Elevator Pitch, New York Style纽约版的“电梯简报”

Do you know what an “elevator pitch” is? Don’t worry if you don’t, I’ve just become familiar with it myself over the past few months.

Basically, an “elevator pitch” is a quick & simple pitch of an idea or a product done within the time span of an elevator ride. Typically, an elevator ride in New York – a city that never sleeps –takes between 30 and 90 seconds. That’s it. In less than 2 minutes, you’re expected to deliver an ‘elevator pitch” that can make or break your business plan.

I have never been comfortable with selling someone a product or an idea – except for a story pitch. Back in the days when I was a television news journalist, I was totally comfortable with pitching a story idea about an issue, a problem, or a person. I was entirely passionate about producing a short story in a 30 second voice-over, or a minute-long package complete with interviews, narration and stand-up. But now that I’m a novice entrepreneur, I find it very challenging to deliver this “elevator pitch,” especially when you literally have to do it while waiting for the elevator inside your own apartment building!

True story.

Just the other day, I was walking into my building after a grocery run to Trader Joe’s.  My arms and elbows were full of bags of milk and vegetables when I ran into one of my favorite neighbors on my floor – someone I haven’t seen for months. He’s a young Korean-American father who had lost his finance job during the economic downturn a few years ago. He has since been taking care of his 5-year old son Jonathan while developing his own business connections with a private equity firm.

As soon as he saw me, he bellowed out – “What are you up to?” “What are you doing these days?” John remembered I’d gone back to school.

“Hi John, I’m back in the city now, I’ve formed my own company, it’s time to try something different.” I replied with a smile.

Even before I finished talking, his little 5 year-old and mother-in-law – also waiting for the elevator in the lobby, stepped in. His mother-in-law asked me something totally different  –

“You’re back in New York? That’s great! Do you teach piano? Can you teach little Jonathan piano?”

“Oh, that’s so sweet of you to ask.” I chuckled. “You must have heard my loud piano practice every morning. She nodded with a big smile.

“But I was just having fun, I am not qualified to teach.”

“Really? You don’t teach piano?” she responded with skepticism, and a touch of disappointment.

At that moment, three elevator doors opened at about the same time. As a dozen residents suddenly came out of nowhere and started rushing to get inside the elevators, my neighbor John pressed on –

“So, what kind of company is it, Mable?”

I responded while keeping one eye on the elevator crowd -“It’s a media company – a digital platform with a blog and weekly podcast targeting young people from China, and inside China. These are young people with big dreams and ideas. They want to explore a different world, they want to succeed and … ”

As I was about to continue, all the elevator doors are about to close and John caught one in the nick of time –

“Let’s get in and talk, Mable.”

“Sounds great…” I managed to squeeze inside with my groceries, and John got his son and in-law in standing right next to me.

“China is sending lot of young people to America, no doubt. How much money do you need? Are you raising money?“ John asked.

“I’m not big at all, but I do have more than 15 on my team all over the world. I do need to raise money.

“How much?” John looked me in the eye.

“One million for the first 2 years – ideally.” Somehow, I felt comfortable announcing that dream figure. That was the first time I’d ever articulated my fund-raising goal, inside an elevator!

John froze for a minute, then we’re all getting out of the elevator – it was our floor.

“We should talk more.” John and I exchanged cards.

“Sure” – I smiled back and noticed little Jonathan and his grandma beaming with smiling eyes – “I know a great piano teacher in Chinatown – she’s Chinese specialized in teaching little children,” I told grandma.

“Thank you,” my neighbor John uttered. “Let’s talk more later, you should just drop by our home and talk anytime.”

I grinned and thanked him.

At that moment, it dawned on me that I’d just delivered a real elevator pitch!  But it didn’t feel difficult or daunting. It wasn’t hard because I felt like I was just connecting with neighbors. Our lives crossed as we were waiting for the elevator. Our conversations about what’s on our mind drew us closer as neighbors, as friends, and made us feel suddenly connected – almost like family. That moment was enough for me to feel happy – regardless of whether or not my elevator pitch was a million dollar success.