Startup messaging is like defusing a bomb

💣 The first 60 seconds are crucial.

Get them to understand your product…

⏱️ And you earn more time.

If they don’t understand your product…

😴 They tune out.

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90% of startups fail the 60 second challenge.

Last week I saw this firsthand attending the Capital Factory startup crawl.

Here is how each conversation went:

Me: “Hey! What does your startup do?”

Them: [60-90 second pitch]

→ every 9th word was “platform” or “all-in-one”

→ buzz words left and right “AI, transformation, at scale”

And after the 90 seconds was up…

❌ I STILL HAD NO IDEA WHAT THEIR PRODUCT DID

So I asked.

And after ~3-5 more minutes, each founder was able to get me to understand:

→ what they did

→ who their users are

→ how it works

But herein lies the rub…

👉 You don’t have the luxury of 5 minute conversations with new prospects.

According to HubSpot study, website visitors only spend 54 seconds on a site.

And even less time on social platforms, ads, etc.

✅ You MUST crush the first 60 seconds

To do this, you have to clearly communicate the following:

→ the problem you are solving

→ who has the problem (target customer)

→ what the product is (product category)

→ what the product does for a user (main capability)

Does your startup pass the 60 second test?