LinkedIn — The “Mother” Of All Pitches?
The best entrepreneurial pitch is only 50 words long… at least this is what you quickly learn on Linkedin. Like it or not, when you invite someone to connect on Linkedin — your invitation is limited to only 300 characters (spaces included)…
Over the years, I invited thousands of like-minded entrepreneurs to connect — and on average, the length of my messages are all around… 50 words. Therefore, I recommend allocating your precious 50 words allotment as follows. For example:
· Why do I care To Reach You? — approx. 20 words
o John, congrats on a spectacular raise! You’re solving huge SmartCity problems & I wrote about similar issues in my posts
· Why Should You Care To Hear Me? — approx. 15 words
o Some companies just push their products out the door while losing 70% of untapped revenues
· Why Should You Respond To My Invitation? — approx. 15 words
o Any plans for expanding into Canada, generating new revenues, and boosting the ROIs?
If you think 50 words are not enough, how about a… 2 words branding exercise? Ever since completing my Executive MBA years ago at the NUMBER ONE Marketing & Branding institution in the world — Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago — I remain passionate about describing the brands with just TWO WORDS…
For years, I’ve been asking CEOs to clearly articulate their brand in just two words — not in 2-page essays, or even in two lengthy paragraphs. For example: McDonald’s = FAST FOOD; Walmart = LOW PRICES. Who Are you?
Well, it may seem trivial at first glance — but Sir. Richard Branson said it the best: “Branding demands commitment to continual re-invention. It is easy to be cynical about such things, much harder to be successful”
And what about Oprah’s… ONE word blueprint for mastering the universal Principles of Emotional IQ? As Melanie Curtin so succinctly summarized in her recent Inc. post:
It is all about the… “VALIDATION”
Validating what your contact is saying and doing, and also explaining why it is important & meaningful for you to reach out — is a must. You can find more details in Melanie’s article at: https://www.inc.com/melanie-curtin/according-to-oprah-all-your-arguments-come-down-to-these-3-questions.html?cid=sf01001
“When Oprah spoke on career, life, and leadership at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, she touched on this. In particular, she said that all your arguments come down to three questions, and three questions only:
· Did you hear me?
· Did you see me?
· Did what I say mean anything to you?
Oprah talked to nearly 30,000 people and all 30,000 had one thing in common. Whether they were a firefighter or a Ph.D., a dental hygienist or a software engineer — they all wanted validation”.
Based on my 30+ years of entrepreneurial experience, I am convinced that startups succeed when they are READY to act and keenly OPPORTUNISTIC. Besides, every successful company must also be LUCKY to be at the right time and at the right place — to take advantage of the unfolding opportunity…
I do not doubt that a good Advisory Board improves the decision-making process by helping the CEOs to consider different perspectives. But it also helps to sharpen the CEO’s message to the outside world — by communicating not only WHAT the company does but also WHY it does it…
More importantly, there is not a single top athlete who does not have a coach. And yet, only 20% of CEOs are coached by Advisors. The other 80% — may never become the top performers they could have been. Thus, my advice to CEOs: “Amateurs don’t use coaches, professionals do… and so should you” — pitching included…
For More Information…
For more information, please see my posts on LinkedIn, Twitter, Medium, and CGE’s website.
AI Boogeyman
You can also find additional info in my book on amazon: “AI Boogeyman — Dispelling Fake News About Job Losses”, and on our YouTube Studio channel… Thank you.
I am in the business of joining Advisory Boards & offer hands-on AI investment advice to Venture Capital & Private Equity portfolio companies. And in many cases, I deliver results in 90 days by structuring JVs to bring untapped revenue streams — just as I did w/ Verizon 20-yrs ago…
A good Advisory Board improves the decision-making process by helping the CEOs to consider different perspectives. More importantly, there is not a single top athlete who does not have a coach. And yet, only 20% of CEOs are coached by Advisors. The other 80% — may never become the top performers they could have been. Thus, my advice to CEOs: “Amateurs don’t use coaches, professionals do… and so should you”.
I used advanced BusinessAI™ strategies in Renewable Energy for 12 yrs. Now, I help VC/CVC/PE funds to maximize their returns in Healthcare, Fintech, Transportation, Construction & Manufacturing, too. And I apply the same structured finance expertise I acquired through financing over $1B of Renewable Energy projects.
As a 30-yr BusinessAI™ veteran, I Propose, Design, Structure, Finance, and Deploy state-of-the-art Joint Ventures to bring RAPID & SUSTAINABLE REVENUES. And as a coach & mentor, I bring business savvy to separate the wheat from the chaff — through a unique process to beat the odds. Such pattern recognition abilities allow me to see what is still missing & how to maximize business offerings & profitability…
What I learned over the years is that it is not just technology innovation, but also the exponential increase in the value offered to clients at a much lower cost — that makes all the difference. Business Model Innovation is as disruptive as Technology Innovation and yet I see too many companies focused on pushing their product out the door — while losing ~70% of untapped revenue streams.
My LeanBOD™ recommendation? Mandate CEO Advisory Boards and create a pool of viable Co-CEOs to be chosen by the BODs. Co-CEOs offer the fastest way to accelerate Scale-Up & Expansion, Revenue Growth, Margin Enhancement & Opening New Channels.
SELECT ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Using AI in CT medical diagnostic, financial fraud detection, solar PV, wind, WTE, energy efficiency, etc. Finance skills: equity, non-recourse debt, balance sheet financing, and tax equity. I also took a tiny startup public, building a $135MM enterprise & received funding from NRC & DND. Academic R&D collaborations included: UW, UofG, UofT, and MCC Consortium in Texas.
