Entrepreneur

On the first episode of our new series ""Fix My Pitch,"" business coaches Anthony Sullivan and Tina Frey break down what it takes to wow investors in the boardroom. On our hit show Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch, contestants are challenged to step into an elevator and pitch their business to a camera in 60 seconds or less. On the other side of that camera is our board of investors. If they like what they hear, the elevator doors open and contestants step inside the boardroom where they have the chance to win life-changing funding and mentorship from the smartest minds in business. If the investors don't like what they hear? The elevator gets sent back down, along with the entrepreneur's dreams. For nine seasons, there have been no do-overs in the elevator — much to the dismay of entrepreneurs who ran out of time, got tongue-tied, or simply froze in the headlights. But that's all about to change. Introducing our new series, Fix My Pitch, where failed contestants have a chance at redemption. Led by pitch masters Anthony Sullivan and Tina Frey, former contestants will workshop their weaknesses and hone their strengths with a team of business experts. By the end of this four-week pitching boot camp, these entrepreneurs will be challenged to once again face their pitching fears. The prize? A never-before second chance on Elevator Pitch. See who is able to rise to the challenge and who gets stuck each week on Fix My Pitch!

"As an entrepreneur, if you ever encounter the wonderful problem of having multiple investors showing interest in your startup, but you can only choose one, what would you do? That's the dilemma a pair of co-founders face on this fast-paced episode of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch. While the financial investment is at the core of what they're after, the founders wind up evaluating the investors based on the mentoring opportunities that they bring to the table. Is your vision to get your product into big box stores? Or do you want to be an e-commerce powerhouse? Are you expanding internationally? Capitalizing on an increasingly popular podcast? Just as our founders on this episode eventually decide, sometimes it's best to pick an investor who has the contacts and experience that compliment your vision. Also on this episode of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch, our investors get critical about one contestant's pitch and gauge the business acumen of the founder of a new agri-tech startup."

"In our series 'Anatomy of an Ad,' producer Liz O'Connor breaks down the components of the award-winning True Name by Mastercard campaign. ""In advertising, most often you are creating an ad around a product that's already in stores,"" says Liz O'Connor, a producer at advertising powerhouse McCann New York. ""But with True Name by Mastercard, the card didn't exist."" This was the challenge faced by O'Connor and the creative team behind Mastercard's True Name campaign, which works with banks to allow transgender users to put their chosen names on their cards. ""For many of us, we hand a cashier our credit card and it is such an easy transaction,"" she explains, ""But for a transperson, it isn't always that way. And so we wanted to be very thoughtful about that very simple, easy moment that brings someone a lot of anxiety."" In the video above, O'Connor breaks down the emotional and creative components of this powerful ad, which garnered multiple awards, including the Brand Experience and Activation Grand Prix at Cannes Lions, as well as Gold Lions in both the Direct and PR categories. This project, she says, was incredibly fulfilling for the team professionally and personally. ""This product didn't exist, and we wanted to show banks that this was an important thing to create,"" says O'Connor. ""And so that's what we did. We made a spot and got a bunch of people excited about it, and lo and behold, True Name is a real product that lives in the world now."""

"You can have an amazing product, plenty of sales and great traction, but none of that means anything if you're pitching the wrong person. So says Marc Randolph on the season nine finale of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch. """"Don't waste your time on somebody who is never going to bite,"""" he cautions. It's great advice, but luckily for this week's contestants, not an issue they'll need to contend with. It's the last episode of an epic season of Elevator Pitch, and our board of investors is eager to sink their teeth into some tasty deals. As always, this week's entrepreneurs were challenged to step into an elevator and win over investors in just 60 seconds. Some of our contestants on this week's episode got through the elevator doors and into the boardroom, where they scored life-changing deals. And others...did not."

"In our 'Creative Conversations in Advertising' series, award-winning creative director Josh DiMarcantonio and Entrepreneur magazine Editor in Chief discuss the power of storytelling. If you want to make an impact, you have to be willing to take a big swing — even if it gives your lawyer a heart attack. So says Josh DiMarcantonio, 18-time Cannes Lions award-winning creative director. In 2014, DiMarcantonio was on the creative team that launched Taco Bell's new breakfast menu by featuring real people named Ronald McDonald happily digging into Crunchwraps. ""At the time, Taco Bell was not doing 'flashy' kind of advertising — nothing that was narrative in nature,"" he told Entrepreneur magazine's Editor in Chief Jason Feifer. ""We really pushed them to expand to ads that didn't focus entirely on the food and more about the brand."" The lawyers were nervous about how McDonald's would react, but the risk paid off. Not only was the clever ad a hit with customers, but it also garnered multiple awards at the prestigious Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. DiMarcantonio credits its impact on storytelling. ""Stories are what people ultimately have in their minds when they think of a brand,"" he says. People might already know what the product you're selling is and what it does, he says, but it is the way you deliver your message that leaves a lasting impression. ""You want to leave them with a feeling they associate with the brand — that's what forms a deeper relationship and keeps them coming back."

"""I love seeing first-time entrepreneurs, but what I love even more is seeing two- and three-time entrepreneurs who have had successful exits!"" So says investor Kim Perell on this new episode of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch, where we learn if contestants with a track record of success can find their way into our panel members' hearts (and wallets) faster than first-timers. Although Kim is impressed with a contestant's history of wins, investor Jonathan Hung isn't quite as sold. ""Just because you had an exit doesn't mean you were successful,"" he notes. This is another episode packed with lessons that anyone hoping to fund their dream business needs to learn. As long-time viewers know, every episode of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch gives contestants the chance to step into an elevator and try to win over investors in just 60 seconds. If they blow it? It's back to the drawing board. But if the pitch goes great, life-changing money is on the table. And speaking of putting things on the table, Marc Randolph gives us a peek inside the investor mind, admitting that he has to fight his tendency to be overly optimistic about some opportunities, and in a later segment, revealing the business category that never ceases to spook him. ""Some people are scared of heights, some people are scared of dogs,"" he says. ""I am scared of healthcare."" The investors have no idea what business pitch is coming next, and the contestants have no idea if they're about to say the words that will have our panel ponying up funds or passing. When one entrepreneur expresses a desire to go global with their product, find out if investors are impressed with the grand vision or if they get turned off by a perceived lack of market focus. Watch now to see what happens!"

"In our series 'Anatomy of an Ad,' Creative Director David Stevanov explains how humor can be a storyteller’s most effective tool. When your clients love an idea and at the same time are a little scared by it, you know you are onto something special. So says David Stevanov, Cannes Lions award-winning Creative Director at Saatchi & Saatchi. He and his team were challenged to create a campaign to promote French cinema to non-French audiences who tend to prefer Hollywood blockbusters. “Right from the beginning, we know we shouldn’t do something serious,” Stevanov told Entrepreneur. “The subject matter is serious enough, so we thought we should approach it through humor and be a little cheeky.” The result of a creative brainstorm was to do a Sacha Baron Cohen-esque series of sitdown meetings featuring a fake French film director pitching real French dramas to unsuspecting Hollywood producers. The producers’ reactions — all authentic and unscripted — were even funnier than the creative team could hop. (“Nobody wants to see somebody die for an hour and a half!” argues one exasperated producer.) The very funny ad expertly accomplishes two things in a very short amount of time: it is memorable to the viewer and achieves its goal of explaining how French cinema is a great alternative for people looking for something outside of typical Hollywood fare. For those reasons, “Pitching French Films to Hollywood” garnered a long list of awards, including gold at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. “It was the first time I won the gold, so it was special,” says Stevanov. “My wife was pregnant at the time, and there is this superstition that you will have good luck because it will help welcome the baby into the world. So after we won, my colleague turned to me and asked, ‘So, are you going to have more babies?’”"

Our board of investors has plenty of money — but they don't have a ton of patience for contestants who step into the elevator unprepared to seize the moment. "When you're in that elevator, you've got only 60 seconds to make your case, so don't waste that time," Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph says. "Make it easy for me to understand what you're selling and why I should care. Because if that 60 seconds is up and you're not all the way there? That elevator is as far as you're going to get." Find out what got Randolph so hot under the collar, and see other missteps that sent aspiring entrepreneurs back to the basement on this intense episode of Elevator Pitch. "This has been a real bloodbath!" investor Kim Perrell says. "Sometimes pitches get stitches."

In our 'Creative Conversations in Advertising' series, award-winning Group Creative Director Giancarlo Rodas and Entrepreneur magazine Editor in Chief Jason Feifer discuss distilling complex ideas down to a simple message. How do you approach important and heavy subjects without feeling like you are just shoving information down people’s throats? This is a question many creatives face when building campaigns around health and wellness campaigns, and while there is no easy answer, Giancarlo Rodas, Group Creative Director at Droga5, says that sometimes the stars align on a great concept. In describing the spark that led to Droga5’s Cannes Lions award-winning campaign “Toxic Flag,” Rodas explained, “We were having a dinner in Lebanon, and someone was talking about the issue of incinerators sending toxic fumes into Beirut. And we had just seen a digital artist who created a virtual smoke flag and we thought, ‘Hey, what if we could collaborate with this artists to build the flag in real life?’” The resulting spot featured a flagpole releasing a black plume of smoke (non-toxic) over the city, which called attention to the invisible but extremely toxic fumes being released by garbage incinerators. “It is such a simple idea,” Rodas explained to Jason Feier, Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur magazine. “We just found a symbol of what we wanted to say.”

"Let's just say an investor with a history of building and selling multimillion-dollar companies offers you a $100,000 investment in your business, but you want $150,00. Do you have the guts to ask for more? That's the question that one contestant must face on this week's episode of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch, the show where entrepreneurs step into an elevator and have just 60 seconds to win over investors. If the pitch goes great, they continue into the boardroom to try to seal a deal. If they choke? They get sent back down, game over."

"In our 'Creative Conversations in Advertising' series, Creative Director at Goodby Silverstein & Partners Tristan Graham and Entrepreneur magazine Editor in Chief Jason Feifer discuss the birth of a very funny (and impactful) commercial. Tristan Graham’s work has garnered five Emmy nominations and at least 17 Cannes Lions awards (he truly can’t remember!) So to say he is good at his job is more than an understatement. He credits a lot of his success to the first step of his creative process: when attacking a new campaign, the first thing he does is pinpoint exactly what problem the ad is trying to solve. In the case of his award-winning “Guilt Trip” campaign, the problem was quite simple: an Australian train company wanted to sell more tickets for people going from the city to the countryside. “So I was sitting in the meeting with V/Line Trains feeling guilty about the fact that I don’t go back to the country to visit my parents’ house, and I threw out this idea that we should sell a gift card that parents can send to their kids to make them feel guilty. And one of the V/Line executives said, as a joke, ‘Yeah, it’s like a guilt trip.’” While she was just kidding around, Graham immediately realized they had something special. “I stopped her and said, ‘You just named it, that’s the idea.’ The name of an ad, like a headline in print, is so important. If the name is good, it becomes a good hashtag, it becomes an easy hook for people to explain to their mate in a bar. So I took the name, thanked her for doing half my job, and we rolled on from there.”"

"Who can win over CeeLo Green, Marc Randolph and Kim Perrell and gain investment in this week's episode? If there is one sentence that has been uttered the most in the Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch lobby it is this: ""I should have practiced more."" This episode is no exception. As one entrepreneur learns, giving your pitch in the comfort of your own home is a lot different than doing it with a camera and countdown clock in your face. You start to sweat, your mind goes blank — it can be a nightmare."

"In our 'Creative Conversations in Advertising' series, award-winning Creative Director Tescia Deák and Entrepreneur magazine Editor-in-Chief Jason Feifer talk about the power of hijacking cultural trends. Whether she's promoting a consumer brand or raising money for a non-profit, Tescia Deák, Creative Director of BBH USA, says her team finds inspiration in pop culture. ""We like to look at things that are really trending and ask ourselves how we can hijack that in a way that works for this goal,"" she explained to Entrepreneur magazine Editor-in-Chief Jason Feifer. The BBH team noticed period dramas were the rage, thanks to Netflix's hit series Bridgerton. So they developed a funny yet powerful campaign called ""Period,"" a non-profit organization for menstrual equity. It featured European aristocrats dealing with ""The Red Plague"" and its effects on those who couldn't afford basic sanitary products. The ad didn't just go viral — it inspired other creators to make their own period drama-inspired menstruation equity calls to action on TikTok. ""There was such a diverse mix of content from these creators,"" says Deák. ""And it was so great because not only were they putting it on their platforms, we had the ability to funnel it through our channel and really drive people to fundraise, which was our main goal."""

"On every episode of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch, we learn new lessons about what gets investors' attention and what leaves them yawning. During this week's show, Marc Randolph, the co-founder of Netflix, explains that touting your ability to get new customers is fine, but what gets him excited is if you can figure out how to keep them. ""The one-and-done model is the surest sign to me that you're going to piss away all of my money,"" he says. ""But build a machine that can get the same customer to come back to buy over and over and over again? Well that my friend is lifetime value, and now you're speaking my language."" As always, this episode features three entrepreneurs who step into an elevator and have just 60 seconds to pitch their business. If our board of investors likes it, the elevator doors open and the entrepreneurs are invited in to try to make a deal. If the investors don't dig what they hear? The elevator gets sent back to the ground floor, and the entrepreneurs are sent packing."

"In this episode of 'Anatomy of an Ad,' FCB Chicago Chief Creative Officer Andres Ordonez discusses the award-winning 'Boards of Change' campaign. ""Make people feel like they count."" That was the task given to FCB Chicago by the city of Chicago for the census and for voter registration. With an estimated one in five eligible voters going unregistered in America, it was no easy task. In the aftermath of the death of Floyd George, protests and marches led businesses to put up plywood sheets to protect their storefronts. Many of the protestors calling for social justice and change were the same people FCB was trying to reach, and so an idea was born: use those same plywood boards to construct voting registration booths. ""The idea was that when you saw them out in the world, they would stop you and remind you of what you just went through,"" explains Ordonez, ""And in order for you to make sure that doesn't happen again, you have to do something."" The booths were placed around the city with a clear message: If you register, we can win this fight,"" he adds. ""We can make this into something positive."" The incredible campaign resulted in multiple awards at the prestigious Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, and importantly, a significant boost in voter registration and voter turnout numbers. But for Ordonez, it means much more than that. ""Whenever we put something out into the world, it needs to do something,"" he says of FCB Chicago's philosophy. ""The fact that we can use our creativity — our superpower — to bring about change and to actually help people is the biggest award you can receive."""

"The premiere episode of Season 9 kicks off with big ideas and big money. An athletic apparel company, a new hangover remedy, and a way to level-up your golf game are all in the mix for real financial investments. Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch is a thrilling and dynamic television show that brings together aspiring entrepreneurs and a panel of seasoned investors looking for the next big thing. The premise is simple: Entrepreneurs step into an elevator and have just 60 seconds to pitch their business to a camera. On the other side of that camera is our board of investors. If they like what they hear, the elevator doors open and a round of high-intensity negotiating begins. If they don't? The elevator gets sent back to the ground floor with no deal. It's simple, it's intense, it's Elevator Pitch."

"The Blank Edition campaign has become part of the Lebanese zeitgeist. In 2019, the political system in Lebanon was in disarray. Politicians couldn't form a functioning government, and they used the newspaper to make excuses and play the blame game. To deliver a message about the public's frustration with inaction, ad agency Impact BBDO created a brilliant campaign for the independent newspaper An Nahar. ""We printed a completely blank edition of the paper,"" explains BBDO creative director Tres Colacion. ""The concept was to illustrate that literally nothing was being done."" The blank paper sold out on multiple print runs. Citizens even used the blank pages to write their own headlines urging politicians to take action. The campaign won numerous honors from the advertising community, including thirteen awards at Cannes Lions. But Colacion says its human impact is what really leaves him humbled. ""The other day, someone told me they used our campaign as a reference for something they were working on, which was incredible,"" says Colacion. ""To have people take something you did and influence what they are doing? There's no award that can mean as much as that."""

"For the seasonal finale of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch, we saved the most intense negotiation for last. Without giving away too many details, one entrepreneur gets the biggest offer in show history — but it comes with a catch. You'll have to watch to see what happens. A quick review of the rules before we get into the details on this episode rundown: Each week on our show, entrepreneurs are challenged to step into an elevator and pitch their business on camera to a board of investors in 60 seconds or less. If the investors like what they hear, the elevator doors open to reveal the boardroom, and contestants have the chance to walk away with life-changing funding, mentorship from the smartest minds in business and a personal and brand-defining moment."

"Award-winning Executive Creative Director Ali Bati handles a number of diverse ad campaign initiatives, from getting more people to sign up for an art school to helping preserve biodiversity on the planet. But he always begins his process the same way: ""The key is to find the human truth,"" he explains to Entrepreneur magazine Editor in Chief Jason Feifer. ""The dynamics of the market can be different around the world, but essentially we have more in common than we think."" Bati talks about how a drawing school ad turned into an insanely viral meme about Game of Thrones. Recently, the World Wildlife Federation challenged Bati to come up with a campaign that called attention to animals on the edge of extinction. But rather than focusing on cute and cuddly creatures, the campaign took a different approach. They depicted how scary a world without sharks, scorpions, and the like would be. ""For a campaign to be engaging, it needs to have tension so people care about it more,"" Bati explains. ""When you look at it, it ignites a reaction or emotion. And that's what we were aiming for."""

"Sometimes a pitch moves investors to tears, and sometimes it moves them to dance. This episode of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch has all the feels. Each week on our show, entrepreneurs are challenged to step into an elevator and pitch their business on camera to a board of investors in 60 seconds or less. If the investors like what they hear, the elevator doors open to reveal the boardroom, and contestants have the chance to walk away with life-changing funding, mentorship from the smartest minds in business and a personal and brand-defining moment."

"On this episode of ""America's Favorite Mom and Pop Shops,"" we take a spin around the Windy City with the founder of Bobby's Bike Hike. What does it take to build a meaningful business that lasts? That's the question we're exploring on Entrepreneur's new series America's Favorite Mom and Pop Shops. We teamed up with Walmart Business to step inside the stores of passionate entrepreneurs to learn how they run shops that fulfill their personal and financial goals and bolster the communities around them. We traveled to Chicago, Illinois to visit business owner Jeremy Lewno who was faced with a decision many founders of growing companies face: Is it better to cling tightly to what worked before or is it better to reinvent their business and themselves to unlock their full potential? Jeremy is the founder of Bobby's Bike Hike, the longest-running city bike tour operator in the country. As I learned over the course of our conversation, Jeremy found the courage to boldly slam the brakes on a business that was working just fine and change gears to take things to the next level."

See if our investors think there's something fishy about her concept on the new episode of 'Elevator Pitch.' You never know who will walk (or swim) through the doors of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch. Check out episode six for some true surprises!

"How do you build a business that stands out but welcomes people in? How do you make money without doing things just for the money? These are the kinds of questions we're hoping to answer with Entrepreneur's new series ""America's Favorite Mom and Pop Shops"", where we teamed up with Walmart Business to visit community-minded entrepreneurs across the country to learn what it takes to build meaningful businesses that last. For this episode, we went to Caldwell, Idaho, where Krista and Heath Albers left their old life behind to build a business their way. It's called Bond and Bevel, and it is a coffee shop and also a leather shop where everything is handmade and nothing is compromised, even if it costs them money."

On this bank-breaking episode of 'Elevator Pitch,' see who gets funding and who gets called out. Sheena Jongeneel spends 60 seconds selling her stylish children's fashion recycling company Stylette. James Curly sells the importance of data-driven exercise with Tyger Mat. Max Gomez breathes some fresh air into mental fitness with Breathwrk. Kevin Swanson wants to protect your neck with the X Collar and Katie Kaps wants to get you high naturally with Higher Dose. Tune in and see who makes it to the top floor.

"Jason Bunce Turned $2000 Into Two Thriving Barber Shops. With ""America's Favorite Mom and Pop Shops,"" Entrepreneur magazine has teamed up with Walmart Business to go on a nationwide trip to meet these mom and pop entrepreneurs to learn what it takes to build meaningful businesses that last. Our first stop is New Haven, Connecticut, home of prestigious universities, world-famous pizza and the rocking world of Skull & Combs. It is a barbershop, but it's so much more. Founder Jason Bunce started with just $2,000 in his pocket and no idea how to start a business. But with grit and determination, he built not just two thriving locations, but an incredible community. The motto of Skull & Combs is ""Friends made, hair slayed."" "