In March, MFN hosted the Western Mass HealthTech Challenge, which offered a cohort of founders in the life sciences an opportunity to pitch their startups for a $35,000 innovation grant. For founder Griffin Kane, the event was his first time ever publicly presenting Nanovax, the cancer vaccine startup he co-founded alongside his PhD advisor, Dr. Prabhani Atukorale.
Below, Griffin shares his takeaways about the differences between presenting research (a familiar task for Griffin, who like many founders conceived his innovation in an academic lab) and pitching a startup.
Keep it short and sweet.
Scientific research benefits from long-form, chronological storytelling, but a pitch should be clear, compelling, and (sometimes uncomfortably) concise. Certain cornerstones of the research process — experimental methods, previous studies, most data tables — should be cut from pitch presentations to focus on what investors most want to hear about: (1) how your innovation will change lives, and (2) how your company will do this as a business.
Founders trained in detail-driven presentation practices may find this jarring. “It pained me as a scientist to omit certain details,” Griffin notes. “Science is what I’m comfortable talking about, so it went against everything I spent years training to do.”
Fortunately, there’s a place for these important details. Griffin suggests that foundational scientific research should be stored in a deal room for investors to browse before and after your presentation. Maintaining a meticulous deal room is one way to alleviate pressure and conserve time during the pitch itself.
“Everything you say needs to be meaningful,” notes Griffin. “Every minute matters when you only have 10 minutes to win someone over.”
Lose the lingo.
Get comfortable with the language of laymen.
You know your innovation best. You understand its science intimately and may even be a leading scholar in your field.
But your audience probably isn’t. While some investors may hold PhDs in your sector, others might bring a 10th grade-level scientific background. As a founder, the burden is always on you to get everyone on the same page.
Griffin points out that over-reliance on scientific jargon can cripple otherwise strong pitches. “Even when I thought I’d gotten rid of technical jargon, I realized I was still using terms that needed context,” he says. “And you don’t have time to provide context in a pitch.”
Prepare for inevitable communication gaps by distilling your message into simple, straight-forward terms. Then break those terms into even simpler ones. Rinse and repeat.
Seek outside perspectives.
The peer-review process, integral to academia, prioritizes intra-disciplinary feedback. However, it’s helpful to practice pitching with individuals both inside your world and out. It’s possible that those best positioned to elevate your pitch are folks bringing fresh perspectives.
Griffin says that in the days leading up to the HealthTech Challenge event, he practiced his pitch with key people in his life. “I told them to interrupt me if I said something they didn’t understand,” he recalls. “It helped me identify weak points and forced me to figure out new and better ways to communicate.”
Practicing with different audiences can illuminate which aspects of the pitch are confusing and which are most resonant and compelling. Remember, your goal isn’t to prove your scientific knowledge. It’s to prove your startup’s potential to people in a position to support you.
“You’ll lose them if you’re too technical, but if you dumb things down too much, you won’t look credible,” cautions Griffin. “It’s a tricky balance, but ultimately it shouldn’t matter what someone’s expertise is. A good pitch will sound great to everyone.”
Make it about you.
Pitching a company essentially involves pitching yourself.
Griffin notes that founders accustomed to science-centered presentations might find this unnatural. “In a scientific talk, there’s no reason to convince anyone that you’re the best person to make a discovery,” he observes. “The best person is the person who makes it!”
However, investors aren’t just looking for great ideas. They’re looking for leaders who can turn those ideas into action. Before committing capital, investors will not only need to trust your vision, but also your personal capacity to bring the vision to life.
A pitch is your first — and sometimes only — chance to prove that you are up to the challenge.
Practice, practice, practice.
You can read every article, watch every video, and interview every expert about how to give a great pitch, but nothing quite beats practice.
“It’s a repetition game,” offers Griffin, who advises that founders begin practicing long before they think they should. “This isn’t a homework assignment to be done the night before. Practice early, practice often, and with as many people as will listen.”
Accelerator programs like the Western Mass HealthTech Challenge offer helpful platforms to practice pitching publicly — ensuring that, when it’s time to connect with investors directly, your message is confident, convincing, and clear.
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