About
Building Bridges Among Diverse Stakeholders
About Linda Plano
Helping you to realize your vision is my motivation
Prior to 2005, I held positions in startup companies including research scientist and CEO, as well as management positions up to Vice President for New Business Development in more established companies. 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.
I am based in Boston, MA but deliver my services to international clients via both online and in-person services for individuals and organizations. I particularly enjoy working with organizations that provide accelerator services to cohorts of entrepreneurs.
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.
Linda earned a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Stanford University and a BS in Physics from MIT. Her education and early career experience in research and development are core to her ability to connect with and help entrepreneurs across all industries and technologies.
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.
Capture their imagination
- Identify a significant problem.
- Find out how many are losing money.
- Determine how much they would pay to solve it.
- Use these numbers to estimate your market size.
- Avoid relying solely on expensive market studies.
- Describe your secret sauce.
- Talk about what it does, not how it works
- Relate it to the problem you just described.
- Use layman’s language.
- Do not use jargon.
- Do not teach the underlying science.
- Do not reveal proprietary information.
Validate the opportunity
Achieve buy-in
Financial projections.
Leadership team.
Development plan with milestones.
Budget and Ask.