ISB AI Founders
Day 4 · 16:35

How to pitch in two minutes.

ISB AI FoundersIMPROVE & LAUNCH
An honest question

Who's actually in the room at 15:00 tomorrow?

Your parents. Real judges, scoring on a real rubric. And a hard 2:00 timer that cuts your mic whether you're done or not. This is not a school presentation. Treat it like the real pitch it is.
The scorecard, tomorrow afternoon

Problem 25. Product 30. Evidence 25. Story 20.

Problem
25
Product
30
Evidence
25
Story
20
Product beats every other single category. That's your demo. It carries the most points of anything you'll do on stage.
The anatomy of your two minutes
Story
20s
→
Demo
60s
→
Evidence
20s
→
Ask
20s
More than half your time is the product working, live. The demo is the star. Everything else is 15 seconds of setup and a fast landing.
Part 1 · the problem story · 20 seconds

One person. One moment. One pain.

Cut this
"Imagine a world where students never had to worry about..."
Say this
Your strongest interview quote. Word for word. That IS the story.
Part 2 · the live demo · 60 seconds

Show the core action, start to finish.

→Narrate what the user gets, not what you built. "Watch, it finds the answer" beats "we used an API call here."
→Have your backup screen recording ready and open. Staff will record every product at tomorrow's freeze. Use it if wifi dies.
Part 3 · evidence · 20 seconds

Your numbers. Not adjectives.

Interviews done
Strangers tested
Fixes shipped
Yuan earned
Fill in your real numbers for all four. Then pick your single best quote. One real quote beats three adjectives, every time.
Part 4 · the ask · 20 seconds

Tell the room exactly what you want.

1Try it at our demo station.
2Scan the QR code.
3Say your actual price, out loud, with no hedging.
Watch the anatomy work · an invented example team

"Team LineSkip" (made up, not a real ISB team) in four beats.

STORY · 20s"Mia missed her 15-minute lunch window three days straight, waiting in a line that looked short from the door."
DEMO · 60sOpens the app, taps the canteen, shows the live wait estimate update in real time.
EVIDENCE · 20s41 interviews, 12 strangers tested it at lunch, 6 fixes shipped this week, ¥38 earned from real canteen-goers.
ASK · 20s"Try it at station 4, scan the QR, ¥5 a month."
TOTAL20 + 60 + 20 + 20 = exactly 2:00
Three ways pitches die on this stage

All preventable. All happen anyway.

Death 1
Reading your slides word for word
Judges can read faster than you can talk. Say it, don't read it.
Death 2
Demo fumbles, no backup ready
Wifi drops. Have the recording open before you walk up.
Death 3
Going over time
The timer is hard. The mic cuts at 2:00. You rehearse tonight, and again before you freeze, so this one has no excuse.
Before you leave
LEAVE WITH · The anatomy: story 20s, demo 60s, evidence 20s, ask 20s, and the judges' rubric in your head.
DECIDED · Who says what on stage: story, demo, evidence, ask, assigned by name.
BRING NEXT · Tonight: rehearse once to a parent, timed at 2:00, collect one price objection. Tomorrow 9:15: the 20-second-story drill, then build until the 12:00 freeze.
Day 5 · 9:15 · the warm-up

Ten minutes. Sharpen the opening 20 seconds. Then build.

Exercise · pair
OFFLINE · screens closed

The 20-second story, take two

4:00 on the clock
1You rehearsed last night. Now each founder delivers JUST their opening 20 seconds to their partner, sharper than last night's version.
2Partner scores it: did it name a person? a moment? use the real quote?
3Swap and repeat. Sharpest story at your table gets read to the room.
4:00
Swap halfway, sharpest story to the room
Next · 9:25 to 12:00 · final build & rehearsals

Two timed rehearsals. One in the venue. Then freeze.

Every team runs two full 2:00 rehearsals against the clock, plus one tech rehearsal in the actual venue. Storyteller owns the deck. Builder owns the demo. Roles from Day 4 stand.