what is an elevator pitch 
elevator pitch is a slang term used to describe a brief speech that outlines an idea for a product service or project the name comes from the notion that the speech should be delivered in the short time period of an elevator ride a good rule of thumb is that an elevator pitch should be approximately 30 seconds long with a maximum of 60 seconds in the financial world an elevator pitch refers to an entrepreneur s attempt to convince a venture capitalist that a business idea is worth investing in generally a successful elevator pitch will be enough to pique an investor s curiosity and sets the stage for a follow up meeting it s during this meeting that the entrepreneur will present the investor with a more formal presentation in the hopes of raising seed capital understanding an elevator pitchventure capitalists use the quality of the elevator pitch as a way to judge whether to take the next step on the road to potentially investing in a startup the elevator pitch is also used by project managers salespeople and job seekers as a way to market themselves or their ideas an elevator pitch should include why your product idea or project is worth investing in by explaining such things as the features benefits and cost savings an elevator pitch is frequently memorized and practiced in advance by entrepreneurs who actively seek backers for their business ideas there are a variety of forums and events where such pitches are presented before an audience that may include potential investors for example startup incubator programs may conclude with a demo day event where a founding member of the team often the ceo will deliver the elevator pitch about the company in such an instance the pitch will describe the pain point the team is attempting to solve what approaches have already been attempted to resolve the issue and what the startup has to offer that has not been tried before moreover the pitch is intended to explain in clear and direct terms why the idea or product can succeed where other novel concepts have not depending on the circumstances some elevator pitches may be longer than the proverbial elevator ride and can go into greater detail about the team involved in developing the idea the pitch may also provide more information about how the concept will be brought to market ways it will grow a customer base and what the broader market opportunities are for the concept a twit pitch or pitch on the x platform formerly twitter is even shorter than an elevator pitch at a standard 280 characters this type of pitch uses the social media platform to provide a condensed version of a business idea elevator pitches may be used at some events as a form of contest where the presenters compete for prizes that might assist them in furthering their ideas this can include nominal funding or business services and mentoring with business veterans regardless of winning such a contest the opportunity to present ideas before an audience of angel investors venture capitalists and other possible backers can be seen as a significant benefit of the pitch 