Monday Series: How to Speak Like a CEO
September 2, 2020 (San Francisco)
This past Monday, on August 31st, Harmony Plus continued our Future Entrepreneur Challenge (FEC) talkshow. For our twelfth episode, we interviewed Ethan Schur, one of the instructors for the FEC phase two program. He has been pitching products and technologies since 2005, holds the title of “America’s Greatest Maker”, and was honored with the VFX Societies Lumiere Award alongside famous director Lin Jeong.
Pitching Gets Results
Ethan emphasized the importance of pitching in the world of business, as it is something that truly helps build connections between people. Having the ability to communicate well can enable numerous opportunities in both a personal and professional setting. For Ethan, he aims to achieve at least two pitching awards each year through either various pitching competitions or by helping sell technology.
“I was hired by many companies to give out a pitch for their product. Sometimes I received the product deck, etc. just ten minutes before my presentation and I had to pitch that product out to the customer/audience.”
Ethan also elaborated that pitching is not all about competitions, but that it also helps with getting up in front of large audiences and giving presentations. Most modern jobs requires the creation of a slide deck, which is then presented it to a superior, either to update them on the progress of a project or to try and convince potential clients and customers to buy certain products or agree to certain deals.
“In the Silicon Valley you really need to learn how to convey your idea to potential investors if you aspire to become an entrepreneur.”
Ethan also explains how this skill can be used in daily life through a personal anecdote.
“ When I was a kid and I really wanted a video game I would do a lot of research and come up with the pros of buying the game in order to try and convince my parents.”
He further explains how being persuasive is very valuable in situations like these, as it can help someone get what they want. Repeated pitching can also build an individual’s confidence over time, can help with effectively communicating a message to key players in a business, or even to gain help from college professors. In essence, pitching helps with building connections and opening up new opportunities. Ethan also recalled a few examples of people who were able to use their pitching skills to sell their idea and receive funding, sometimes a huge amount without even a proper prototype or product ready, all through the idea and the power of persuasion.
Ethan was also called up by a television production, asking him to take part in a new type of reality show called America’s Greatest Makers. The show, which was a spin-off of the famous show Shark Tank, was sponsored by Intel, in which 24 teams competed to have the best product pitch for a chance at the 1-million dollar prize. Ethan and his teammates ended up winning the competition with their idea “Smart Toothbrush”, which Ethan used as an example to reinforce the importance of pitching.
Elevator Pitch
Ethan also explained the Elevator pitch, which is a method of pitching to potential investors in a 30 seconds to 60 second time frame. This requires extensive training and practice, but once the pitch has been refined and perfected, the business idea or product is ready to be pitched to anyone.
“First of all, investors are looking for the very first reason to say no anybody. They don’t’ want to have to be subjected to very long, [and often] very boring, pitches…and so the elevator pitch was invented.”
If you want to learn more about Ethan, his tips, and his experiences, please check out the full broadcast here.
