Empirical Literature on the Business Pitch: Classes, Critiques and Future Trends

Omar Sabaj; Paula Cabezas; Germán Varas; Carlos González-Vergara; Álvaro Pina-Stranger

doi:10.4067/S0718-27242020000100055

Authors

Omar Sabaj Universidad de La Serena http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7075-9384
Paula Cabezas Universidad de La Serena http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2257-1907
Germán Varas http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5426-9839
Carlos González-Vergara Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Álvaro Pina-Stranger Université Rennes 1

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4067/S0718-27242020000100055

Keywords:

business pitch, innovation discourse, innovation genres

Abstract

The growing importance of entrepreneurship and innovation for economic growth has propitiated a discursive genre that nowadays is almost omnipresent, i.e., the pitch. As with other emerging genres used in professional settings (e.g., selling presentations, business plans, etc.), several instructional discourses regarding the pitch have come out in the form of manuals and courses offering training on “how to make a pitch more powerful”. Empirical research, however, is less common. The aim of this paper is to qualitatively review and sort out the existing empirical research on the pitch. For this, three classifying categories are proposed according to its reception (mainly by investors), the focus on discursive features, and its evolution. Finally, some critiques to the empirical research on the pitch and a description of some future trends on the field are provided. This work may be useful for professionals interested in innovation and entrepreneurship, areas in which this emerging discourse broadly circulates.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Bazerman, C. (2013). A Rhetoric of Literate Action: Literate Action Volume 1. Perspectives on Writing. Fort Collins, Colorado: The WAC Clearinghouse and Parlor Press.

Bajtín, M. (1979). Estética de la creación verbal. México: Siglo XXI.

Bednarek, M. & Caple, H. (2017). The discourse of values. How news organization create newsworthiness. New York, United States: Oxford University Press.

Belinsky, S. & Gogan, B. (2016). Throwing a Change-Up, Pitching a Strike: An Autoethnography of Frame Acquisition, Application, and Fit in a Pitch Development and Delivery Experience. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 59(4), 323-341. https://doi.org/10.1109/TPC.2016.2607804

Blazkova, H. (2011). Telling Tales of Professional Competence: Narrative in 60-Second Business Networking Speeches. Journal of Bussiness Communication, 48(4), 446-463.

Ciuchta, M. P., Letwin, C., Stevenson, R., McMahon, S. & Huvaj, M. N. (2018). Betting on the Coachable Entrepreneur: Signaling and Social Exchange in Entrepreneurial Pitches. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 42(6), 860-885. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258717725520

Callon, M. (1986). Some elements of a sociology of translation: Domestication of the scallops and the fishermen of Saint Brieuc Bay. In J. Law (Ed.), Power, action and belief: A new sociology of knowledge? (pp. 67-83). Boston, MA: Routledge.

Clark, C. (2008) The Impact of Entrepreneurs' Oral "pitch" Presentation Skills on Business Angels' Initial Screening Investment Decisions. Venture Capital: An International Journal of Entrepreneurial Finance, 10(3), 257-279.

Cunningham, L. (2010). A Linguistic Analysis of the Entrepreneurial Pitch (Master’s thesis). Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, United States.

Daly, P. & Davy, D. (2016a). Structural, linguistic and rhetorical features of the entrepreneurial pitch. Journal of Management Development, 35(1), 120–132. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-05-2014-0049

Daly, P. & Davy, D. (2016b). Crafting the Investor Pitch Using Insights from Rhetoric and Linguistics. In G.M. Alessi & G. Jacobs (Eds.), The Ins and Outs of Business and Professional Discourse Research. Reflections on Interacting with the Workplace (pp. 182-203). London: Palgrave MacMillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137507686

Davis, B. C., Hmieleski, K. M., Webb, J. W. & Coombs, J. E. (2017). Funders' positive affective reactions to entrepreneurs' crowdfunding pitches: The influence of perceived product creativity and entrepreneurial passion. Journal of Business Venturing, 31(1), 90-106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2016.10.006

Denning, P.J. & Dew, N. (2012). The Myth of the Elevator Pitch. Communications of the ACM, 55(6), 38-40. https://doi.org/10.1145/2184319.2184333

Diaz, C. (2009). Teaching the Techno-Pitch: Taking Student Innovators Beyond the Elevator Pitch. IEEE International Professional Communication Conference IPCC'2009. Available at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=5208685&isnumber=5208666.

Edmiston, D. (2016). Developing the Perfect Pitch: Creating a Positive First Impression through Social Media. Marketing Education Review, 26(1), 3–7. https://doi.org/10.1080/10528008.2015.1091660

Elsbach, K. (2003). How to Pitch a Brilliant Idea. Harvard Business Review. Available at https://hbr.org/2003/09/how-to-pitch-a-brilliant-idea

Lakoff, G. (1972). Hedges: a study in meaning criteria and the logic of fuzzy concepts’, Proceedings of the Chicago Linguistics Society 8, 183–228.

Lucas, K., Kerrick, S. A., Haugen, J. & Crider, C. J. (2016). Communicating Entrepreneurial Passion: Personal Passion vs. Perceived Passion in Venture Pitches. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 59(4), 363-378. https://doi.org/10.1109/TPC.2016.2607818

MacMillan, I. C., Siegel, R. & Narasimha, P. N. S. (1985). Criteria used by venture capitalists to evaluate new venture proposals. Journal of Business Venturing, 1(1), 119-128. https://doi.org/10.1016/0883-9026(85)90011-4

MacMillan, I. C., Zemann, L. & Subbanarasimha, P.N. (1987). Criteria Distinguishing Unsuccessful Ventures in the Venture Screening Process. Journal of Business Venturing, 2(2), 123-137. https://doi.org/10.1016/0883-9026(87)90003-6

Mas, J. P. & Hsueh, B. (2017). An Investor Perspective on Forming and Funding your Medical Device Start-Up. Techniques in Vascular and Interventional Radiology, 20(2),101-108. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.tvir.2017.04.003

Mason, C. & Harrison, R. T. (2003). Auditioning for Money: What Do Technology Investors Look for at the Initial Screening Stage? The Journal of Private Equity, 6(2), 29-42.

McCollough, M. A., Devezer, B. & Tanner, G. (2016). An alternative format for the elevator pitch. The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 17(1), 55-64. https://doi.org/10.5367/ijei.2016.0211

Moreau, C.P. (2018). Discursive Diversity in the Entrepreneurial Pitch: Creating and Communicating a Marketplace Space (CAMS) in the High-Stakes Reality TV Show Shark Tank. Proceedings of the 83rd Annual International Conference Association for Business Communication at: Miami, Florida, USA

O’Connor, E. (2002). Storied business: Typology, Intertextuality, and Traffic in Entrepreneurial Narrative. International Journal of Business Communication, 39(1), 36-54. https://doi.org/10.1177/002194360203900103

Parhankangas, A. & Renko, M. (2017). Linguistic style and crowdfunding success among social and commercial entrepreneurs. Journal of Business Venturing, 32(2) 215–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusvent.2016.11.001

Parodi, G., Ibánez, R., & Venegas, R. (2009). El Corpus PUCV-2006 del español: identificación y definición de los géneros discursivos académicos y profesionales. Literatura y lingüística, (20), 75-101.

Pollack, J. M., Rutherford, M. W. & Nagy, B. G. (2012). Preparedness and Cognitive Legitimacy as Antecedents of New Venture Funding in Televised Business Pitches. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 36, 915-939. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6520.2012.00531.x

Rusko, R., Lindholm, K. & Petäjäniemi, S. (2016). Coopetition at Elevator Pitch Events? A Case Study of Micro-activities at a Business Innovation Event. Journal of Innovation Management, 4(3), 79-100.

Spinuzzi, C. (2003). Tracing Genres through Organizations: A Sociocultural Approach to Information Design. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.

Spinuzzi, C., et al. (2014). Making the Pitch: Examining Dialogue and Revisions in Entrepreneurs’ Pitch Decks. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 57(3), 158-181. https://doi.org/10.1109/TPC.2014.2342354

Spinuzzi, C., et al. (2015a). Remaking the Pitch: Reuse Strategies in Entrepreneurs' Pitch Decks. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 58(1). https://doi.org/10.1109/TPC.2015.2415277

Spinuzzi, C., et al. (2015b). How Do Entrepreneurs Hone Their Pitches? Ponencia presentada en el 33rd ACM International Conference on Design of Communication, The University of Texas, Austin. https://doi.org/10.1145/2775441.2775455

Spinuzzi, C., Jakobs, E. & Pogue, G. P. (2016a). A Good Idea is Not Enough: Understanding the Challenges of Entrepreneurship Communication. Ponencia presentada en el International Conference on Competitive Manufacturing, The University of Texas, Austin.

Spinuzzi, C., et al. (2016b). How Magnets Attract and Repel: Interessement in a Technology Commercialization Competition. Written Communication, 33(1), 3-41. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088315614566

Spinuzzi, C., Altounian, D., Pogue, G., Cochran, R. & Zhu, L. (2018). Articulating Problems and Markets: A Translation Analysis of Entrepreneurs’ Emergent Value Propositions. Written Communication, 35(4), 379–410. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741088318786235

Swales, J.M. (2004). Research Genres: Explorations and Applications. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

van Werven, R., Bouwmeester, O. & Cornelissen, J. P. (2019). Pitching a business idea to investors: How new venture founders use micro-level rhetoric to achieve narrative plausibility and resonance. International Small Business Journal, 37(3), 193-214. https://doi.org/10.1177/0266242618818249

Verma, N., Mohammed, T. & Bhargava, P. (2016). 30 Seconds to Impact: Crafting the Perfect Radiology Elevator Pitch. Journal of the American College of Radiology, 14(5), 716-717. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacr.2016.11.017