Who are you? What do you do?

10 Apr

Ah, the corporate overview.  The staple of every web site, and the key piece of many presentations.

We’re in the proess of putting such collateral together here at Replicate.  Not wanting to reinvent the wheel, I consulted the oracle for any keen insight or best practices.  After 45 minutes of searching, I’m surprised to find nothing on what makes a good/bad overview, or thoughts in general.  I did find some amazingly, painfully, searingly bad examples (I’ll be kind, and not link, but a quick google search for “corporate overview” will send you crying for some good clean smut).

Obviously, the goal is to convey answers to the standard 6 questions as applicable – Who, what, when, where, how, why.  I think we’ve all been trained a bit too well on these in that order.  Is who really the most important part of any pitch?  Unless it’s to your mom, I don’t think so.  Keeping in mind who we’re trying to convey this information too, most people who haven’t heard of us don’t want to know about the company, the want to know why they should even care in the first place.  To steal from Jerry Weissman, WIIFY (what’s in it for you)?  The WIIFY will vary depending on your target audience.  In our case, we have a few, all rather obvious:

  • The customer: “If you buy our product, you’ll solve a ton of problems and get to go home and spend time with your family”.
  • The partner: “If you work with us, you will keep and gain many happy customers”
  • The investor: “If you invest in our company, you’ll get a great return on your money”

In all these cases, talking about our company seems like the last step, not the first.  Identify their problem, talk about solution, then explain why you’re the one to solve it.  I’d take those favorite six questions and reorder them:

  • Why: What’s the market problem
  • When: I’m gonna care about this when?
  • What: What is the solution?
  • How: How will you help solve it?
  • Where: where can I find the solution?
  • Who: And who are you to actually do it?

Any other thoughts on outlines or best practices?  What’s key in a good corporate overview doc or presentation?

  • Since you are a startup you should focus on what makes you trustworthy and dependable. The biggest question in a prospect's mind is how will you perform when things go wrong. I think too many startup teams stress how smart they are or how many merit badges they have accumulated (degrees, certificates) or almost accumulated (e.g. coursework towards doctorate but no doctorate) instead of projects that they have delivered and value they have created for former partners, customers, etc..

    It's a mistake to recycle anything from your investor presentation (fund-raising pitch) into your presentation for prospects. It's two fundamentally different audiences with very different needs and distinct questions about your team and your offering. Steve Blank's "Four Steps to the Epiphany" is a good guide for strategies in the early market.

    If you are thinking about including your corporate backgrounder in your demo or presentation...don't, or at least put it at the end after you have demonstrated something directly relevant to the prospect's situation. They may be interested in learning more about you at that point, or they may want to discuss how to get started. See Peter Cohan's "Great Demo!" book for a good methodology.
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