An elevator pitch (or elevator speech) is a brief overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The pitch is so called because it can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride (say, thirty seconds or 100-150 words). It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Elevator surfing. ...

The term is typically used in the context of an entrepreneur pitching an idea to a venture capitalist to receive funding. Venture capitalists often judge the quality of an idea and team on the basis of the quality of its elevator pitch, and will ask entrepreneurs for the elevator pitch to quickly weed out bad ideas. For the computer game previously called Entrepreneur, see The Corporate Machine. ... Venture capital is a general term to describe financing for startup and early stage businesses as well as businesses in turn around situations. ...

It is said that many of the most important decisions made on the floor of the United States's House or Senate are made "within the span of an elevator ride" as a staff aide whispers into a Congressman or Senator's ear while they head down to the floor to cast their vote.^{[citation needed]} The United States House of Representatives (or simply the House) is one of the two chambers of the United States Congress; the other is the Senate. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Chief Justice Associate Justices Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Politics Portal      The United States Senate is one of the two chambers of the bicameral United States Congress, the...

A variety of other people, including intrapreneurs, project managers, salespeople, evangelists, job seekers, and speed daters commonly use elevator pitches to get their point across quickly. Intrapreneur is a person who focuses on innovation and creativity and who transforms a dream or an idea into a profitable venture, by operating within the organizational environment. ... A project manager is the person who has the overall responsibility for the successful planning and execution of any project. ... Sales, or the activity of selling, forms an integral part of commercial activity. ... Evangelism is the proclaiming of the Christian Gospel. ... Speed dating is a formalized matchmaking process or dating system whose purpose is to encourage people to meet a large number of new people. ...

References in fiction

An elevator pitch (literally done in an elevator) is a key scene in the movie Working Girl. Working Girl is an Academy Award nominee for Best Picture and an Academy Award winner for Best Song (Let the River Run by Carly Simon), which tells the story of a Staten Island-raised secretary, Tess McGill, working in the mergers and acquisitions department of a Wall Street investment bank. ...

See also

• Sales pitch
• Elevator Pitch 101