elevator pitch

Pitching a business proposal in a very short period of time, possibly as little as 90 seconds. The practice was borrowed from the film industry in Hollywood and was transposed to the Internet boom in the 1990s when Internet start-ups were seeking venture capital. At the height of the Internet boom venture capitalists had very little time and the entrepreneur had to be able to pitch their idea wherever opportunity presented itself.

David Ishag, of the US Internet investment firm Idealab, illustrated the point: ‘Plans have to be light as a feather. You have to be able to make your case in an elevator – and I'm talking about an elevator in a very low building’.