Cheatsheet #3: How to Pitch Breakthroughs
Disruptive storytelling series
This post is part of a series of storytelling ‘cheatsheets’ designed to help entrepreneurs tell disruptive stories. Each one covers a different type of disruption, from products based on new user behavior to incremental improvements like new features or lower price.
It’s time to peacock
Unlike B2B SaaS apps or consumer products, science-based companies disrupt through some technological breakthrough. But that doesn’t mean the pitch writes itself.
Skepticism #1 - It doesn’t work
Just stating your scientific breakthrough is not enough to overcome skepticism. Assume investors are thinking “I don’t believe it”. Then deal with those objections.
Patents are not enough to explain the whole story.
Ask yourself what an investor wants to see and hear in a pitch that gives them confidence that your breakthrough is every bit as revolutionary as you say it is.
Go deep into the science, especially data from real-world testing. Highlight validation from industry experts and well-known clients. This is not the time to be humble. Talk about your PhDs, industry experience and other unfair advantages.
Peacocking dares the investor to say you’re wrong. Be that confident.
Skepticism #2 - It works, but can be copied
So what if you’ve had a breakthrough? That only matters if there isn’t an easy workaround or way to copy it.
A lot of DeepTech pitches fail in one way: they don’t prove why this breakthrough is special, why other competing breakthroughs will not be as good.
A good defence means spending time explaining why there aren’t easier and better alternatives to your approach. Once you do that you can talk about your IP protection.
Skepticism #3 - It works (but the other stuff will kill you)
The greatest technological innovations can be killed by regulatory issues, supply chain issues or other problems in the business ecosystem.
If you anticipate this type of pushback make sure you talk about how your breakthrough fits into the market. Doing this shows that you’re not just a scientist; you’ve thought about how to bring this product to market.
The Cheatsheet
Breakthrough storytelling is most often used by DeepTech companies which is why I chose science-based startups in the cheatsheet.
DeepTech companies have a particular challenge of avoiding drowning in technical details. That is a topic for another post. But studying breakthrough stories is useful for all startups trying to be disruptive.
Links to the pitch decks and videos: