The Elevator Speech... and Its Alternatives

Everyone knows they need an elevator speech. Clear, concise, ready to go, because you never know when you'll need it.

Still true. Just not only about elevators anymore.

In today's world, information travels through networks, not floors. The person you need to reach may not be standing next to you, but their spouse might be. Or their barista. Or their barber. Or whoever they follow online and actually trust. Influence is distributed, and the path to the right person runs through whoever happens to be in front of you right now.

The premise of the elevator speech holds: you need to deliver your value on cue, explain what your startup does quickly, and adapt it to whoever's listening. What changes is the audience.

For someone with no technical background, go simple. For the engineering manager, go precise. For the investor, go to the outcome. The ability to adjust in real time depends entirely on having a pitch that's solid at its core, one that's been stress-tested enough that scaling it up or down feels natural.

Before you run into the person who could move things forward for you, make sure you can pass the Mommy Test. If you can explain it to your Mom, you can explain it to anyone.