TSP021 | Alan Jones – The Present Always Colors How We View The Past

Posted by John Livesay in podcast0 comments

Pitching Yourself And Your Product - Interview with the Beekman Boys
TSP020 | Matt Dunbar - Angel Investor That Likes To Have Fun and Do Good

Listen To The Podcast Here

Episode Summary

Alan Jones is a Startup Evangelist and Chief Growth Hacker for Blue Chilli Technology. Alan was also the Product Director for the Australia, New Zealand, and South Asian market for Yahoo. After leaving his job at Yahoo, Alan started several businesses, and failed, in a variety of industries he was personally interested in and now he uses his expertise to help teach other founders how to raise capital. In this episode, Alan talks on the importance of being clear on what your company culture is, using hand gestures in a pitch to reduce nervousness, and much more.

Key Takeaways

  • 02:55 – Alan recommends founders to wear their brand and make sure it’s memorable.
  • 03:35 – Be clear on what your company culture is. Are you a t-shirt and jeans company?
  • 04:25 – You can even adopt a certain hairstyle that helps you stand out. Own it and be proud of it.
  • 04:50 – How did Alan go from Yahoo to Blue Chilli?
  • 08:50 – Blue Chilli is an accelerator and a VC
  • 09:50 – Blue Chilli has a curriculum for startup founders that takes 3-6 months to complete.
  • 11:40 – How many people apply to Blue Chilli’s program?
  • 14:30 – Alan talks about his involvement with ScriptRock and Bugcrowd.
  • 16:35 – Silicon Valley literally breathes startups. Everyone including your taxi driver has a startup.
  • 17:45 – Some entrepreneurs believe if they just worked on an excellent product, they wouldn’t have to raise capital and that is false.
  • 20:30 – People invest in people no matter how great your idea is.
  • 22:00 – How does Alan train people on how to make good pitches?
  • 23:30 – It’s about how you tell the story. What genre does your story fall under?
  • 26:00 – Utilize the power of silence in your pitch.
  • 27:00 – Using hand gestures can make you appear more confident in your pitch.
  • 30:30 – What’s the single most important trick to be a successful angel investor?
  • 31:15 – The most common mistake a startup founder makes is they think once they’ve raised the first set of funds, life will get easier.
  • 34:15 – Raising capital is just like raising money for charity.
  • 37:00 – Alan believes it’s important to work on your work/life balance and develop healthy habits.
  • 38:50 – Alan recommends founders should read up on behavioral economics.
  • 41:00 – You can find Alan all over the web as BigYahu.

Tweetables

[Tweet “People should wear their brand and make sure that it’s clear and memorable.”]
[Tweet “Grab people by the heart strings and pull hard!”]
[Tweet “Use gestures to reduce your nervousness and increase your confidence.”]

Links Mentioned

Blue Chilli
ScriptRock
Bug Crowd
The single most important trick to being a successful angel investor
Dan Ariely
Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
Alan Jones Twitter

Want the Transcription?

Click Here to Download


Share The Show

Did you enjoy the show? I’d love it if you subscribed today and left us a 5-star review!

  1. Click this link
  2. Click on the ‘Subscribe’ button below the artwork
  3. Go to the ‘Ratings and Reviews’ section
  4. Click on ‘Write a Review’
Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!
Join the The Successful Pitch community today:
Pitching Yourself And Your Product - Interview with the Beekman Boys
TSP020 | Matt Dunbar - Angel Investor That Likes To Have Fun and Do Good
Tags: Alan Jones, pitch, successful pitch, Yahoo