About
Building Bridges Among Diverse Stakeholders
About Linda Plano
Helping you to realize your vision is my motivation
I get to work with smart, creative and passionate people, and help them make their dreams come true.
In fact, I have worked with over 1,000 innovators since 2005 and they have gone on to raise well over $1 billion.
Whether I work with people one-on-one to build a compelling new pitch for a job, a customer or an investor, or I train a roomful of innovators or salespeople, seeing my clients communicate with new confidence and more success is enormously rewarding.
Client types
I have had the privilege of working with innovators at all stages of their career, from students to serial entrepreneurs, in person and online with clients in Europe, North America and Asia.
Services
Each year, I deliver several intensive group workshops and many webinars and seminars. Some clients have had me teach their pitching workshops for nearly ten years – it is such an honor to be invited back each year.
I also work with about 150 one-on-one clients each year in intensive collaborations to give my clients the tools they need for strategic communications in the time frame they want.
Client Industries
My clients have value propositions in almost every conceivable industry:
- life sciences (pharma, medical devices, health IT, etc.)
- cleantech (water, energy, efficiency, transportation, green chemistry, etc.)
- software (AI and machine learning, virtual and augmented reality, blockchain and cryptocurrencies)
- xtech (fintech, edtech, agtech, etc.)
- marketplaces and retail
- advertising, media & publishing
- high tech (robotics, nanomaterials, etc.)
- services (legal, business consulting, etc.)
- and a few more
I have coached entrepreneurs around the world and delivered workshops in a dozen countries, though COVID-19 has driven my work to primarily online.
Most of my work has been with founders wishing to raise seed, A- and B-round funding.
But “Life’s a pitch – make yours amazing!” is my tag line for a reason: I have helped
- executives with their pitches (to investors, customers and partners) and board presentations;
- entrepreneurs apply for accelerator admission and grant funding;
- executive directors of nonprofits with their pitches to sponsors;
- salespeople and service providers with their pitches to customers and prospects;
- individuals with their job interviews and pitches to upper management and more.
If you are having a challenge getting your target audience excited by your ideas, I can help you tell your story, your way and make it compelling to that audience. No matter who that audience is, where they are, or what you want.
Experience
I have held positions in startup companies from research scientist and CEO, and management positions in established companies up to Vice President for New Business Development.
In addition to coaching, I have been an enthusiastic volunteer for local organizations. I have served on the boards of the MIT Enterprise Forum, the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge, the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust and the New England Clean Energy Council. I was a winner of the Mass Technology Leadership “Mover and Shaker” award, an MIT Enterprise Forum All-Star Volunteer, and an MIT Presidential Citation for her contributions.
Education
This diverse business experience coupled with my advanced technical degrees – BS Physics from MIT, PhD Materials Science & Engineering from Stanford – led me to develop a simple but effective system for translating anyone’s value proposition into a compelling pitch: the 10 Questions every pitch (and business) should answer.
Location
I am based in Boston, MA but deliver my services to international clients via both online and in-person services for individuals and organizations.
Strategic Communications Moves Mountains
Tactical communications processes rely on copying older presentations and changing a word or image here and there, resulting in a patchwork document. Efficient development of compelling communications depends on solid fundamentals that can be adapted to any circumstance.
People invest in people who they know, like and trust. Therefore, anytime you communicate with someone who you want as a customer, investor, partner or employee, you need to speak authentically.
Our first goal in the Initial Communications Consult is to be sure that we are telling your story in your way. For this reason, our ICC will start with you presenting your story the way you like to do it today. That way, I will know your style and delivery, and can also provide you with feedback on your presentation skills as desired.
On the other hand, people are most willing to listen to information that is of direct interest to them. No matter how exciting your story is to you, it won’t excite them unless and until you frame it in a way that matters to them. Thus, the rest of our session comprises our working collaboratively to build your story from the ground up, creating a narrative that is engaging to your target audience while maintaining your integrity and vision.
At the end of the session, we will have a new narrative including talking points and draft graphics to support it. I will deliver the new presentation back to you (and record it) to ensure that we have captured the critical content, your vision and the audience’s attention.
I have done this work with investment firms, academic groups from two campuses, and innumerable startups. In each case, the result has been a clear statement of goals and an outline of process to which all members can agree to work towards.
You Pitch Almost Every Day
Every communication has an “ask” associated with it, even if is just an implicit request for the audience’s attention while you speak.
Anytime you ask somebody to do something they were not already planning to do, you are pitching to them!
Thus, my “Perfect Pitch” approach is the foundation on which all my Strategic Communications services are based.
Most people think they pitch to raise money or share a vision.
But how is anyone going to decide to invest their valuable time and money into your ideas when there are so many others competing for their attention?
People invest in people who they know, like and trust, and that means that anyone who is pitching should worry less about getting a check as soon as possible, and a lot more about laying the groundwork for the people in our target audience to know, like and trust you.
When you achieve those three connections, you are far more likely to receive the support you need in order to achieve your vision.
So your focus should never be on “What can I get from this audience?” or “Why can’t they just give me money??”, but rather on “How can I improve this person’s life in a way that matters to them?”
The key lies in knowing what matters.
When you pitch to anyone, from one person at a networking event to a group of investors to a crowd of thousands at a conference, there are three simple parts you should always include:
- Introduce yourself!
- Tell me why I should care
- Make a relevant ask
The first and last parts are usually quick and easy. The tough one is in the middle…
To help your audience to care about what you do, focus on their motivations. This is a deceptively large shift in perspective!
The simplest way I know to shift your frame of reference is something that I learned years ago:
- Understand that investors are very simple creatures! They make up their minds based on just two things: Fear & Greed.
- In a pitch, you don’t have time to teach anyone anything. All you can do is get them so excited about what you are doing that they can’t wait to learn more.
- So, everything you say should either reduce Fear or increase Greed or it doesn’t belong in your pitch.
A couple caveats:
- Everyone – you, your customers, partners, etc. – everyone is an investor of something of value (time, money, reputation).
- If the terms “Fear” and “Greed” are uncomfortable for you in this context, use an alternative: Pain & Pleasure, Risk & Reward, etc.
10 simple questions underlie every great pitch
For people to know, like and trust you, your communications need to walk a tightrope between engaging high-level information and critical depth of knowledge.
Over the years, I have developed this set of 10 simple questions that will ensure that you are touching on all relevant subjects without having to depend on someone else’s template.
Customer, market pain, market size.
Solution, secret sauce.
Financial projections.
Leadership team.
Development plan with milestones.
Budget and Ask.
| # | Questions | Heading 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Who cares? | Customer, market pain, market size. |
| 2 | What do you do? | Solution, secret sauce. |
| 3 | Why will you win? | Competitive advantage. |