• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

BioStartup Advice

  • Simulations
        • A Day in a Life: Exploring the biostartup possibility
        • Steps to a Startup
  • Read More
        • Read More:


        • Women Life Scientists as Entrepreneurs
        • Communication Skills for Women Scientists
        • Contemplating Entrepreneurship
        • Early Funding
        • Starting a Life Science Business
        • Basics of Intellectual Property
  • About
    • About BioStartup
    • About Us
    • Contact
  • Self-Check
  • Resources
    • Resources
    • Glossary
    • Blog
          • Topics:

          • Category:

          • Sort By:

          • Clear Filter
        • Resources | Tips | Case Examples
Home › Topics › Steps to a Startup › Set Up Your Business

Bonita Morales

Pitching Your Business

Topics Steps to a Startup Set Up Your Business Pitching Your Business
Menu
Instructions
Set Up Your Business

4/4

Pitching Your Business

Stories
Key Points
Challenge

This experience is not optimized for mobile.
Please use it on a desktop computer or tablet for a better experience.

Browser Compatibility

When Do You Pitch Your Business?

Pitching your business, which is presenting information about it to interest groups in investing, buying your product, or some other response, happens throughout the lifecycle of your business. Besides potential investors and customers, you may pitch your business to an NIH Program Officer, the manager of an incubator, a potential new team member, industry news media, or a loan officer.

Consider the Audience:

Tailor your pitch to the interests of each audience. If they will not benefit directly from your business themselves, describe the benefits for a group they might care about.

Your audience may include non-scientists, so:

  • Find common ground, such as caring about the problem your product solves. Emphasize this at the outset.
  • Use language all can understand.
  • Limit technical information to essentials and briefly explain key technical details for all.

(B-BIC Skills Development Center, 2015)

References

B-BIC Skills Development Center. Presenting Your Science to a Diverse [Background] Audience. 2015.

B-BIC Skills Development Center. How should scientists communicate science to investors? (Video) Communication Skills Training Series (2015).

Pitch Topics to Cover

  1. The need for your product or service, including the problem that it will solve and who has that problem.
  2. Your solution and its unique value.
  3. The target market, who would benefit.
  4. Yourself, including your training, achievements, where you have worked, projects you have worked on, leadership experience, and product lines produced. Also, describe your team.
  5. The business’s profile and financial details, including purpose, mission, history, regulatory issues such as FDA approval, business model, reimbursement strategy, funding raised to date and its yield, and future funding needs and plans.
  6. Your research, including a summary of key findings, publications, grants, awards, remaining research questions, clinical trial status if relevant, and your vision for your research.
  7. Your achievements, including patents/applications, prototypes, product stage of development, and progress toward regulatory approval.
  8. Risks, risk mitigation, and alternatives.
  9. The competition, including overlap and differences.
  10. If pitching to potential investors, include:
    • A timetable for when they can leave with a profit.
    • Milestones associated with a change in the value of the business.
    • How much money you need and how you will spend it.

(Shimasaki, 2016; Koch, 2020)

References

Koch K. How to Create an Effective Biotech Pitch Deck. ULP. May 29, 2020.

Shimasaki C. What to Put in a Biotech Investor Pitch Deck? Linked In. June 25, 2016.

How to Write Your Pitch

  1. Stay focused on the most important parts. Get to the point quickly.
  2. Try using a template (find some free online) which may come in the form of a series of slides called a pitch deck.
  3. Use a story arc with a beginning, middle, and end to engage your audience.
    • Example 1: Start with the need for your product, describe how you discovered your solution, and then talk about the challenges you faced and solved.
    • Example 2: Tell a story about someone with a personal need for your product and how your solution would impact their life.
  1. Develop different versions of your pitch for different purposes: A brief, 30-second “elevator pitch,” a formal 5-minute slide show introduction to your idea, and a longer, more detailed presentation for potential investors.
  2. Summarize data and offer to supply details if requested.

(FSI, 2023)

Reference

Foundation for Shared Impact. How to Pitch Your Business – All the Basics You Should Learn. Blog. Accessed 3/9/2023. 

Tips On Pitch Delivery:

Be confident and well-prepared.

Display passion and enthusiasm for your product and work.

Show leadership ability, including being able to think strategically, inspire, and execute.

Read More:

Pitch Resources

See More

What to Include in Your Pitch

See More

Challenge:

Rate Examples from Bonita’s Pitch Deck (See Scenario Above)

How well do you think Bonita did with considering her audience and engaging them?

Connections:

Venture Capital and Other Funding

See More
Prev
Home
The End
Login to Take Notes

Take Survey

Usability Testers: Spend at least 20 minutes exploring, then take the survey above.

Previous Article
Back to Sub-Topic

Primary Sidebar

Topic Home Expand All
Explore Motives & Skills Needed
3 Articles
Motivations for Starting a Business
Life Impact of Starting a Business
Skills Needed to Start a Business
Develop a Business Plan
8 Articles
Business & Product or Service Descriptions
Business and Management Structure
Seek Professional Assistance
Market Research
Financial Analysis and Projections
Seed Funding
Venture Capital and Other Funding
Product or Service Development & Marketing Plan
Set Up Your Business
4 Articles
Establish the Business
Registrations Required for Government Funding
Biotech/Biomed Industry Unique Requirements
Pitching Your Business
Return to Steps to a Startup
End Resources

This project is funded by National Institute of General Medical Sciences (Grants 1R43 GM131458-01 & 2R GM131458-02)


  • Contact
  • Copyright & Reproduction Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Technology Requirements
  • 508 Compliance

Footer

a product of
Health Impact Studio
a division of Clinical Tools, Inc
  • Simulations
  • Contact
  • About
  • Blog
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
feedback@clinicaltools.com

101 A Market St Chapel Hill, NC 27516
919-960-8118

We're Hiring!

Join the Development Team!

© 2023 · Clinical Tools, Inc · Log in

We hope that Steps to a Startup enriches your career and understanding of how to start small businesses in the life sciences.


Review or download materials from the experience:

Click “Review or Download Key Points” to access Key Points, References, and Tips plus links to “Read More”, External Resources, and glossary terms and definitions from Steps to a Startup. Click “Your Notes” to access any notes you took.

Review or Download Key Points
Your Notes

Other Options

Role-play another simulation on Biostartupadvice.com:

A Day in a Life: Exploring the Biostartup Possibility

Role-play a day in the life of a woman scientist who explores starting a business by talking with colleagues and attending a networking event.

What comes next after starting a business? Learn about later stages of starting a business:

Review this List of external resources that describe the stages of starting a business, from starting stages to established, mature product stages.

Instructions:

Navigating the Steps: Start navigating the steps by clicking on the steps map on the home page.

Index/Progress Meter

Then use the index/progress meter at the top of the page to move between steps. The index shows where you are in the 15 steps. Hover your mouse over a step to view its name. The steps are divided into three, color-coded sections. You can navigate the steps from the Start to the End or skip to any section or step that interests you. Alternatively, use the Previous and Next buttons on the left and right at the bottom of the page to move between steps or to the next section. Click the home icon at the top of the page if you wish to return to the full map of the steps.

Stories Tab: The stories tab will open by default first in each step. To “talk” with the characters, follow these instructions:

  • There will be one to three characters available in each step. Click on any character to speak with them.
  • You may see more than one choice for what to ask a character. Click on the question you want to ask to view their response. Use the arrow buttons on the left and right below the character to move forward or backward within the conversation. The number of dialogue passages for each character is displayed between these arrows. Keep clicking until the character’s response to your question ends.
  • You may ask another question of the character if there are more questions available.
  • Close out of the active character by clicking on the “X” in the upper right corner.
  • You may click on and interact with another character if more than one character is available in the step.

Key Points Tab: Click on the Key Points tab to review key points, tips, references, other resources, and links to Read More information on the step. Links all open in a new tab so you will not lose your place. All Key Points content is offered in a PDF that you can read or download on the last step (“The End”) at the end of the steps map. 

Challenge Tab: Click on the Challenges tab to either apply what you learned already in the Stories and Key Points or learn something new.

Definitions: (Optional) Hover over blue highlighted terms to learn their definitions. There is a link to the full glossary in the last Step (“The End”).

Take Notes: Log in to use the notepad on the lower right. You may download and save your notes at any time or access them via a link in the last step (“The End”)

Download or View a PDF: All of the content on the Key Points Tabs is available to view or download in the last step (“The End”).


Review “Browser Compatibility” beneath the simulation if you are experiencing any issues.

Instructions:

Overall Game: Navigate the steps in order by clicking the Next button on the upper right between steps. Alternatively, click on steps in any order that interests you. The “Map” button at the top of the page will open an index based on the Map on the first page, which will allow you to navigate to another step. Alternatively, click on the home button to return to the first page Map.

Forgot Password?
Register New Account
Sign up for our Newsletter!

  • Hidden

Register

"*" indicates required fields

Name*
Consent

Topic Content

Expand All
Explore Motives & Skills Needed 3 Articles
Expand
Sub-Topic Content
0% Complete 0/3 Steps
Motivations for Starting a Business
Life Impact of Starting a Business
Skills Needed to Start a Business
Develop a Business Plan 8 Articles
Expand
Sub-Topic Content
0% Complete 0/8 Steps
Business & Product or Service Descriptions
Business and Management Structure
Seek Professional Assistance
Market Research
Financial Analysis and Projections
Seed Funding
Venture Capital and Other Funding
Product or Service Development & Marketing Plan
Set Up Your Business 4 Articles
Expand
Sub-Topic Content
0% Complete 0/4 Steps
Establish the Business
Registrations Required for Government Funding
Biotech/Biomed Industry Unique Requirements
Pitching Your Business

Browser Compatibility

This simulation is optimized to be used in Chrome and Safari web browsers. It will not work correctly if using the “private browsing” features of your browser.

You may experience slowness if you use the Firefox browser.

If you would like to use the simulation in Edge, you’ll need to open Edge, go to “Settings” within Edge, and choose –> Privacy, search, and services –> Tracking Prevention –> and choose “Basic”.

Login
Accessing this topic requires a login. Please enter your credentials below!

Lost Your Password?
Register
Don't have an account? Register one!
Register an Account

Registration confirmation will be emailed to you.