Book Review
For entrepreneurs, pitching is do or die. But many women find it tough to pitch. However, help is at hand in Debi Kleiman’s new book, First Pitch. She understands that to succeed with your startup, you must persuade investors, advisors, customers, and other potential partners to join you on your journey. It can be intimidating, but First Pitch is here to help.
Based on her experiences as a marketer, entrepreneur, and educator working with hundreds of founders, Debi Kleiman in her new book, First Pitch, shows you how to perfect a compelling and memorable pitch designed to impress. Using easy-to-follow frameworks, stories, and best practices honed by analyzing a thousand pitches, you’ll discover what works, and how to build the relationship and communication strategies you need to get your new venture to the next level.
First Pitch takes you through the various early-stage funders and pitch situations you might encounter so that you feel confident and ready for anything. This is not just a book based on theory, it is also a highly practical guide. It helps you to create a perfect pitch deck, learn to make short pitches that how powerful punches, confront bias in the pitch process, and understand your audience so you can hone your pitch to get the best result. In First Pitch, you’ll learn the best ways to get investors and other key startup influencers to take notice and jump on board.
Author quotes
Once you learn how to create and deliver a great pitch to hold up in any situation, you will be laying the foundation you will need to succeed in almost every aspect of your entrepreneurial journey.
Your pitch is how you explain your idea to the world. It is the primary communication tool for your startup.
Pitching is not only about presenting information on your sound business objectives; uyou also need to present yourself as an attractive future business partner.
This book is designed to give you the tools you need to understand the elements of a great pitch and how to execute one.
About the author
Debi Kleiman is the executive director of the Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship at Babson College, where she works with students, alumni, staff, and faculty, as well as the broader entrepreneurial community, to accelerate the practice of entrepreneurship. She leads the Blank Center’s strategy, new initiatives, and team to help develop the programs of the Butler Launch Pad and Babson’s highly-rated entrepreneur experiences, such as the B.E.T.A. Challenge New Venture Competition, Rocket Pitch, and the Summer Venture Program. Debi has oversight for Babson’s major entrepreneurship academic research platforms: the BCERC Conference and the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). She is also an adjunct professor at Babson’s F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business and Executive Education Programs for Entrepreneurs. Before coming to Babson, Debi was the managing director and executive vice president at Havas Media in Boston, where she led a team of 140 media professionals developing and executing media strategies for Fortune 500 companies in finance, retail, consumer products and hospitality. Prior to that, she was president of the Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange (MITX), the leading regional technology and innovation advocacy group, and she served as an executive in client services, marketing and sales at C-space (formerly Communispace) for five years before its sale to Omnicom DAS. Earlier in her career, she led marketing for two early-stage tech startups as part of their founding teams. Debi has been an advisor to startups, served on many boards, and been an advocate for Boston’s innovation community for over fifteen years. She has mentored entrepreneurs at top tier accelerators such as MassChallenge, Harvard’s iLab and TechStars. Before finding her passion for startups, she held marketing leadership roles at Procter & Gamble, Welch’s, and the Coca-Cola Company. Debi has a BS from Cornell University and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She lives outside of Boston with her husband, two teenage sons and big furry rescue dog.
Why LoA loves it….
Some women entrepreneurs love the thrill of preparing for and then delivering that all powerful pitch to potential investors, customers, partners - it comes naturally to them. However, for the vast majority, pitching is a daunting prospect. What is wonderful about Debi Kleiman’s book First Pitch, is that is provides an insightful and practical guide for anyone needing to make their next pitch count, and to ensure they can prepare and deliver the perfect pitch when it counts. This is a book that has been needed for years, one that can equip women entrepreneurs with the tools and approach needed to make pitching second nature. Definitely a book that every woman entrepreneur should read and use as an essential tool to get results. — Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo of Lionesses of Africa