How do I pitch my startup idea?

Investors hear hundreds of pitches. The ones they remember share one quality: they make the problem feel urgent before introducing the solution.

The investor attention curve

You have about 90 seconds before an investor mentally categorizes your pitch as "interesting" or "pass." In that window, they need to understand: What's broken? Why does it matter? Why now?

If you spend those 90 seconds on your product's features, you've wasted the only window that matters.

The problem-first structure

Minute 1: The world is broken. Describe the status quo in concrete terms. "Right now, logistics companies find out about shipping delays after the customer complains. By then, the damage is done."

Minute 2: The cost of inaction. Make the stakes tangible. "This costs the average mid-market shipper $400K/year in refunds and lost accounts."

Minute 3: Your solution. Now they care. "We predict delays 48 hours before they happen, so the shipper can reroute."

Minute 4: Proof. Traction, pilots, revenue. "We're live with three logistics companies. style="opacity: 0; transition: opacity 0.15s ease-in;"80K ARR."

Minute 5: The ask. What you need and what you'll do with it.

A logistics startup that rebuilt its pitch

Before: "We're building a predictive analytics platform for supply chain optimization using machine learning models trained on historical shipping data, real-time weather feeds, and carrier performance metrics."

The investor's response: "Interesting. What does it do?"

After: "Logistics companies find out about late shipments when the customer calls angry. We tell them 48 hours early so they can fix it. Three companies are paying us to do this right now."

The investor's response: "How are you predicting delays?"

The second response is the one you want. It means they're curious enough to dig in. The first response means they didn't understand and are being polite.

The curiosity test

A good pitch ends with the investor asking "how?" A bad pitch ends with the investor asking "what?"

If they're asking "what," you started in the wrong place.

Pitching for investors vs. customers vs. partners

The core structure stays the same (problem, gap, solution, proof) but the emphasis shifts. Investors care about market size and growth potential, so expand the "cost of inaction" section. Customers care about their own problem, so expand the "world is broken" section with specific scenarios. Partners care about strategic fit, so expand the "why now" section with market timing. Same story, three lenses. Your [positioning statement](/answers/cant-describe-what-makes-my-business-different) should work for all three audiences with minor adjustment.

servo helps you find the problem-first structure that makes investors lean in instead of tune out.