(Before I start, I just want to say that this is a new idea and it still needs some exploring, so help me flesh out before eating my flesh)*
Whilst having a sushi/beer dinner with Atari Boy last night, we were talking about how sometimes you have an idea, flesh it out, then as you start telling people, it starts whittling down and dying on the vine.
Don’t get me (us) wrong, the feedback is great, but we realised that we wanted the feedback at different times.
There is lessons here for pitchers and pitchees.
For the pitcher
Try and pre-frame, which means establishing a boundary by which you want the pitchee to take your pitch. If you don’t pre-frame you’re probably going to get the devils advocate (or as Cris and I worked it out to be, the 1,000 demons that eat away enthusiasm and creativity).
You pre-frame by telling them what you want and what you don’t want.
For example;
“OK, so I’m going to tell you this idea that kept me up last night. There is 100 challenges and 1,000 questions, but for now, I really want to just explore how big it is and how great it could be. So try not to look for ways that it couldn’t work, let’s see if we can find out how it could work.”
Ask them to leave their demons at the door.
For the Pitchee, if you can, try not to start thinking about what is wrong. Stay on what is right first. Help them out. You know how hard it is on the otherside of the table. You know that it’s not easy coming up with something new that is solid.
Sentences to avoid as a pitchee;
“Hmmm, have you had a look at __________ ?” – unless there is an exact competitor, but even then, it would be better to say “______ is doing something similar – so there must be a market there!”
“Yeah, but don’t you think that ______________?” – try and build on it for now, not knock it down.
“That’s going to be hard.” – derrr! Of course it’s going to be hard. If it were soft it would be tofu. If it’s big, exciting and a worthy challenge then who cares how hard it is, you’ll get through it.
- Notice how I pre-framed this blog post. Did it work?