This week, our first cohort of innovation teams will gather to present their final pitches at our Demo Day event—signaling their completion of the Launch Accelerator program. We are so excited to hear the culmination of their work over the last 12 months, as well as their plans for the future of their innovations.  

If you’re working on an innovation and a pitch to support it, you should make sure your pitch includes the following qualities: 

• Desirability. The innovation is something that end users want and would use—and you’ve done the market research to prove it. 
• Feasibility. You have a plan to get the work done, from development to delivery.
• Viability. You have a plan to become financially sustainable over time.
• Impact. You have a clear vision for how your innovation can improve the status quo. 

You’ll also likely want to keep the following general considerations to keep in mind: 

• Know your audience. The content and messaging of your pitch will likely change based on who you are trying to persuade. For Demo Day, our audience will include seasoned entrepreneurs, funders, community-based organizations, and other experts from the adolescent health community.
• Understand your time constraints. You often have limited time to pitch. Know that you can’t accomplish everything within a pitch; instead, aim to make incremental progress or reach the next step (like getting the next meeting with a potential funder).
• Aim for one clear message per slide. Slides should be minimal in text, but rich in content. Don’t underestimate the power of the voiceover while you’re presenting.
• Generate interest. Be selective in the information you share to create an effective pitch. 

At a recent training, we shared these best practices for pitching to help our teams prepare for Demo Day. The pieces included in a good pitch build directly on the activities our teams have been participating in for the last 12 months, such as generating and validating assumptions, market testing, and iterating—or, in some cases, completely pivoting. This final pitch is an opportunity for them to put together everything they have learned and worked on. We are looking forward to seeing what they present!  

Missed your invite to Demo Day? Sign up for our mailing list to hear about the next event. 

Interested in learning skills like pitching? Stay tuned to Launch channels—we’ll be recruiting for Cohort 3 in the fall.