Crabtree: Founders must pitch with approachable expertise rather than weakness or aggression
Robbie Crabtree · Why Storytelling is the Key to Your Pitch · Oct 23, 2023 · at 11:04
Storytelling coach Robbie Crabtree outlines the ideal posture founders should adopt when answering tough investor questions.
0:00 / 0:30exact quote · 30.3s
720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“And so what I've actually come up with is this idea of what I call approachable expertise. And it's a tone that you want to deliver where it's like, Hey, I know what I'm talking about, but Alex, like if you have pushback, let's have the conversation. Let's, let's have a discussion about it and see where we come out. I'm not going to just back down because I think I'm right. That's why I'm saying my position, but I want to listen to you and I want you to test me. And if I'm wrong, I will make that acknowledgement after that discussion. So we want to make sure that we're in that goalie lock zone of approachable expertise instead of falling into weak or aggressive.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Robbie Crabtree
Crabtree: Numbers are meaningless without narrative framing
“Numbers on their own are meaningless. I can make numbers say good or bad, no matter what.”
Crabtree: A great startup pitch is an exercise in world-building
“A great startup pitch is made when an investor can see the future that that person is talking about. The reality is a pitch really is a story, but deeper than that, beyond just a story, it's actually an exercise in world building.”
Crabtree: Pitch future vision before presenting current traction metrics
“The reason why I say to do it this way is future and then go back to its working is if an investor already knows what the end goal should look like. And then you come and say, here's all the data points that show us that we're on the right path. They're going …”
Crabtree: Personal connection makes investors search for reasons to say yes
“When we like somebody, when we believe in them, when we connect to them, we look for green flags. We look for reasons to say yes. That's just human nature.”
Crabtree: Pitch pushback shows investors how founders will lead as CEOs
“And investors also, in my experience, want founders who are willing to stand up for themselves and to push back because it's a microcosm of their experience as a CEO long-term.”
Crabtree: Vision pitch stories should be three minutes and 600 words
“And I think a story when you're telling the vision story, it should be about three minutes long. Three minutes for anyone out there is about 600 words. It's a little bit less if you're speaking slower, but many founders tend to speak fast. So anywhere between …”