for search results, I think gatekeeping holds us back. Consider how easy it is to do research with gated databases of journals vs. using Google… which is faster? Which allows more intuitive personal searches without learning a system to do it?
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andrea
Hello David,
I can definitely see how gatekeeping could hold us back. My understanding of Duck Duck Go was that just a few of the results at the very top are “hand-picked” and then the rest of the results are presented the same way Google does.
Andrea
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Angela Novoa
Hi Andrea, I liked your analysis as it is concise and clear. Your idea about presenting CEO’s professional background and linkages to the product is necessary. It also is important knowing how revenues will be captured.
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andrea
Hi Angela, I wondered if perhaps (like other search engines) there would be revenue from advertising, but he doesn’t explain that exactly. And if this pitch is also for end-users, suggesting there will be advertising is usually a turn-off.
Andrea
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Kristopher
Hi all,
I agree with Andrea that the presenter was awkward in his delivery, but I would also add unprofessional– it is weird to have the cat cleaning itself in the background, clearly creating the sense that this company is not a major player.
Also, he chose an unfortunate description with ‘google-plus’ as there is now an actual product called Google+ that is supposed to (I haven’t managed to get on as they have been back logged for months now) blow social media and search out of the water.
I also had a similar sense to David– gatekeeping can be appreciated, but how do I know that I value the same things as the gatekeeper? What if what is relevant to the GK is not relevant to me?
Thanks for the thoughts!
Kristopher
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andrea
Hi Kristopher – I agree the cat thing was strange! Yes, his Google + description would have been okay when it was recorded in 2008, but wouldn’t work anymore.
Andrea
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Juliana
Hi Andrea,
This has been mentioned previously, but not having any information of profits or how much money would be required for the venture is central for the pitch. And I agree with you that the awkwardness of the pitch and not knowing his creditentials don’t help. People need to feel that they can depend on the person to deliver what they are pitching.
Juliana.
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Karen Jones
Pitch Critique: Peekabu Studio’s Gesture Computing technology a nice touch but seems out of reach just yet.
As the Provincial Administration IT manager of SET-BC (Special Educational Technology), I am always on the lookout for new technologies that can assist students with disabilities. Peekabu’s pitch for a “new way for people to interact with their computers without ever touching a mouse or keyboard” sparked my interest. Peekabu 60 Second Pitch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQSWm1-5ffk&feature=related [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQSWm1-5ffk&feature=related] […]
Continue reading Pitch Critique: Peekabu Studio’s Gesture Computing technology a nice touch but seems out of reach just yet. Posted in: Week 03: Analyst Bootcamp-
jarvise
Hi Karen,
Great analysis (and good digging, detective!). I agree with you that the use of “what if…” questions as an introduction is effective in establishing the need. Nice way to set the stage. The more pitches I watch, the more I reflect on how the tips we teach students on effective strategies fro writing persuasive speeches are the ones we are noticing here.
Emily
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David William Price
Great points in your critique! As this is an elevator pitch I guess there are limited ways to incorporate demos. But he seems to like to use his hands in distracting ways while talking…. so why not use his hands to demonstrate the gestures he’s talking about?
I hate “what if” pitches. I prefer “here’s the problem, here’s how we solve it” pitches. He could demonstrate with body language the problems he is trying to solve and how he will solve them. He could identify the markets for this technology and what the (presumably failing) competitors are (like Dragon Dictate for instance). To me this seemed like a pretty thin pitch that didn’t describe its markets properly, competitors, or where money would come from or even how far along the product was in development.
Again…. good critique on the missing points!
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hall 3:16 am on September 21, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I viewed SmugMug elevator pitch which I think is a very good product. I concur with you on the description of the CEO. I think that the background noise to near of the presentation was distracting which could turn off viewers.
kstooshnov 10:16 am on September 21, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
HI Conroy,
If you click on a few other clips of elevator pitches from techcrunch, they all have the brownish solarized effect, and the background noise is consistent. At one point, I heard the timer start, sounding like a chime you would hear in an elevator. Despite efforts to make it seem like these pitches take place in an elevator, it is evident that they are happening in a noisy conference hall, so even more trying for the pitcher to catch the listener’s attention.
Kyle
jenaca 7:06 am on September 21, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I also viewed SmugMug elevator pitch. I agree that it is a very good product however, I think he could have focused more on what the future plans are for his product.
David William Price 9:24 am on September 21, 2011 Permalink | Log in to Reply
This never explains what the problem is… why would I use the product? Why is it better? Why not describe the difference in interface design or philosophy? Lumping BMW and Toyota together is pretty bizarre. Why are the photos “bigger”? Why is this important? Why do they look “better than anywhere else on the web”? Having paying customers sounds good… but what are they paying? What are revenues? More importantly, what are profits?