PITA 041
(forgot to grab a screenshot!)
TOPIC 1 Ways of communicating commercial needs in a non-profit organisation
Working out a narrative to to ensure that there’s an understanding of how one fuels the other
Visualise the gap for people
Don’t use the term ‘monetisation’
Dark Patterns workshop
Culture change - use goals, behaviours and leadership comms to drive the change
Storytelling, long term sustainability
TOPIC 2 Do you have to be good at producing polished slide decks to be valued as a PM?
Yes, because storytelling is important - and this is a primary vector for comms in most companies. It may not be the BEST vector, though,
People respond well to visuals
Russell Davies - Everything I Know About Life I Learned From Powerpoint book, Everything I Know About Life I Learned From PowerPoint site, and Doing Presentations site
Know your audience and use the appropriate terms
Slides - not too many words, and if presenting, add something instead of just reading them out
Resonate® | Duarte book & course
2 use cases: (1) presentations and (2) decks made for reading, which can be more inviting than a doc with the same content. PE/VC all done with slides…
That lower barrier to entry for slides was why Jeff Bezos banned presentations at Amazon
Have good notes but don’t read them verbatim (maybe use bullet points or keywords as notes only and form your sentences on the spot)
TOPIC 3 ChatGPT - is anyone doing anything interesting with it? Planning to?
It did a good job writing release notes for an app, with a decent prompt
Writing HOW-TO blog posts, from an outline, then went through an edit process
Social media content creators - generate topics for new stuff, or create an ugly first draft
CEO used it to fend off PE questions
For generic answers or lists, for things I’ve argued many many times, when dealing with idiots
‘Give me 30 questions’ to use in an interview
Write 5 activities and a timing plan for a workshop - draft my plan
Basic explainers
Quick copy for landing page tests
Pinch-hit for a UX person when they were on holiday
TOPIC 4 Where do I start with startup funding?
Startup accelerators - they share relevant materials but mainly offer programs/support. Other resources available, but she will have to decide what she’s willing to give up on and what’s non-negotiable. Those people will take a proportion of the equity but will provide resources in return.
Be careful who they listen to - they have to be the decision maker
Smaller Angel investors are a possibility
Some banks have specialty startup loans
Government loans are a possibility
Make sure PMF, strategy, milestones etc. are well-presented and communicated
Find pitching events on meetup.com and listen to what others do - get examples and tips
Startup competitions are a good place to practise, pitching events are good place to practise. The hack --> go there not expecting to win, but expect to get feedback and observe what the winners do
Startup pitching events online - watch a few before even starting to form your pitch, many probably available on meetup.com, i.e. https://www.eventbrite.com/d/online/pitch/