Devil's Snare

Remember the fairy tale Rumplestiltskin?   Let me remind you of the plot.
              To make himself look more important, a miller lied to a king, telling him his daughter could spin straw into gold. The king shut the girl in a tower room with straw and a spinning wheel and  demanded she spin the straw into gold by morning, for three nights, or be executed.  She had given up all hope, when an impish creature appeared in the room and spun straw into gold for her in return for her necklace, then her ring…. then when she had nothing left to give, for a promise to hand over her first-born child.
    Pitching for investment can feel a bit like being in that tower trying to spin gold.   Faced with this kind of pressure many entrepreneurs work themselves up into a frenzy, trying to get every dot and spit of information about their business into a 5 minute pitch.   They feel they have to appear stupendously impressive to get what they want without giving too much away to an impish creature who wants their first born…..sorry, investor.
    Staying with the theme of fantasy, it reminds me of Harry Potter and the Philospher’s Stone, when Harry, Ron and Hermione get caught in the strangling tendrils of a plant called Devil’s Snare.  Hermione, cool in a crisis, realises that to fall out of it, all you have to do is relax.  Ron, panicking as usual, struggles violently and the Snare tightens.

    Struggling pitchers are Ron, trying so hard to muscle their way to a good pitch, they get caught in a tighter and tighter strangling knot.  What they need to do is follow Hermione, stand back, relax, and just do what’s required.  Get the investors attention, don’t try and wrestle with everything you know about your business and force it all on them in go.    Devil’s snare retreats with sunlight.  Nothing is as simple as sunlight, so keep it simple .