Last week I had the opportunity to attend a trade show. Unfortunately, at many booths, particularly those of startup companies, I left without a full understanding of what the exhibiting company really did.

The experience reminded me of the challenges of putting together a good elevator pitch. An elevator pitch is a brief description of a business idea. It is termed as such since it usually must be delivered within the time that you spend with an investor in an elevator, or just a few minutes. Much like an entrepreneur seeking capital, the exhibitors at the trade show were challenged with giving an elevator pitch that would get their target audience to write them a check.

Most of the new ventures that exhibited did not have concise pitches. They used lots of words, but never clearly explained what they offered. Conversely, several new ventures had pitches that were interesting and encouraged prospects to learn more. Each of these ventures