Over the years, Stowe Boyd and I have worked on our Micro-series of applications and methodologies that epitomize our "relevance through brevity" aka "The Escalator Pitch" mantra.
In April 2008, Stowe Boyd exclaimed, "The Twitpitch is the future..."
He's right...
Once I complete this next book, I will get back to work on the @microPR and @twitpitch projects (and more) we were exploring and building...
In the meantime, Richard Branson seems to have adopted the idea, inviting entrepreneurs to Tweet their ideas to him for consideration. In an article published in RealBusiness, the author credits Branson with the creation of the "micro pitch," however, Stowe and I would like to take that back...Mr. Branson did not introduce this concept. We will however, recognize that Branson is indeed taking it to the next level, in fact proving the premise and promise of the escalator pitch overall.
The billionaire entrepreneur will decide on the best micro pitch by 8 September. The winner will receive two free tickets to the conference, flights and coaching to "turn your tweet into a full blown business plan".
To submit an idea, entrepreneurs must send their micro pitch tweet to @perfectbusiness, including the hashtag #micropitch. Problem is, with these two tags, you've lost 27 characters.
Entrepreneurs have to keep their pitches extra short.
In a canny, money-making move, Branson and the Perfect Business lot are allowing less Twitter-savvy entrepreneurs to go over the 140 character limit – for $60. You can submit this slightly longer pitch through the Perfect Business website.
The Perfect Business team will then select three finalists from the web entries to get the chance to pitch their business idea to Branson and a host of other venture capitalists including Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Rustic Canyon Partners and August Capital at the conference to be held on 26 October.
Real Business sends special kudos out to the entrepreneurs who are keeping to the 140-character limit.
Here are some of the pitches so far:
1ideaguy @Perfectbusiness #micropitch -pharmaceutical ads on hospital trays - 15% profits please
Graham_Horton @PerfectBusiness a lottery whose prize is a space flight with virgin galactic (great for a birthday present!) #micropitch
RyPi @perfectbusiness tablet/app to pay restaurant bill - no wait/paper, tipcalc, user can custom split, free up staff, turnover, ads #micropitch
epicflowers @perfectbusiness #micropitch Consumers will see flowers in real time in a florist's cooler from anywhere in the world & be able to buy them
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