Paddy’s Valley

There will be three phases to the training to help you hone your pitch for Paddy’s Valley Week

1. Thursday 13th September before DemoBar
2. Late October
3. During the trip

Looking forward to meeting all those taking part in the first phase next week. The second phase will be much more in-depth and take at least a full day. Details to come.

Thursday will look like this:

1. Starts at 2pm on Thursday 13th September in Ely HQ on Hanover Quay Dublin
2. A panel of 4 will be present to listen and advise
3. You will have ten minutes to do a pitch followed by 20 minutes of feedback
4. There won’t be a projector/screen but they are happy for you to bring laptop or thumbdrive with demo/collateral to use. It might make most sense to speak for perhaps 2-3 minutes to give the elevator pitch and then drill into the detail sitting down using a laptop
5. Effectively they are trying to simulate the scenario in DemoBar or at Paddy’s Valley where you probably won’t get to present a deck
6. The panel have mentioned some points to consider:
   • Start the pitch by saying where the business is in its lifecycle so that the tenor of the subsequent conversation is a balanced one and nobody is overselling
   • Outline the company’s situation today
   • Business model (how is it monetised)
   • Describe the complication or problem that the industry / customer faces, that your product solves and why has it arisen?
   • What is the proposition that the company is proposing to solve the problem etc…
   • This should lead in to a discussion on how unique is the company’s proposition versus competition and how does it break down into a competitive advantage across product, pricing, distribution etc….
   • Any market validation from customers is always highly regarded by VC’s.
   • Have a fix on your finance requirements for the short to medium term
7. Nice deck on Pitching
8. And of course, Mr Kawasaki

Slightly tuned cross-post from Web2Ireland.org:

We are genuinely thrilled that Enterprise Ireland has agreed to run a pitch training session in advance of DemoBar on Thursday September 13th. It is aimed at those doing a DemoBar presentation that evening and also as the first training session for those attending the Paddy’s Valley trip who intend pitching in Silicon Valley.

The format has not been finalised yet, it depends to some degree on the numbers who sign up. However it will involve pitching to an expert panel and/or the other attendees in addition to guidance and training.

If you are travelling on Paddy’s Valley, then this will be the first of three sessions that EI are providing. I took part in a similar session with InterTrade Ireland last year and left a blubbering wreck but ten times better at pitching.

Please also see my Argolon blogpost on DemoBar.

Sign up now for Pitch Training by emailing your details to web2ireland DOT editor AT gmail DOT com and pleasee send a CC to paddysvalley AT gmail DOT com if you are a Paddy’s Valley traveller.

BTW, do send us a mail to the Paddy’s Valley address if you are attending our social meet-up at 5pm before DemoBar in Ely HQ.

We will confirm date, time and venue for Pitch Training asap. At the moment it looks like early afternoon of Thursday 13th in Ely HQ.