- Understand the core elements of a compelling business story
- Craft a clear, memorable core message that communicates why your product matters
- Explore how to get an audience to care about your business
- Adapt your pitch for different audiences and timeframes
Every successful startup begins with a story that makes people care about the future you are building. Whether you are pitching to investors, explaining your product to potential customers, or inspiring your team, the way you communicate your vision can determine the success of your venture. Storytelling is not just about sharing what your product does; it is about showing why it matters, the problem it solves, and the impact it can have. This is especially important for AI startups, where ideas can feel abstract or technical. A compelling narrative can make your concept tangible, memorable, and persuasive, setting the stage for everything that follows in building your business.
Foundational Elements of Your Pitch
A great idea on its own isn’t enough. How you present it determines whether people pay attention, remember it, and act. That’s why it’s so important to have a strong pitch.
An effective pitch is made up of some combination (or all) of the following:
Element
Description
Hook
Grab attention. This can be a provocative statement or inquisitive fact that tells the core of your business. If the audience walks away with one thing, it should be your hook that tells them who you are.
Problem or Struggle
What challenge or frustration are you addressing? Why does it matter to your audience?
Solution
What is your product, service, or idea? How does it solve the problem?
Market or Audience
Who will use this solution, and why is there demand? What is the size of this audience?
Unique Value
Why is your approach better or different from what already exists?
Traction & Growth
Demonstrate that your idea has been tested or shows potential.
Call to Action
What do you want your audience to do next? (For example, invest, try, partner, etc.)
You may notice that a lot of these elements can be found in your lean canvas. Refer back to that and readjust them as necessary to make them better fit a narrative pitch. These are the foundational pieces you’ll use to inspire and persuade.
At this stage, focus on understanding each element for yourself: what it means for your venture, and how it fits into the bigger picture. We’ll dive deeper into speaking to different audiences later.
Once you’ve clarified your venture’s building blocks, it’s time to shape them into a story that’s engaging, memorable, and emotionally resonant.
CASE STUDY
Let’s look at a real-life example of applying foundational elements of a pitch.
In the video below, you’ll see how a successful company like Shopify applies these elements. As you watch, you are encouraged to pause and jot down key elements: hook, problem, solution, audience, unique value, traction, and call to action.
REMEMBER
Your venture isn’t Shopify, and you aren’t expected to have the same levels of resources as a multi-billion dollar company or use the exact phrasing. What you should be looking for is how Shopify takes the basic structures of a pitch and elicits an emotional response, crafts a clear narrative, and leaves you with a simple message of what they stand for.
The Shopify video is a high bar and a source of inspiration, not a template. In the Additional Resources section, you’ll also find pitch examples from young founders that better reflect your stage and scope.
How the Foundational Elements Appear in the Shopify Video:
- Hook: The video opens with an inclusive, attention-grabbing line: “This is a story about us.” There’s no question that you, the viewer, is a part of the Shopify story being told.
- Problem or Struggle: It shows the struggles that beginner entrepreneurs face: uncertainty, friction, and feeling alone in the process of starting their business.
- Solution: Shopify appears as the tool that removes this friction and makes commerce accessible to anyone.
- Market or Audience: Everyday entrepreneurs, creators, and small business owners who want to launch and grow their ideas.
- Unique Value: Shopify is software that can handle complex tasks of commerce without requiring technical knowledge from entrepreneurs.
- Traction & Growth: A quick montage of media clips and real entrepreneur moments signals credibility and momentum.
- Call to Action: The emotional throughline encourages viewers to see themselves in the story and imagine bringing their own ideas to life with Shopify.
Key Aspects of Storytelling
The Shopify video shows how the foundational pitch elements can appear naturally in a story. Notice how each element supports the emotional flow and keeps the audience engaged. Next, we’ll focus on how to present your pitch so it resonates with your audience and makes them care about your story.
In this section, we’ll explore three key aspects of storytelling: crafting a core message, creating an emotional connection, and structuring your story so it’s clear and memorable.
1 The Message: What is the core of your business?
Every strong story begins with a clear core message. This is the single idea people should remember about your business, whether you have 30 seconds or 30 minutes to explain it. If everything else is forgotten, the audience should remember the core message of what your business is and what it represents.
In the Shopify video, the message can be summarized simply:
You are the entrepreneur. Shopify supports your vision.
Think about how easily you were able to come up with that message. Everything in the video reinforces the idea. The story returns to it repeatedly, no matter what is being shown on screen. Technical details and complex explanations never interrupt the message. Instead, the video stays focused on what it wants the viewer to believe and feel. As a result, even if someone forgets the individual stories or product demonstrations, the central point is still clear and memorable.
2 Emotional Connection: Why should the viewer care?
A strong pitch doesn’t just explain your idea, it should help your audience feel why it matters. As you present your pitch, your goal is to connect each foundational element to the audience’s emotions. For example, your problem should not just be stated, it should be felt. Your solution should evoke feelings like excitement or relief. This is how you move from listing information to creating a story that resonates. Emotional connection is what turns a list of features into a story worth remembering. If your audience understands the problem but doesn’t feel its urgency or importance, they won’t stay engaged.
A strong pitch doesn’t just explain your idea, it should help your audience feel why it matters. As you present your pitch, your goal is to connect each foundational element to the audience’s emotions. For example, your problem should not just be stated, it should be felt. Your solution should evoke feelings like excitement or relief. This is how you move from listing information to creating a story that resonates. Emotional connection is what turns a list of features into a story worth remembering. If your audience understands the problem but doesn’t feel its urgency or importance, they won’t stay engaged.
The Shopify video demonstrates this well. Think about the first line of the video: “This is a story about us.” Without relying on facts and figures, early buy-in is made because the audience feels they have a role in the story being told. Next, think about the many small, human moments: the founder’s early frustrations, the thrill of a first sale, the pride and relief shown by real entrepreneurs. Frustration, thrill, pride, relief. The video takes you on an emotional roller coaster that keeps you engaged and invested in the story. Even when showcasing product features, it’s about emotion. Building an online shop is tied to the feeling of ease and success. The deeper dive into sales channels evokes excitement about potential.
By the end, the viewer isn’t just informed about Shopify. They feel connected to the broader mission and the people behind it. Your pitch should aim for the same kind of emotional resonance.
3 Clarity and Structure: How can you make your story easy to follow?
A compelling pitch isn’t just about what you say, it’s about how your audience experiences it. Clarity and structure ensure that your story flows logically, so that your key points stick and your audience stays engaged. Without a clear path, even the most inspiring story can feel confusing or overwhelming.
Let’s look at the Shopify video again. It shows how emphasizing specific foundational elements creates a clear, easy-to-follow story:
- Hook: The friction entrepreneurs face when starting a business grabs attention immediately.
- Problem or Struggle: The lack of an intuitive tool makes starting commerce difficult and frustrating.
- Solution: Shopify provides a platform that empowers anyone to launch a store.
- Traction & Growth: Again and again, because of Shopify, entrepreneurs succeed, gain independence, and experience the thrill of their first sale.
This structure keeps the audience oriented and emotionally engaged while conveying the essential information of what the business is about. Each point builds on the previous one, and the viewer can clearly see the journey from challenge to outcome.
There’s no one way to structure your pitch story. How you decide to organize your pitch elements all depends on what will make your story most clear and compelling. Pick a structure that best takes your pitch elements and transform them into a story that’s logical, compelling, and easy to absorb. The audience should always be able to follow the problem, see your solution, and understand its impact. Here are some other common ways you can try:
1. Chronological Story
Start from your earliest experiences and move forward in time.
Example:
“OpenAI started in 2015 with a mission to build AI that benefits all of humanity. They began by creating open platforms for research and experimenting with early AI models, learning quickly how to develop the technology safely and responsibly. OpenAI’s models quickly evolved, gaining widespread adoption and demonstrating AI’s real-world potential. Today, millions of people and organizations use OpenAI’s models, demonstrating how bold, careful innovation can turn ambitious ideas into tools that make a real-world impact.”
Identifying the Pitch Elements:
1. “OpenAI started in 2015 with a mission to build AI that benefits all of humanity.”
- Hook: ambitious, meaningful mission
- Problem: AI was powerful but risky and largely inaccessible
2. “They began by creating open platforms for research and experimenting with early AI models, learning quickly how to develop the technology safely and responsibly.”
- Solution: open platforms and early AI models
- Unique Value: combining innovation with safety and responsible development
3. “OpenAI’s models quickly evolved, gaining widespread adoption and demonstrating AI’s real-world potential.”
- Traction & Growth: iterative development and increasing adoption
- Market/Audience: broad adoption across developers, businesses, and individuals
4. “Today, millions of people and organizations use OpenAI’s models, demonstrating how bold, careful innovation can turn ambitious ideas into tools that make a real-world impact.”
- Traction & Growth: large-scale, global usage
- Call to Action: encourages the audience to act on ambitious ideas since the tools are now available
2. Before-and-After
Show what life or work was like before your solution and what changed afterward.
Example:
“Before Slack, teams spent hours searching through scattered emails and messages. Now, with Slack, communication is centralized and instant, helping teams collaborate faster and focus on what really matters. By sharing this transformation, the story encourages other teams to rethink their workflow and adopt tools that help them work smarter.”
Identifying the Pitch Elements:
1. “Before Slack, teams spent hours searching through scattered emails and messages.”
- Hook: relatable inefficiency
- Problem: inefficient communication
2. “Now, with Slack, communication is centralized and instant…“
- Solution: centralized messaging
- Unique Value: faster, more efficient workflow
3. “…helping teams collaborate faster and focus on what really matters.”
- Traction & Growth: noticeable improvement in collaboration
- Market/Audience: teams and knowledge workers
4. “By sharing this transformation, the story encourages other teams to rethink their workflow and adopt tools that help them work smarter.”
- Call to Action: motivate teams to adopt better workflow tools
3. Case Study Focus
Center the story around a specific customer or success story, illustrating your solution’s real-world impact.
Example:
“Ben, a small coffee shop owner, struggled to manage orders. Using Square, he simplified payments and inventory tracking, freeing up time to grow his business and double sales. Today, Ben encourages other small business owners to try Square for themselves.”
Identifying the Pitch Elements:
1. “Ben, a small coffee shop owner, struggled to manage orders..”
- Hook: relatable challenge
- Problem: inefficient order management
2. “…freeing up time to grow his business and double sales”
- Traction & Growth: measurable business improvement
- Market/Audience: small business owners
3. “…helping teams collaborate faster and focus on what really matters.”
- Call to Action: Adopt Square to improve your business
ACTIVITY 1
Your Core Message
Estimated Time: 30 minutes
As we stated earlier, a lot of the key elements of your pitch can be derived from your lean canvas. In particular, what you filled out for the “High Level Concept” box is very helpful in creating the core message of your business.
Your high level concept tells people what your product does. Your core message takes it one step further: it explains why it matters and evokes an emotional response.
- Write down your “High Level Concept” from your lean canvas.
- Ask yourself “Why does my product matter?” Answering these questions can help you uncover the emotional resonance behind your solution:
- Who benefits from my solution?
- What problem or frustration does it relieve?
- How does it make the user feel or improve their life?
- Draft your Core Message. Aim to be clear, brief, and impactful. A good core message is usually one to three sentences, short enough to remember and repeat, but long enough to convey why your product matters.
- As usual, you’ll go through many iterations on your core message and refinement is a necessary process.
- Example:
- High Level Concept: A language-learning app that uses AI to create personalized lessons.
- Core Message: “Our app helps people learn new languages faster by tailoring lessons to their unique strengths and weaknesses. It reduces frustration and makes learning feel fun and achievable, so users can confidently speak a new language in real life.”
- Try sharing your core message with a peer or mentor and see how well they receive it. Adjust as needed.
ACTIVITY 2
Identifying Your Pitch Elements
Estimated Time: 45 minutes
Now that you have your Core Message, it’s time to connect it to the foundational elements of your pitch.
With your core message and pitch elements written out, you will have crafted the parts you need to make a great pitch.
Pitching to Different Audiences
You’ve spent time building the blocks of your story and crafting a compelling narrative. However, reality is that you won’t be able to tell the full story in the same way every time. Your mastery of your story allows you to distill it to fit any situation.
When pitching, the key question is: “How do I hook this specific audience to care about my message?” You’ve built a strong emotional understanding of your business in the previous section. Now you’ll have to adapt it depending on who you’re pitching to.
Let’s look at some common groups of people you’ll talk to and some general guidelines on what you should focus on when pitching:
Early Adopter/ Customer
What is most important to this audience
How your product solves a problem in their life, personal impact and benefits
What is less important to this audience
Detailed financial projections or long-term expansion plans
Competition/ Pitch Event
What is most important to this audience
Strength of idea, execution capability, clarity of story, and potential to scale
What is less important to this audience
Minor product details or extended background stories
Social Media
What is most important to this audience
A fast and compelling hook, relatable emotions, and a memorable core message
What is less important to this audience
Long explanations of strategy, in-depth product details, really anything that takes longer than a few seconds to grasp
Investors
What is most important to this audience
Potential for revenue, market opportunity, business model, traction, and growth plan
What is less important to this audience
Heavy technical details or long emotional backstories that can overshadow the business concept
Pitching in Different Situations
In addition to different audiences, you will not always have the space to tell the full story of your business either. Sometimes you will have only a few seconds to make an impression. Other times you will have several minutes to walk someone through your idea. Understanding how to scale your message up or down is what ensures your pitch remains clear, compelling, and effective in any setting.
In this competition, you will first submit your pitch deck slides (we will go over this in the next lesson) for judging. You will be given the opportunity to pitch live if your venture is chosen as a finalist to attend the demo day.
We’ll go over some different timeframes where you might pitch. Keep in mind that you won’t always have access to visual aid or a slide deck when pitching (typically the shorter the pitch, the less chance you’ll be able to use slides). Be ready for anything!
30 Second Pitch
A 30-second pitch is often called an “elevator pitch.” It is designed for moments when you need to capture attention quickly, such as meeting someone unexpectedly, introducing your idea at an event, or responding to “What does your startup do?”
Your goal: Spark interest for a follow-up conversation. A strong 30-second pitch makes someone want to hear more, even if they don’t have the time to hear it then and there.
What to include:
- Your name and your company
- The core problem you’re solving
- Your solution in the simplest possible terms
- The benefit or impact for the user
- A clear and memorable takeaway
What to avoid:
- Long explanations of how the product works
- Detailed market or financial claims
- Background stories that don’t directly support the main point
1-2 Minute Pitch
A 1-2 minute pitch gives you just enough time to tell a short, compelling story without overwhelming your listener. This is common in early-stage competitions, program applications, or short live pitch rounds.
Your goal: Deliver a clear, concise narrative of your business. Show that you know your business well enough to explain it without wandering.
What to include:
- Your name and your company
- The problem
- Who experiences it
- Your solution and how it works
- The benefit or value you provide
- Your core message
- A quick proof of your business concept (traction, validation, or insight from users)
What to avoid:
- Deep dives into technology or operations
- Detailed roadmaps
- Lengthy founder stories
5-10+ Minute Pitch
A longer pitch (such as for judges, panels, or more formal presentations) allows you to walk through your business more fully. Time is not an invitation to add unnecessary details. It is an opportunity to be structured and thorough.
For this competition, ten teams will be chosen to attend demo day and pitch live will be given a similar timeframe to this structure.
Your goal: Demonstrate the strength, viability, and long-term potential of your idea.
What to include:
- Your name and your company
- The core problem you’re solving
- Your solution and why it matters
- Who your product is for
- Validation (user research, feedback, early traction)
- The opportunity ahead (market or long-term vision)
- Why you or your team can deliver
- A clear closing that reinforces your core message
What to avoid:
- Overloading slides with text
- Jumping between topics without structure
- Ending without a clear final message
Let’s see how you might adapt in these situations to the types of audiences we mentioned earlier:
Audience
30 Second Pitch
1-2 MInute Pitch
5-10+ Minute Pitch
Early Adopter/ Customer
Focus on the early adopter’s perspective: novelty, benefit, and immediate action.
You now have time to set up a mini-story: the problem + solution + emotional impact. Still concise, but more narrative than the 30-second pitch, allowing for context and resonance.
You can now fully develop the story, show evidence, and reinforce the call to action. Remember that the early adopter is usually most interested in their benefit from your solution.
Competition/ Pitch Event
Judges are evaluating many pitches quickly and objectively. Your pitch needs to demonstrate clarity, uniqueness, and credibility. Frame around your idea’s strength. Judges need to see potential and validity fast.
There’s now time to expand on concepts and to provide brief explanations. Add the most important context that supports your hook. Showcase a strong and focused understanding of your business.
Demonstrate mastery over your pitch by effectively using all the time you’re given. Follow the rubric closely and make sure to cover all required points. Don’t use the time to drone on about details, you still need to be engaging throughout.
Social Media
Your goal is to stop someone from scrolling. Lead with a striking, relatable hook that makes viewers too curious to look away. You won’t have time to explain everything, so focus on sparking curiosity and engagement by encouraging viewers to follow, comment, or check your bio for more.
Your hook is paramount. Remember that you’re competing for limited attention against a sea of content. There’s no time for a build up, so be immediately engaging. Use your core message and a strong visual or story moment to make them pause and engage.
You now have the space to tell a full story, weaving together your hook, problem, solution, and emotional impact. You’re still competing for limited attention so stay intriguing. Even in a longer format, include a clear next step for the viewer, guiding them to engage further with your product or content. Check out some of the examples in the Additional Resources section for inspiration.
Investors
Your goal is not to secure an immediate investment. Instead, focus on opening the door for a follow-up conversation. Investors need to be hooked on your idea and potential, and to remember you and your venture.
There’s a bit more time here, so focus on what investors care about most: the opportunity for return on investment. Include concise, impactful evidence of market potential, and leave them eager to learn more.
You now have the time to deliver a compelling pitch. Focus on the investor’s top concerns: clear evidence of market opportunity and your team’s credibility to execute and succeed. Clearly state what you need from them and what you’ll accomplish with their resources.
Crafting a compelling story is one of the most powerful tools you have as an entrepreneur. By clarifying your core message, connecting emotionally, and structuring your narrative clearly, you make your venture memorable and persuasive. Equally important is knowing your audience. You have to adapt your story so it highlights what matters most to them, whether that’s the impact on users, the potential for growth, or the emotional significance of your solution.
The story of your startup isn’t just about your product. It’s about the difference you aim to make and the people whose lives you hope to improve. The way a story is told can inspire, motivate, and drive action, turning a vision into a reality.
ACTIVITY 3
Practice Your Elevator Pitch
Estimated Time: 30 minutes
Now that you’ve had some time to develop your pitch, it’s time to test it in the real world. Amongst the first people you should practice with should include your coach.
- Have on hand the elevator pitch version of your pitch. Refer to the “30 second pitch” advice throughout this lesson.
- Deliver your pitch. Then gather feedback and take notes. Ask your audience things like:
- What part of the pitch was most memorable?
- Were there any parts that were confusing or unclear?
- How did it make them feel about your idea?
- Refine your pitch based on the feedback. Adjust your language, structure, or delivery to make your message stronger.
Practicing with real people will help you see how clearly your story comes across and which parts resonate most.
Reflection
Authenticity is another key element of pitching. While we introduced a lot of pieces to include in your pitch, ultimately, how you deliver your pitch should align to your personality. Think about the following:
Additional Resources
As referenced earlier, the following are some examples of young women pitching their startups in similar competitions. These are realistic scenarios (with similar time constraints) that you can use to help hone your own pitch for this competition.
- MIT $100K – Pitch 2022
- Watch Korion Health’s $1M Pitch: Hult Prize 2024 Global Finals
- Startup Battlefield’s Finalist Pitch Competition | TechCrunch Disrupt 2024 (Luna)
Here are some product videos from some well known companies. Like the Shopify video from the lesson, focus more on how the message is delivered instead of the literal product displayed.
- What is Patreon and How Does it Work?
- What is GitHub?
- Introducing Asana Timeline: Create project timelines online
Listen to a couple founders briefly talk about their journey and companies. In particular, see what you can extrapolate from the way they talk and the emotions they invoke.
- Bumble CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd On Empowering Women To Make The First Move | Success With Moira Forbes
- Melanie Perkins: Next Generation Leaders
Here’s one more video that dives more into storytelling and pitching:
