Making the pitch: How to take your innovations to market

Students and physicians often find they have a tech idea that could improve care, but how to ignite interest among financial backers is another thing altogether. Find out what venture capitalists and other funders have to say about making a pitch that will get your idea to market.Giving wings to your dreams Many innovations in medical technology, devices and software never take flight because their creators don ’t know how to present them, financiers said. They offered the dos and don’ts of making a pitch during a session at the2016 AMA Annual Meeting in Chicago. Omar Maniya, a Harvard Business School graduate, medical student in his final year at Georgetown University School of Medicine and medical student member of the AMA Board of Trustees, summed up the anatomy of a pitch with a favorite acronym, BALZAC:Brevity.“That is the absolute No. 1 thing,” Maniya said.Audience. Know the inside story on every person who will be hearing your pitch.Language. Take care with medical jargon, and gear your terminology to your audience.Zoom level. Know when to drill down into the details of a topic and when to keep it light.Analogies. Link your ideas to things your audience can relate to; illustrating your pitch with stories from the outside world.Confidence. Be the master of your project. “If you are not the most knowledgeable person in that room about your idea, you should not be in that room,” Maniya said. Washington venture capitalist Arnab Sarker said the successful pit...
Source: AMA Wire - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Source Type: news