In this solo‑host YouTube episode, Dan Willis celebrates reaching 16 videos and then delivers a concise, instructional guide on crafting a 60‑second elevator pitch for entrepreneurs. He frames the pitch as a rapid, investor‑focused presentation—similar to a mini‑Dragon’s Den—where the speaker must convey who they are, what the business does, why it will generate profit for investors, and what funding is needed. Willis outlines a three‑part framework: 1. Show Passion – The opening seconds must convey genuine enthusiasm and belief in the product or service; without passion the listener won’t engage. 2. 10‑40‑10 Timing – Allocate 10 seconds to describe the product, 40 seconds to explain how it makes money (and why that matters to the investor), and the final 10 seconds to state a clear, realistic funding request. 3. Clear Ask – Explicitly state the amount of capital and equity sought, keeping the figure realistic (e.g., $50k for 10% equity) so investors can immediately assess feasibility. Willis stresses that investors care almost exclusively about the money‑making portion and the concrete ask; personal details belong later. He invites viewers to comment, subscribe, and visit his website for deeper help with pitch development. The video ends with a teaser for the next episode.
Chapters
Episode 16! We're here, we did it. 16 episodes in, huge thank you to all 36 of you wonderful subscribers. If you guys are new to the channel and you haven't seen this before, if you like motivation, business, digital marketing, any of the above, you're an entrepreneur, you wanna be an entrepreneur, you are in the right place. Hit that subscribe button over here and you'll be in for all kinds of great stuff. But today, guys, episode 16, we're talking about the 3 things you've gotta do The elevator pitch, what is it? Well, I mean, it's loosely based on this new show entrepreneur.com put out. If you guys don't know entrepreneur.com, go ahead and check it out over there. But it's an amazing site, all kinds of great videos. And these elevator pitches, the concept is entrepreneurs show up at this building with 60 seconds in an elevator. In that 60 seconds, they need to present who they are, what their business is, why somebody should invest in it, and what they need from the investors. Dragon's Den, but simplified and cut down so there's not all this humming and hawing and back and forth in the presenting the project. It's 60 seconds in and out. So what are the 3 things that you've got to have to get a successful elevator pitch off? Number one, gotta have passion. People walk in, they've got this elevator pitch set up, and either they're not dressed for it, or they're humming and hawing, or they're talking about it like they know this and they're not really entertained by it and they don't really care. And there's got to be passion. You've got to have a desire for the thing that you're putting out there. Okay guys, so as you're designing your elevator pitch, if you haven't given this pitch Whether you're gonna use this on the show, maybe you're that fortunate that you make the show, but an elevator pitch is a great thing to have as an entrepreneur whether you're on the show or not. As you're out networking and meeting people, an elevator pitch, a 60-second proposal, is a key thing to have. And when you're giving this pitch, guys, if you don't have some passion, some oomph behind what you're doing, the person listening isn't gonna wanna hear what you have to say. So you really have to show some enthusiasm behind what you're doing. I've created a product or service That I feel is essential. People need this thing. If you've got that passion, it's gonna change everything for you on your pitch. So first thing you need with a solid elevator pitch, show that passion. Show me the money. When you're dealing with an investor and you only have 60 seconds, cut down the fluff. They don't care who you are, who your dog is, how many kids you have, where you live, where you— That's relational stuff that happens after they accept your pitch and you work with them. In the pitch, you want the bulk of the time spent with, here's how what I made makes you money. If you had to break it up into time slots, you would want 10 seconds of it to be, here's what it is and what it does. You would want 40 seconds of your presentation to be, here's how it makes money and it will make you money. And then you want the last 10 seconds to be, here's what I need from you. You want 40 seconds of your 60 seconds to be, here's how it makes money and makes money for you. That's what the investors care about. That's what you're there to give them. Make sure in your 60-second pitch, you've got that nailed down. Here's how it makes money. Here's how it makes money for you. If you don't hit that, if it's not 2/3 of your presentation, They don't care. Last but certainly not least is the, what do you want? What do you need? Don't beat around the bush on this. Like I said, you're doing a 10-40-10 on that 60 seconds. You've got 10 seconds to say, here's what I need. Nail home, this is how it makes money, this is how it makes money for you, and because it's so great at that, Here's what I need. Just lay it out there. Don't tiptoe around it. Here's what I need. I need $100,000 from you for 10% equity. The end. They don't care about what you need as much as what you're gonna do with it. They can negotiate that last part of what you need once you get in the room, once you've got your foot in the door. But the key part here is you've gotta be clear on it. If you say in the what I need, okay, well, I need $10 million for 10% equity in the company. You've lost it. But if you spew out a number that's realistic of, I need $50,000 for a 10% equity in the company, they're gonna go, oh, okay, well, that's reasonable, that's feasible, I can work with that. Whether it's exactly where they wanna finish or not, that's up for debate. But you have to have a realistic vision of what that is, what that looks like, where you wanna go with it. And if you can do that, if you've got that beautiful 10-40-10 split, guys, you've got passion in the start about what your product is and what it can accomplish, 40 solid seconds of here's how it makes money, here's how it makes money for you, and you send it home with a realistic, practical, here's what I need from you to make it happen, that elevator pitch that you've got is gonna blow you away. If you guys are having a hard time with the elevator pitch, feel free to hit that subscribe Let me know in the comments below what help you need, and I would love to make future videos helping you guys through that process. Even better, you can go check out my website at— it'll be up here somewhere— and reach out to me. I'd be happy to work with you or your company on how to create a successful business pitch that is a 60-second window into finances, investment, beautiful things. Thank you so much for watching, guys. If you know somebody that needs to know how to make this elevator pitch happen, feel free to share out the video, and I will catch you tomorrow for another video. For episode number 17. 17.
