First Pitch, The Definitive Guide to Pitching for Entrepreneurs, Launches Today

Newswise — Debi Kleiman, executive director at the Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship at Babson College, has authored First Pitch: Winning Money, Mentors, and More for Your Startup.

The book is grounded in Kleiman’s extensive experience working with and coaching startups of all kinds for over 15 years and leading the Blank Center for Entrepreneurship at Babson, which is the top-ranked college for entrepreneurship education.

Kleiman also leverages her background as a marketing executive in brand development and innovation at Coca-Cola, Welch’s, and Procter & Gamble and as managing director of a global media agency, which provides a truly unique angle on the topic of pitching. 

“Pitching is a critical skill for every first time entrepreneur to learn. In my book, I provide a simple framework, strategies, and next steps so they can move forward confidently, tell their stories in a compelling way, and persuade others to join them on their startup journeys,” said Kleiman.

Robert Stringer, CEO of Crimson Seed Capital and author of Culture.com: How the Best Startups Make it Happen remarked, “First Pitch is a must-read resource for entrepreneurs. It combines excellent practical advice and concrete guidelines with words of wisdom about the emotional and interpersonal aspects of raising early-stage capital.”

The book covers:

• The entire early-stage pitch process all in one, easy-to-read resource – from designing the deck and creating the story, to outreach and relationship building, to pitch day and follow-up.
• Action-oriented best practices and concrete advice simply put.
• Strategies for handling the “softer” elements of the pitch process – such as building relationships, coachability, and bias.
• Activities to get started, plus resources and frameworks to make the next steps obvious.

Kleiman will present a webinar on June 24 sharing advice from First Pitch and will lead a discussion with two of the Babson College alumni entrepreneurs whose stories are featured in the book. The webinar is open to the public.

The book launches on May 19 and is available for purchase on Amazon. For more information, please visit the First Pitch book website.

Debi Kleiman

Debi Kleiman is an award-winning marketer, educator and mentor, working in and with hundreds of startups over her long career in business. Currently, she is the executive director of the Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship at Babson College, where she works with students, alumni, staff, and faculty, as well as the broader entrepreneurial community, to accelerate the practice of entrepreneurship and support startups of all kinds. She leads the Blank Center’s strategy, new initiatives, programs, and team. She is also an adjunct professor at Babson’s F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business and Executive Education Programs for Entrepreneurs. In addition to her passion for startups, Debi is a classically trained brand marketer and consumer products innovation expert. She held marketing leadership roles at Procter & Gamble, Welch’s, and the Coca-Cola Company and later was managing director of Havas Media Boston. She was also president of the Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange. Debi has a BS from Cornell University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Babson College

Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader of Entrepreneurship of All Kinds®. The top-ranked college for entrepreneurship education, Babson is a dynamic living and learning laboratory where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society. We prepare the entrepreneurial leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to make a difference in the world, and have an impact on organizations of all sizes and types. As we have for nearly a half-century, Babson continues to advance Entrepreneurial Thought & Action® as the most positive force on the planet for generating sustainable economic and social value.