Many future campaign initiators had an opportunity to present their business ideas to the public at Tokeportal.hu’s events – like the Financing 2019 conference organised by Privátbankár.hu and Design Week Budapest 2019 – via a longer or shorter pitch. The shortest type of pitch is called elevator pitch or logline, which was originally named after a long-awaited speech that could happen during an unexpected and brief meeting in an elevator.

There has been many articles, books and testimonials published on how to persuade our target audience about the benefits of our product or idea, which then moves the public. The purpose of this post is to provide a simple but very informative guide on how to compose and effectively present your logline.

The winning idea begins with a winning phrase – this is a valuable lesson for innovators from every field. The most valuable innovations offer simple solutions to complex problems.

A startup cannot finance its idea without external financing. In order to gain the confidence of an investor, it is necessary to present the essence clearly and effectively, summarized in the so-called logline. Everything starts with the logline – an art that scriptwriters have learned.

Logline: a one sentence summary of a story. When introducing new products, executives repeat the one-line description several times during the presentation. This is the logline.

When a successful screenwriter is asked what his or her film is about, he or she has a ready answer that is clear, concise and attractive. Business leaders face similar questions in their careers:

• What is your presentation about?
• What does your business or product do?
• What’s your idea?

Similarly, business leaders can use the logline to clearly explain a complex idea. It can be a powerful and influential tool, but it is difficult to communicate in a simple and digestible way. In fact, it’s easier to add detailed information to our business presentations than to communicate it simply and concisely. Although learning how to write a logline is a challenge, there are steps you can follow to easily develop your own sentence.

In order to create a successful and breakthrough logline, here are 3 rules to follow.

In his book, venture capital investor Michael Moritz tells the story of two Stanford graduate students who walked into his office and delivered the most concise business plan he had ever heard. Sergey Brin and Larry Page told Moritz: “Google organizes the world’s information and makes it universally accessible.” The example above also shows that a successful logline must be easy to say and easy to remember. As a golden rule, a maximum of 140 characters can be used, which can hold interest and convey an important message, regardless of audience.

What should the audience remember for sure after the performance? Steve Jobs was a genius in mastering the logline: in 2001, the iPod allowed you to carry “1,000 songs in your pocket.” In 2008, the MacBook Air was the “the world’s thinnest notebook”. Apple continues to use the one-sentence strategy when marketing its products. The same sentence appears on the Apple website and in press releases.

This “one thing” must meet the needs of the audience. A sales technician at a large technology company recently said the following logline: “Our product will reduce your company’s cell phone bill by 80%”. Above all, the logline is easy to remember and gives people a story that they can pass on to other decision makers in their organization.

It’s important to make sure the team can represent that particular “one thing”. Everyone who speaks on behalf of your business or sells the product must use the same logline.

If you can’t communicate the logline in a short sentence, don’t give up! Be patient! Once you’ve mastered the art of designing a logline, you can easily clarify ideas that will help keep your audience engaged, and help them remember the “one thing” about your product or service.

The logline is an anchor when writing a business plan; it shows if you know what story you want to tell and if your idea is good enough; a marketing tool that helps you to tell anyone in a few simple, concise sentences what your idea is about (and feedback will help you decide if it’s worth pursuing). Remember, you can create a logline at any time: before you start working on your idea, during brainstorming, during working on your first business plan, and of course, you can change it as your idea develops. We strongly suggest using a logline when your idea answers a complex problem. It will be a point of reference for yourself, and you will have a clear direction for your business. It will help you not to lose sight of the purpose of your business, while working on new solutions or new technology.

What’s the lesson? Find the phrase you want everyone to remember. This one sentence is more than it seems at first glance. This sentence can determine whether your business succeeds with the first investor presentation, as did Google.

If you have any questions regarding your startup’s funding, we will be happy to consult with you. Contact us at hello@tokeportal.hu!