#063 | Why The Shortest Pitch is The Hardest One to Get Right

Yesterday I spoke with a potential customer.
They’d been recommended to me for one very specific thing:
coaching their startups on the 30-second pitch.
I get this request quite often.
Because accelerators and investors keep running into the same problem:
their startups can’t explain what they do in a concrete, easy-to-digest way.
The Big Problem
So founders come into our session thinking they need to sound fancy or polished.
Professional.
“Investor-ready.”
But still - people don’t get it.
It’s too polished.
Too complicated.
Too inauthentic.
So I stop them and ask one thing:
Pitch your startup in 10 words or less.
No photos.
No deck.
No links.
Just 10 words.
And to be fair -
if you can’t nail those 10 words, nothing else matters.
Why This Is Harder Than It Sounds
You might think:
10 words? Easy.
Try it.
Watch what happens.
You’ll immediately want to add context:
“Well, it’s kind of like X, but also Y, and we’re targeting Z because…”
Suddenly you’re at 50 words.
The 10-word constraint forces brutal clarity.
It strips everything away except what actually matters.
And this is where most founders get stuck.
They don’t misunderstand what they’re doing.
They confuse the value with the enabler.
So they pitch the how instead of the why.
They talk about:
- the tech
- the platform
- the architecture
- the algorithm
- the AI model
Instead of the outcome.
They say things like:
“We use AI to…”
“We’ve built a platform that…”
“Our technology enables…”
That’s not the value.
That’s the enabler.
The 10-word constraint exposes this immediately.
Because when you only have 10 words,
tech can’t hide unclear thinking.
At the end of the day, it always comes down to this:
What value do you create and for whom (and sometimes how)?
Nothing more.
How Skipping This Hurts Your Chances
Immediate impact
You lose investors in the first 10 seconds.
Rambling or technical openings signal misplaced focus - instantly.
Long-term effect
Your team gets confused about what you’re actually building.
If the value isn’t clear, alignment disappears.
Hidden cost
You keep pitching… without converting.
Every conversation becomes a missed opportunity.
Missed opportunity
Word-of-mouth dies.
When customers are asked what you do, they hesitate.
A tight 10-word pitch is something people remember -
and repeat.
The Framework
When I work with founders on this, I give them a few simple starting points:
“We help X do Y.”
The classic.
Who is it for? What do you help them achieve?
“The X for Y.”
Analogy-based positioning.
Instant mental shortcut.
(Use carefully - investors are tired of lazy versions of this.)
“X because of Y.”
Outcome plus mechanism.
Great when how you do it is the differentiator.
“X is broken.”
Problem-first framing.
Sometimes naming the problem is enough.
These aren’t formulas to hide behind.
They’re tools to expose what’s real.
Why This Becomes Your Foundation
Your 10-word pitch is not just for cocktail parties.
It becomes the foundation for every longer pitch you’ll ever give.
- Your 30-second pitch
→ 10 words + one layer of detail - Your 3-minute pitch
→ 10 words + market context + traction - Your full deck
→ those same 10 words, broken into slides with proof
When you nail the 10 words first, everything else aligns.
When you skip it, every longer version feels scattered -
because it is.
Your Turn
Here’s what I tell founders who ask me to help with their 30-second pitch:
- Write your pitch in 10 words or less
Use one framework. Don’t overthink it. - Test it on someone who knows nothing about your business
Confusion is bad. Questions are good. - Iterate ruthlessly
Your first version won’t work.
Neither will your fifth.
Keep cutting until every word earns its place.
The Bottom Line
Every meeting starts the same way:
“So what do you do?”
Your answer determines whether someone leans in - or tunes out.
You get about 10 words before judgment forms.
Make them count.
That's all for this week.
Hope you enjoyed it! And feel free to share it with anyone that needs extra support in their fundraising journey.