[Fundraising for Startups] Lesson 6: You don't get attention, you EARN it.

You know why people aren't listening to you, right?

It's because the phone's buzzing in their pocket.

It's because their kid's phone bill is crazy.

It's because they need to use the bathroom. Like. Now.

They got other shit to do and you're in the way.

A thousand years ago, power belonged to those people that owned the dirt. So, if you owned the dirt, you could say, "Hey, you can use this dirt and I have the power."

Then, a hundred years ago, power belonged to the people that had all the money. If you wanted to build a business, you borrowed money someone and they had power over you.

Ten years ago, power belonged to people who knew how to use technology. If you knew how to use email (seriously), you could easily get a job in some IT field and have power over others.

Today, power belongs to people that understand that we live in an attention economy.

When you get a 30-minute meeting with somebody today, you don't get 30 minutes of attention. You have to earn all of your attention every 30 seconds. And then you have to re-earn it every 30 seconds.

It's the unfortunate truth of the reality we all live in today.

We're all busy. Even the investors you're trying to pitch. Even the employees you want to hire. Even the customers you want to sell.

Never forget that.

When you decide to pitch an investor, make sure that every word coming out of your mouth is something that grabs their attention.

Your goal is to EARN attention every 30 seconds. Over and over again.

-P

P.S. I know I sent you a link to sample slides earlier in this course -- if you haven't already, look at some of the latest pitches and spend 10 minutes watching any random set of three pitches. (The videos are embedded inside the slides.) You'll quickly see how these founders capture and maintain the attention of the audience.