Do I need a different pitch for every audience?

The company facts stay the same. You can adapt the opening and the relevant task. An investor may initially care about the market and business model, while a potential customer wants to understand the actual workflow.

Explain your startup in one clear sentence

Start with the listener, not the technology

Someone hearing about your company for the first time is missing almost all the context you take for granted. A useful opening provides orientation: who has a problem, and what does your product actually do about it?

Words such as platform, AI and ecosystem do not replace that explanation. Your technical distinction becomes relevant once the listener understands why the task matters.

The 15-second test

Write two short sentences. The first names the audience and task. The second explains what becomes easier or possible with your product. Use only statements you can support today.

Practice example: We help small purchasing teams review supplier documents in one place. Instead of searching through email, they see what is missing and who should follow up. This describes a workflow, not a proven customer outcome.

A specific audience rather than companies of every size.
A recognisable situation rather than an abstract megatrend.
An understandable action rather than a list of attributes.
No claimed time saving without measurement.

Expand to 60 seconds

Add one reason the problem matters now and one real piece of evidence from your work. That might be a paid pilot, but it could also be a narrowly defined finding from a test. Explain what the evidence does not yet prove.

Close with a question that suits the conversation: Is this a problem you see in your portfolio? That creates an exchange rather than attaching a longer monologue to your short pitch.

What is the current alternative?
What has your team learned or achieved?
Which assumption remains open?
What do you want to understand from the listener?

Ask someone to explain it back

Ask a person outside your team to describe what your company does in their own words. Do not correct them immediately. Differences between their explanation and yours often reveal a gap in the message.

Save a short, supportable version in your profile. It can change as the business learns. What matters is that the website, profile and conversation share the same current core.

Sources and context

The links provide context. These exercises are selected starting points from Paul Krügel's work with founders, not the complete framework. They are not investment, legal, tax or financial advice.