5-Second Pitch: your company's first impression

Your 5-second pitch is the distillation of your entire business into a single memorable sentence that anyone can understand. It's the foundation of all your fundraising communications.

The 5-second elevator pitch is your opportunity to make a strong, immediate impression. It should be simple enough for anyone to understand quickly, including people outside your industry, without any mental effort.

If someone you show it needs to reread it or decode industry jargon, you've already lost their attention.

What makes a great 5-second Pitch?

A great 5-second pitch is:

Winning examples

• "Selling online made simple" - Shopify
• "Store your files on the internet" - Dropbox
• "Tap a button, get a ride" - Uber
• "Payments  infrastructure for the internet" - Stripe
• "Commission-free stock trading" - Robinhood
• "All-in-one workspace for notes and tasks" - Notion

Notice how these pitches avoid buzzwords and tech jargon in favor of plain language that explains the core value.

Crafting your Pitch: do's and don'ts

Common Pitch problems

1) The Jargon Trap

2) The vague description

3) Too much information

Test your Pitch

Your pitch needs real-world validation. Here's how to test it:

1. Send your pitch via text message to 5 people who don't know what your company does. Ask them to explain back to you what they think your business does.
2. Tell your pitch to someone in conversation. Call them the next day and ask if they remember what your company does.
3. Use the Hemingway Editor (hemingwayapp.com) to check your pitch's readability. Aim for a grade 5 reading level or below.

Refining your Pitch

Great pitches rarely emerge in the first attempt. Follow this process:

1. Write down 15-20different versions of your pitch
2. Select the top 3 that feel most clear and compelling
3. Test all 3 with different audiences
4. Iterate based on feedback
5. Choose the winner based on which one people most consistently understand

Beyond the 5-Second Pitch: building your Pitch ladder

Your 5-second pitch is just the first rung of your "pitch ladder." You'll need versions of your pitch for different contexts:

1. 5-second pitch: One sentence that explains what you do
2. 30-second pitch: Adds your target market and unique approach
3. 2-minute pitch: Adds your traction and business model
4. 5-minute pitch: Adds your team, market size, and vision

Each level builds on the one before it, maintaining consistency while adding detail.

Workshop exercise

Take 15 minutes now to:

• Write down 10 different versions of your 5-second pitch
• For each one, ask: "Could a 12-year-old understand this immediately?"
• Choose your top 3 and prepare to test them
• Rewrite any pitch that uses industry terminology or abstract concepts

REMEMBER
The simplest pitch is usually the most effective one.

Resources

• Hemingway Editor: Test your pitch's readability
• They Say / I Say Template: "While most [companies] [do X], we [do Y]"
• Problem/Solution Format: "[Target audience] struggles with [problem]. We provide[solution]."
• Benefit Format: "We help [audience] [achieve benefit] without [pain point]."