Getting your pitch right takes time, says Matt Allen, co-founder and CTO of enterprise startup, ProcessGo!, a company which helps simplify tendering processes giving companies a faster and more accurate way to assess potential suppliers.
Allen delivered the winning pitch to the more than 900 people gathered at last week’s SydStart conference, the annual event bringing together startup founders, investors and those with an idea for a business.
“I’ve been pitching everyone lately; my kids, my mother and friends,” said Allen, “you’ve got to know your material.”
SydStart organizer Pete Cooper, also behind Sydney incubator/co-working space Fishburners, said the success of the conference, which took place at the Sydney Convention Centre last Monday, demonstrated an increasing understanding of startups in Australia.
“SydStart has almost doubled each year over the past couple years,” said Cooper.
“It’s a sign that things are growing in this space. SydStart has two waves: one featuring presentations from people who’ve done something of global significance, and the other wave, those on the journey.”
Matt Allen, co-founder of ProcessGo!, accepts the SydStart Trophy (photo: Lisa Cumes)
Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder of Atlassian; Dominic O’Hanlan, previously Chief Strategy Officer at MYOB; and Alec Lynch, founder of DesignCrowd are a few of the tech personalities who took the stage to share their experiences.
“I lost track of how many wanted to pitch… There were quite a few. There were 24 companies that ended up pitching on the day,” said Cooper.
It was only a couple years back that Australian success stories DesignCrowd (who recently raised $3m in funding), and Atlassian were pitching to the crowd of startup entrepreneurs.
This year saw pitches from a whole host of startups including Buzzy.io, a multi-player game platform that uses mobile devices, through to Evolvex, a manufacturer of custom made modular furniture.
What won the pitch for Allen and his team? He has three tips for a great pitch:
- Address the criteria provided. Allen says every pitch competition is different and you need to know what’s required by those judging the pitches
- Shape your story. Tell people how things are done now and how much better they could be. Solve the problem for them
- Build up to the money shot. You need to create suspense. Don’t give everything away at the start.