Jeff “the Blog” Bonforte

I am fascinated that entrepreneurs typically save their demo for last when doing pitches. Even at TechCrunch 40 and Demo, I see startups try to talk about the company stats before they demo. Nuts. I don’t care to whom you are pitching, whether it be investors, partners, customers, even your bankers…demo first. Tell them your name, open your laptop and start using your product. In an ideal case, two of you are there so you can walk around while doing the demo, while your partner drives (see tip #2: Always walk around when you present). After a minimum of 3-5 minutes of demo, only then can you really get into anything else. Here is why demo first matters:

1. It puts you in the proper state of mind. When you are a startup, your product matters a lot!
2. It gets everyone in the room thinking about the problem you solve.
3. Demos are the good stuff. Start off with some momentum. If they like your product, they will want to learn about your team, space and business.
4. During the demo, you are going to set up a number of questions or problems that you will hit in your presentation…remember Tip #13, Tell a Story.
5. Particularly VCs, who have seen a million pitches begin to “classify” you. The more you describe your company and product, the more they are thinking, “Oh, these guys are just like Company XYZ that I don’t like.” Assuming your product is distinct and valuable, then a demo can help you think about you and not someone else.
6. You won’t run out of time. As much as you try to control the time, things always run short at the end or end sooner than you expect…so make sure you the demo was done…do it first!
7. Demos tend to reduce the number of questions. They help fill in the missing elements when you talk later about business models, marketing or product roadmap.

Even when the audience tells me they are all Xobni users, I still do a demo. They may use our product…but they probably don’t know all the cool features or how it can be used to its full potential. And I really like to show a version of the product that is not yet available to the public. It gives the audience a sense that they are someone special. Ok, so pledge now to never do another preso where you don’t first do a demo. I have thrown in some inspriring and useful links below for you.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Video: Steve Jobs’ Apple Demo 25 years ago (techburgh.com)
• Greatest Product Demo of All Time (harvardbusiness.org)
• How to Demo for TechCrunch 40 (techcrunch.com)