Indy Startup Weekend (Photo credit: kmakice)

A couple of weeks ago, I was working with a group of Spaniards who were coming to Silicon Valley to taste the air of entrepreneurship and start-ups in the hopes of getting inspired. They had prepared their 3 – 5 minute pitches based on the PPT I had sent them that Guy Kawasaki recently published.

When I listen to pitches from people who aren’t from around here, I have to remind myself that we breathe, eat and think entrepreneurship and hearing pitches every day and many evenings at networking events, and not everyone “gets” the same things as seamlessly if he/she doesn’t live here.

So what happens often is that the international/foreign-born startup entrepreneurs give a pitch that leaves the audience and me in the dark about what  kind of company they are going to build.

It all sounds interesting but  – reminiscent of the dot com days – the audience and I have no clear idea what the company does or what problem it plans on solving.

These international startup entrepreneurs present the big picture, talk in abstracts, concepts, generalities and there is no point, no “so what” at the end [or in the middle either].

I try to get them on track by asking a couple of simple questions. But, “what is the problem you are trying to solve?” generally gets a 5 minute + answer without any examples or anecdotes. In other words, really uninteresting and too complicated.

This approach works in Europe [I assume, since every European seems to present this way], but doesn’t work here. We and the startup entrepreneurs have to peel back all the layers, like an onion, to get at the simple basics.

The best advice to begin with is to follow Guy’s pitch deck or others’ [there are lots of good examples of pitch decks] depending on the time you have available; if you can’t present all the slides, you should have them ready in case someone asks you about them.

So what should you do if you’re new here, come from overseas and want to develop a good pitch?

1      Practice being able to talk about your company and the problem it solves [or the issue it addresses] in one sentence – and one sentence only!

2      Then, tell a story about a customer who used your product or service explaining your secret sauce in the story without having to go into technical details

3      Show your passion and let people see why you really care! and, why you’re going to see this through to the end

4      Use simple English sentences; speak in verbs not nouns. It’s much easier to understand and it’s more casual

Sir Stuart Rose, formerly CEO and Chairman of Marks and Spencer, says: “You have to take time to distil what you want to say down to its essence. Keep it short and simple…”

5     Make sure your slides have no spelling or English mistakes

6      Show people you know what you are talking about

7      Be prepared to talk without any PPT, many investors want to hear you and get a sense of who you are first.

Graham Mackay, CEO of SABMiller talking about PowerPoint: “ [It's]… the invention of the devil and it encourages disjointed thought. Great communication is about real clarity and clarity has many enemies. One is business jargon, one is PowerPoint and another is length.”

8     Think of your end goal, [you want to be invited for a longer conversation with the investor], so prepare, prepare and have fun. It’s nice to listen to someone who is obviously enjoying himself/herself. And, enthusiasm is infectious, so if you have a good idea and product, it might just get you the next 30 minutes you are looking for.

For some more practical examples from the experts in Silicon Valley, listen to what Bill Reichert, Heidi Roizen, Pitch Johnson, Eric Benhamou and Steve Westly have to say about what makes them engage with startup entrepreneurs and their stories.

If you have any other ideas or comments that would help international entrepreneurs get the hang of things faster, please share your ideas here.

Related articles

• #MyStartupStory: Guy Kawasaki, Former Apple Chief Evangelist and Alltop Founder (hiscoxusa.com)
• The Art of Pitching – Guy Kawasaki Reveals How to Give Better Presentations (TrendHunter.com) (trendhunter.com)

It is almost 2012 and I think by now, we all know that an important part of personal branding takes place in social media.  But, do you have a plan for that?

Before you choose and decide which social networks you want to use for your personal branding, you should have a strategy in mind. Understand what image you want to portray, and, more importantly, realize that it’s not You who will determine what people think, but rather, your brand will be determined how people see you and how true you are to yourself.

A road map that helps me focus when I want to start new directions in my business and expand my personal brand comes from IDEO, the leading design and innovation firm here in Palo Alto, and its five principles for brainstorming:

• stay focused on the topic,
• encourage wild ideas,
• defer judgment,
• and build on the ideas of others.

So look at your brand, and begin brainstorming [with friends and colleagues] your strategy by asking:

• What do you want to accomplish,
• How will you show your uniqueness,
• Whom do you want to reach,
• What does your audience want to know about you,
• How often will you have time to update your social networking accounts,
• Do you really have the discipline to contribute regularly with fresh news or information?
• And how will your actions make you feel about yourself and your personal brand development day to day?

When you’ve answered these questions and are sure you know where you’re going, it’s time to design your strategy and how you’re going to implement your answers.

But before going there, I think you should consider one other aspect that looks at what the outcome will be. Is what you’re doing making you happy?

A couple of months ago, I listened to Stanford Graduate School of Business Professor, Jennifer Aaker, talk about her new book, The Dragonfly Effect, in which she writes: “Ensure that your goal is personally meaningful such that the thought of achieving the goal would bring happiness to you and your audience – in some way.”

This is one of the areas we rarely consider before launching our personal branding campaign. I, myself, think that the only way you will have a personal brand that lasts, that resonates and says something meaningful about you is one that you approach with passion and conviction and, it makes you happy. This passion and happiness have to be felt in your online life as well.