Jerry Weissman may produce more revenue than almost any director in history. His big successes haven’t been plays or movies, though. For more than two decades, Mr. Weissman, a former television and stage director, has coached the executives of technology companies on the theater of the initial public offering.
Mr. Weissman’s company, Power Presentations, works with chief executives on the “roadshow,†a major step toward a stock offering. The presentations consist of speeches, slide shows and question-and-answer sessions with prospective investors. Getting that story right builds enthusiasm for a company’s shares, sending initial stock prices higher.
His clients have included Intuit, eBay, Cisco, Dolby, Netflix and most recently Trulia, the real estate Web site. His clients also include executives at established companies like Microsoft, where he helps with other kinds of presentations, like conference speeches and product marketing.
Mr. Weissman, who is based in Burlingame, Calif., has written several books on his craft, the most recent of which is “Winning Strategies for Power Presentations.†I caught up with him recently, in between client meetings.
Q.
How different is an I.P.O. pitch from a conference presentation
A.
I have worked on I.P.O.’s, private placements, product launches, board meetings, keynotes, conference talks and partner meetings. The goal is always the same: Tell a crisp, clean story; make sure your PowerPoint doesn’t become “death by PowerPoint†by cluttering things up or confusing the audience; show poise and confidence; and show you can handle tough questions.
Q.
If it’s that easy, how do you stay employed
A.
They’ve been selling stuff to a different audience, people who want to buy software or computers. They have to rotate the benefit of their product to a different audience. If the audience is potential investors, those people have only two interests: return on investment and risk management.
Most of my clients come at the task of telling their story like engineers, in a logical fashion. But they assign six slides to Tom, eight points from Dick and four items from Harry, and that creates a patchwork of ideas that don’t flow and ideas that don’t match each other. Then they see the audience squirm at what they’ve done, and that raises their discomfort level, which the audience feels. After that, it’s lost.
They need to merge the logic with the art, and that goes back 2,300 years, to Aristotle. Give things a beginning, a middle and an end.
Q.
How do you do that
A.
You set the context by defining who the audience is and what you want to achieve by talking to them. Then you let the ideas flow about what you can say, you brainstorm like crazy without throwing out anything. You distill that into four or five key ideas. Then you put it into a logical flow that is meaningful for what the audience wants.
Q.
How long have you been doing this
A.
It will be 25 years on Sept. 1.
Q.
What has changed
A.
My specialty is I.P.O.’s. The biggest change there is NetRoadshow, which is a Web site where people post a video of their pitch. That means they have to put something tight into the can. Then they go on the road, and if they’re good, it’s 90 percent audience questions about investing. If it’s not good, it’s all about how people didn’t understand what they were talking about. So, I train them to make a video, then I train them for a Q.&A. session that is tougher than anything they’ll face on the road.
The other change is that sometimes people just post slides on the Web, and get on the phone and talk. Either way, the new media means they have to learn to tell stories without making eye contact. It’s even more important that you have a clear story that flows. In the questions, you listen to make sure you understand the key issues. You paraphrase the question to level the playing field for the rest of the audience, and to make sure it addresses the question. And you pitch yourself, so you can end up saying “…and that’s why we are the best.â€
Q.
How is the I.P.O. market doing
A.
It is smaller, compared with 10 years ago, but there is lots of other kinds of work. If I’m a bellwether, though, I’d say I have more companies knocking on my door for I.P.O. training this year than last, and more last year than the year before.
