Elevator pitch examples

Important Considerations

Below are sample elevator pitches for two companies: WhirlyBird Yogurt Stores and JD Software Solutions. For each company, you’ll find a “good” example and a “bad” example of an Elevator Pitch. The good examples follow the formula on page 232 (excluding introduction). Notice that this elevator pitch template works very well even with two completely different businesses. The poor examples demonstrate common mistakes in elevator pitches. Read these examples and the critiques that follow, to avoid the common pitfalls. When you are finished with your elevator pitch, make sure you’ve followed the formula and eliminated the common mistakes. It should have a similar tone to the “good” examples in this section.

1. WhirlyBird Yogurt Stores

_______ Example:

Each WhirlyBird Yogurt store will offer 10 flavors of yogurt and 25 toppings to people within a five-mile radius of their carefully selected locations, ideal for people who want a healthy meal or snack. As an example, now the 300,000 people who live and work in Meadowbrook won’t have to drive more than five minutes to get great yogurt, served by friendly people in a sparkling clean store. Frozen yogurt has been the fastest growing category in over-the-counter snack foods for the past 3 years, with year-over-year growth rates of 17%. WhirlyBird’s founder, Ronald Smith, has 10 years experience as a regional manager of quick-service restaurants, where he learned how to run efficient, profitable stores. With that experience, Mr. Smith is confident about opening WhirlyBird Yogurt Stores at the rate of 1 every 6 months and building a business that is profitable from year one and surpasses $25 million in revenue within 5 years.

______ Example:

WhirlyBird Yogurt Stores will be poised to take over the competition because our products are the most healthy and nutritious available. The difference is gluten-free products that don’t have the toxins found in other yogurts. All of our yogurts contain two forms of live bacteria: bulgaricus and thermophilus. Our founder, Ron Smith, has been eating it for years and credits that with his ability to run three marathons a year at age 45. As more people learn about the detoxifying powers of bacteria-rich yogurt, WhirlyBird’s business will soar.

2. JD Software Solutions

_________ Example:

JD Software provides custom online commerce and back-office solutions to businesses with less than $10 million in sales that can’t afford the high prices of big-name consulting firms. These business customers will be eager to drive their sales and improve efficiency, now that it can be accomplished with a fraction of the time and money required by the big-name firms. Our founder, John DelMonte, has 8 years’ experience as a senior project manager for EDS, where he learned how to manage projects from start to finish using skilled independent contractors. With a market of over 8,000 small businesses in San Diego with revenue ranging from $1 million and $10 million, JD Software Solutions will be cash-flow positive and profitable in less than 12 months.

_______  Example:

Technology is moving fast and JD Software Solutions is on the leading edge. All of our developers are Web2.0 certified and we have been developing Cloud applications that work asynchronously since Ajax was first introduced. We can save clients thousands of dollars using MySQL or if they’re tied to Oracle or SQL Server, we can implement open source middleware to perform data transformations in real time. We have that experience. Since the customer actually saves money over alternatives, selling will not be difficult and the potential of our business is unlimited.