The 1-minute secret to nailing product-market fit

I’m currently at Entrepreneurial Spark, a business accelerator in Brighton. Last year when I applied, I was told that to get a spot on the programme I would have to pitch my startup idea.

There were two important things I didn’t notice on the email. Two important things that put me on the spot.

The first was the pitch had to be less than 60 seconds. The second was it was to a room of sixty people.

So, I got up and tried to explain why I created YoGrow and why it was going to amazing. Luckily I made it. Three of us won a spot, but if I’m honest I didn’t have a good pitch.

It’s a real art to get to the core of your proposition within such a short time. 1 minute is no time at all.

I didn’t have a good pitch because I hadn’t practised enough. By enough, I mean daily and to everyone you can. The more you pitch, the more you pick up what people don’t understand. Perhaps you’ve used jargon where you shouldn’t have. Perhaps you’ve conflated some ideas or misled by mistake.

Take questions afterwards. Be warned, you might cringe. I was getting people asking me about YoGrow and they completely missed what we were about. They would say, “So your building e-commerce sites” or “So you sell SEO”. It’s frustrating but important.

It means you were not clear, so go back and refine your pitch.

The curious thing about pitching and product-market fit

Pitching is all about boiling away the fat. It helps you clarify your purpose and get to the core proposition. What are you actually about? Forget the features and the cool functionality. What is the problem? What is the solution?

It helps you focus.

That focus is critical because it lets you position your product within the market. The early stages of a startup are to find product-market fit. This means finding something that people want to use and solves a problem for them.

Pitching helped us pivot from a subscription business model to a commission on sales business model. It helped us focus on the problem. I’m sure the more I pitch, the more I will refine the product.

Startups are encouraged to get an MVP to test their concept out. I suggest nailing down a compelling Pitch. It’s an outstanding way to fail fast, fail smart and fail cheaply. Most importantly, it’s a great way to find your core proposition so you can start building your MVP on solid foundations.

Yesterday we had a pitching session at Entrepreneurial Spark. A dozen of us sit down, pitch and then dissect our pitches. It’s always painful and always useful. So, after yesterday’s session, I went back to the drawing board and decided to start again.

I’m pretty confident with my pitch now and Will post it below. I’ll also post the earlier versions and perhaps you can see how it’s evolved.

The current pitch

ECommerce Stores are getting burnt. They hire experts but don’t track their performance.

If you’re spending thousands a month on someone, you should know the return on investment. But many store owners don’t know this. They’ll hire based on cost, find a so-called Guru and get zero results.

Understanding your data and tracking performance is the key to growing your business. It’s why we’ve created YoGrow, the only Expert marketplace that tracks return on investment. YoGrow makes hiring simple, transparent and accountable.

Check your store’s vital signs on your dashboard. We take your analytics data and present it jargon-free so you can make informed business decisions. Understand what’s working and what’s not.

Hire an Expert through YoGrow and track their performance. Say goodbye to pie-in-the-sky and get demonstrable results. Services are sold as monthly subscriptions and we have a range of skills to pick from.

Need to boost your traffic? We’ve got a subscription for that. Need to increase your conversion? We’ve got the specialist for you.

We have over 100 stores signed up and 20 Experts ready to grow your revenue. As our stores grow, so do we and our Experts.

Let’s start growing your online business with a free account at YoGrow.co.

[notice]Just a quick note to say if you’ve just read the pitch I would LOVE you to go create a free account on YoGrow[/notice]

Older Pitch

Growing your e-commerce revenue is hard. Finding a good marketing expert who can deliver growth is even harder.

How do you assess the value of an expert? How do you assess the return on investment of your valuable cash? If you are unfamiliar with marketing it’s easy to be overwhelmed by jargon or drowned in data.

I’m Elliot and that’s why I’ve created YoGrow, the only online marketplace where you can hire marketing experts and track their performance. We’re making marketing simple, transparent and accountable.

View your businesses performance and Expert’s ROI on our jargon-free dashboard. Setup is simple with our one-click analytics integration.

We have over 100 stores signed up and 20 Experts offering a range of growth packages. Need to increase your traffic? We’ve got a package for that. Need to increase your conversion? We’ve got the expert for you.

All packages are monthly subscriptions and we take a 10% commission on all sales. As our customers grow, so do we and our Experts.

Let’s start growing your online business with a free account at YoGrow.co.

Even older pitch!

Growing your e-commerce revenue is hard. Finding a good marketing expert who can deliver growth is even harder.

How do you assess the value of an expert? Most shop owners go with their gut, but the common experience is one of expensive disappointment. After months of cost, you struggle to see a return on investment. It’s a common story. If you are unfamiliar with marketing, it’s easy to be overwhelmed by jargon or drowned in data.

It’s why we’ve created YoGrow, the only online marketplace where you can find growth marketers and track their performance. We’re making marketing simple, transparent and accountable.

We track performance with our one-click analytics integration. Our jargon-free dashboard makes it easy to understand your data and your businesses performance. Easily track your Expert’s return on investment. Think of us as your digital head of finance.

We’ve got over 20 Experts offering a range of growth packages. Need to increase your traffic? We’ve got a package for that. Need to increase your conversion? We’ve got the expert for you. Choose an expert who can deliver demonstrable value to your business.

Join our community of over one hundred online shops with a free account at YoGrow.co.

Let’s start growing your revenue.

[notice]Just a reminder if you have skipped down here, the last two pitches were my original ones. I’ve shown them to demonstrate how I’ve refined my pitch. I hope you have read the latest one at the top![/notice]

Pitches are more than product-market fit

We pitch to explain. That could be to an investor, a possible customer or a business partner. But we also pitch to explain to ourselves. To clarify what we are about and keep focus.

Finally, I’d love to get your feedback. What works and doesn’t work. Thanks!