A VC in Vacationland

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Billy Mays, here….

Well, not any longer, although his estate seems to think they can live off his residuals, since many of his ads still run.  It's sad to think we won't have Billy around to flog the inventor's latest "product you cannot live without".

But are you thinking Billy Mays may not have much useful advice to offer the entrepreneur?  Don't laugh or even chuckle about the idea. What you can learn from Billy is crucial to your success, both in the marketplace and in raising capital.

Billy is perhaps best known for his Oxi Clean commercials, where one softball size ball of detergent, chucked into your washing machine and forgotten, will do 25 loads of laundry. Simple messages, great customer testimonials and products that really worked were Billy's forte. He rejected perhaps 99% of the hundreds of inventors/companies that approached him, choosing only those products that met his three key metrics. And he and his inventors made millions in the process….

And those metrics are same ones that can make an entrepreneur successful.  Say what you want about Billy (he was a very complex person: consummate pitch man, in your face presenter, dying with enough drugs in his body to start a pharmacy, etc., etc. ), but his message will live on:

1. Keep the pitch short and simple–Billy's pitch, repeated endlessly on late night and prime time, were no more than 1-2 minutes long
2. Be passionate in your pitches–Billy really believed in the products he sold, requiring numerous tests to make sure the product or service really did what it supposed to do. Once convinced, there was no stopping him. And his presentations showed that passion…not like that phony Shamwow guy.
3. Address clear customer needs–Billy wanted products that anyone could use, not just a select market segment–who does not have dirty clothes (Oxi Clean)? Needs a knife to cook (Samurai Shark)? Want shiny clean floors (Orange Glo)? or, my favorite, who has ever wished they could permanently cement their mother (or father)-in-law to a chair (mighty putty)?
4. Have believable customer testimonials–Billy did not use actors, but recruited users who were true believers. Who could not like the housewives who had orgasms over their newly waxed floors? 

We will miss you, Billy…late night TV will never be the same.

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