[ibimage==37831==Medium==http://heartlandmobilecouncil.org/brandsstartups/the-seven-bestworst-startup-pitch-stories-from-walgreens-orbitz-pepsico-==self==ibimage_align-right]If you haven’t noticed, the face of innovation has changed. It’s no longer two guys in a garage in California. It’s a guy and a girl at a state university. It’s the new mom down the street. It’s the bohemian dressed woman you see at Starbucks, behind the counter. This reflects the fact that the barriers to innovation have lowered – now almost anyone, anywhere can become an innovator.
But guess where innovation is struggling? Inside Corporate America. Shocking, but true. By gathering 10,000+ employees together with one common business goal, you can make a lot of money but you are not likely to innovate. If you don’t believe me, ask why corporations over the course of the last several years have turned to pitch competitions for innovation. Target, Kraft, PepsiCo, P&G, Home Depot, Orbitz, Kimberly-Clark, Morningstar, Ford, Nestle, McDonald’s, GM, Walgreens, Allstate, Hyatt – they all have sponsored (or are sponsoring) pitch competitions. They are all seeking innovation from the freshest, unfiltered source – The average American entrepreneur.
Even though this is a relatively new trend, at Heartland Mobile, we already know there’s a common problem. The startups don’t know how to pitch corporate brands. Some are very good at pitching Venture Capitalists, but they still don’t know the value, the priorities and the language of brands. To address this gap, we have created the Brands+Startups Challenge. It’s a unique program that creates collaboration between the two disparate groups through “The Voice” style coaching. Brands press a button and turn around for the startups they want on their team, then coach them through our four Challenge rounds. You can see round 2, "The Battle Round" at 1871 in Chicago on July 24th. At only $15 (for a regular admission ticket), it’s a small price to pay for innovation...and pizza and beer.
As part of the program, we asked the brands we work with to give their best and worst startup pitch stories. Four brands responded – Blue Cross Blue Shield of Ilinois, Orbitz, PepsiCo and Walgreens. Between them, they have seen well over 1,000 pitches, so their best and worst examples are great lessons for startups looking to pitch their innovation. They are presented below in no particular order with headlines we created shown in quotes.
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Corey Bieber | Paul Rattin | Russ Fliegler | Rick Ton |
Best: “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”
One startup’s flight was cancelled on their way to meet us at our Richardson Texas office for a pitch. They ended up getting a red-eye to Houston — 250 miles away — and drove through the night to get to the office on time. Depending on the context, tenacity can score you big points.
Worst: “Do You Even Know What Industry We’re In?”
Mobile app install ads on dry-cleaning boxes to target the upper middle class male segment. A part of their pitch was that the boxes were so elegant that they would eventually replace shopping bags! As an added benefit, we would also be able to target the upper middle class female segment as some of those males are in relationships with females and their anecdotal research shows that these women also pick out the clothes for the men.
Best: “Good Impressions Always Pay Off”
Relatively new yet interesting start-up was introduced to me by a mutual friend. We like their business and they were a services organization so they were naturally intrigued by our organization. Met for a coffee at a mutually agreed location. Representatives from the organization were on time and afforded the effort to learn about our business. They even visited a couple different stores. The gentlemen then explain their roles and what they were hoping to get out of the relationship. As a part of this effort, they had presented some solid ideas. Unfortunately, I explained that we weren’t at the place to get moving. They understood and occasionally check in but no hard sell. I’m still trying to find a fit and budget to accommodate. However, I’ve since referred two other companies to them.
Worst: “Europe is Great, But We’re in America”
We’ve had a lot of people come in to present their capabilities. One guy presented a couple weeks ago and they had a very small base in the U.S. so it didn’t make sense to partner with them. They’re big in Europe but in the U.S. they were just starting so it’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem. From our perspective, it didn’t have a big enough reach for our domestic consumer.
Best: “Focus on Partners, Not Pay”
Heard a pitch from a travel-focused search engine that delivered results based on a sophisticated ranking algorithm from content via their proprietary web crawlers. Founder had proven pedigree, he had already raised several millions in funding, he understood the complexities of travel data, he was able to clearly articulate the value they could bring to our company, and the discussion was focused around finding the right partner rather than the who’d pay the most.
Worst: “Could I Waste More of Your Time?”
As a favor to a personal friend, I agreed to meet with a local organization for an hour. Representative from the organization arrived 35 minutes late with no notice or explanation. Upon getting settled in our meeting room, I reminded the individual that I had a hard stop at the hour as I had another meeting to attend. This individual proceeded to say that I’ll want to cancel my meeting for what I’m going to hear. I gave him the benefit of doubt and continued. He proceeded to spend the remaining time and 10 minutes extra telling me how my organization should give him sponsorship dollars with little return.
Best: “Let’s Talk…Directly to My Consumer”
I was talking with a beacon technology startup that gave consumers offers right in front of the shelf. It’s a fantastic opportunity to target the consumer at the point of decision, the Zero Moment of Truth [Google's ZMOT]
Join us July 24 at 1871 to see the "Battle Round" of the Brands+Startups Challenge. Tickets are only $15 and include pizza and beer.
