Twit Pitch

By
Will Kenton
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Will Kenton is an expert on the economy and investing laws and regulations. He previously held senior editorial roles at Investopedia and Kapitall Wire and holds a MA in Economics from The New School for Social Research and Doctor of Philosophy in English literature from NYU.
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Updated February 02, 2023
Reviewed by
Chip Stapleton
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Reviewed by Chip Stapleton
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Chip Stapleton is a Series 7 and Series 66 license holder, CFA Level 1 exam holder, and currently holds a Life, Accident, and Health License in Indiana. He has 8 years experience in finance, from financial planning and wealth management to corporate finance and FP&A.
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What Is a Twit Pitch?

A twit pitch is a slang term used to describe an overview of a startup company, a product, or a service that is short enough to fit in the character limitations of the social networking website Twitter.

A twit pitch is an electronic version of the elevator pitch, which is used by startup founders to sell their idea or business concept to investors in hopes of capturing their interest on the road to winning startup capital. The idea is that the investor should be able to understand the idea and see its potential in the time it takes to ride an elevator (presumably alongside some venture capitalist)—or approximately in two minutes or less.

In the age of social media, the trend has instead been to be able to write a pitch in 140 characters or less (which Twitter has now increased to 280 characters) in order to capture investor interest—such as "we network networks” by Cisco Systems or “the entrepreneurs behind the entrepreneurs” from Sequoia.

Key Takeaways

  • The twit pitch is a faster, 21st-century version of the elevator pitch used by entrepreneurs and salespeople to "pitch" their idea or product in the amount of time it took to take a short ride in an elevator.
  • Twitter created a new kind of standard in condensing a pitch into a tiny amount of space and enabling a person to "twit" their idea to multiple parties.
  • The trend of twit pitches has been elevated into a trendy art form by some companies like Cisco Systems and Sequoia, both have crafted simple, spot-on descriptions of their services in a few characters.

Understanding Twit Pitches

The advent of new technology and the impact it has on modern business has made longer business proposals and initial contacts with potential investors using full-length business plans a thing of the past.

Venture capitalists (VCs) and executives who are forced to divvy up their limited time reading lengthy proposals may decide if a proposal warrants further reading by examining twit pitches for keywords.

This places more pressure on the person making the proposal, as they will have to explain a potentially complex topic in a small amount of space.

A twit pitch is a variation of an elevator pitch, but with the constraint being the 280 character limit imposed by Twitter instead of the time spent in an elevator.

Twitter, with its limitation on how many characters of text can be included in a tweet, has set a new kind of standard in condensing a pitch into a tiny amount of space, replacing the cursory elevator pitches which came before it.

Examples of Twit Pitches

Twit pitches are becoming a kind of art form in their own right, with some becoming known as "company Haiku." Below are some examples of successful Twit pitches:

  • amonter5‎: We want you to meet awesome people, when you are in a space or event@crowdscanner #twitpitch
  • ToddrLevy‎: Our startup @Bloomworlds, a Founder Institute company, is developing a "family friendly" app store for the Android community. #twitpitch
  • laurentk‎: Discover cool new people and things to do in your areas with @submate#twitpitch
  • amjjd‎: Kyral makes it easy to find, share, and organize office documents on your company network using search and tagging. #twitpitch
  • michuk‎: Foursquare for film—local recommendations & community: @filmastermobile – coming in January to iPhone near you #twitpitch
  • eventribute‎: An online contest organizer in Twitter and social networks #twitpitch
  • 42goals‎: A simple tool for tracking personal goals and daily activities #twitpitch