1300-eatout: the power of a good pitch

1300-eatout. It was a great pitch but unfortunately the idea behind it lacked, in my opinion, any real business opportunity. So, I wondered, how did 1300-eatout make it to the final round of the first PitchClub Sydney event?

• The pitcher’s message was clear, you knew what he was proposing: 1300-eatout. It was repeated constantly throughout the pitch. (My repetition in this post will probably make you remember 1300-eatout!)
• The pitch was short and sharp. Contrast this to pitchers that went on or over their timelimit and seemed to be rambling without mentioning the clear benefit or reasons as to why I would use their product.
• The pitcher spoke very clearly and loud enough for all to hear. At the other end of the spectrum I struggled to hear a lot of the other pitchers.

The message was clear, everyone knew what the pitcher was talking about but the business idea, a number and website to book a restaurant, just didn’t cut the mustard. He had no real idea about how many people would use his product – “imagine if 5% of the $X million people spend on eating out went to my business…” He had no clear path of reaching those customers. He was also just in the “ideas stage”.

It still goes to show that if you pitch well, you might just get that foot in the door sooner.

Kids say e-mail is way dead?

A recent article, Kids say e-mail is way dead, on ninemsn wrongly points out:

“Tech-savvy teens reared on a diet of social networking and SMS have a message for their elders — that “newfangled” invention called e-mail is boring and its role is fast becoming redundant.”

It is not becoming fast redundant at all. “Kids” have rarely used email to contact each other or organise parties in the first place.

Contacting each other has been done via IM, SMS or phone since the dawn of Gen Y. I can’t recall ever sending anyone an email. I can’t recall ever receiving an email.

Furthermore, email has never been used when it comes to parties as Gen Y has always used SMS, word of mouth or traditional party invites. What is becoming redundant is the use of SMS in this area because it is far more expensive than using social networks. Traditional party invites, however, will remain because they add that level of importance and class (and some people seem to just love making them!).

Email will remain for professional conversations, the role it mainly plays with Gen Y. There are no two ways about it.