How to get useful feedback on your pitch (and how to give it)

Post a pitch anywhere and you will get two kinds of responses. The first is "Ganda!", "Support!", a heart emoji. It feels nice and teaches you nothing. The second is silence, which feels worse and teaches you even less.

Useful feedback is rare because most people do not know how to give it, and most founders do not know how to ask for it. Both are learnable. This post covers both sides, because in a community like ours you will be doing both.

Part 1: Getting feedback

Ask a specific question

"What do you think?" invites a compliment. A specific question invites an answer.

Instead of "Feedback please!", try:

• "After listening once, what do you think I sell?"
• "Who do you think this is for? Be honest if it is not clear."
• "Was there a moment you wanted to stop listening? Where?"
• "My ask is a supplier in Laguna. Did that come through?"

The first question is the most useful one in this list. If a listener cannot repeat back what you sell after one listen, nothing else in the pitch matters yet.

Ask people who are not your friends

Your friends love you, and that makes them bad at this. They know the backstory, so they fill in what your pitch leaves out. A stranger hears only what you actually said.

This is the point of posting in a community of other builders. They are close enough to care and far enough to be honest. On Icreatechs, a vote is one of only ten that person gets each day, so it means they chose your pitch over others. A comment from a stranger who listened all the way through is worth more than twenty likes from people who know you.

Ask for one thing at a time

If you ask for feedback on the problem, the price, the voice, the photo and the business model all at once, you will get shallow notes on everything. Pick the part you are least sure of and ask about that.

Listen without defending

The hardest part. When someone says "I did not understand what you sell," the instinct is to explain. Do not. They are not wrong about what they understood. They are telling you what your pitch did, which is the only thing you can fix.

Write the note down. Say thank you. Decide later.

Look for patterns, not verdicts

One person disliking your price is an opinion. Four people asking the same question is a fix. Keep a short list of everything you hear and look for what repeats. Act on the repeats first.

Know which feedback to ignore

Not all feedback is equal. Weigh it by:

• Is this person your customer? A note from someone who would never buy may be interesting, but it is not urgent.
• Is it about your pitch or their preferences? "I do not like spicy food" is about them. "I could not tell how spicy it is" is about you.
• Is it specific? "Make it better" is not actionable. "Say the price earlier" is.

Record it again

The best response to good feedback is a second recording. Founders who improve visibly over a few pitches build more trust than founders who get it perfect once. Say what changed: "Last time people asked where I deliver, so: Cainta and Antipolo only, for now."

Part 2: Giving feedback

If you want good feedback on your own pitch, the fastest way is to give it to others. People return the favour, and you will spot your own mistakes in someone else's pitch long before you hear them in yours.

Listen all the way through

Do not comment on a pitch you skipped. It is obvious, and it is unkind.

Start with what you understood

Tell the founder what you heard, in one sentence. "I think you sell packed lunches to drivers at a terminal in Bacoor, sixty pesos each." This alone is enormously useful. It tells them whether the core message landed.

Be specific about one thing

One clear note beats five vague ones. Pick the change that would make the biggest difference.

• Vague: "Needs more energy."
• Specific: "The first ten seconds are about you. I would start with the drivers' problem instead."

Be kind and honest at the same time

These are not opposites. Kind does not mean vague, and honest does not mean harsh. "I got lost in the middle when you listed features. The part about the 11:30 timing was the strongest bit, I would lead with it" is both.

Criticise the pitch, never the person. Nobody should feel stupid for trying.

Help with the ask

Every good pitch ends with an ask. If you can help with it, say so. If you know someone who can, offer an introduction. A comment like "My tita supplies rice in Cavite, want her number?" is the most valuable thing anyone can leave on a pitch.

Do not pitch yourself in the comments

Promoting your own business under someone else's pitch is the fastest way to lose the room. If you have something genuinely relevant, send a direct message.

A feedback template you can copy

When you are not sure what to write, fill this in:

What I heard: [one sentence on what they sell and to whom] Strongest part: [the moment that worked] One change: [the single thing you would fix] On your ask: [help, an intro, or "I cannot help but I hope someone can"]

Where to do this

In the app, comments on pitches are the main place. In the community, our Discord has a feedback room for exactly this: post your recording link with one specific question, and give feedback on two other pitches while you are there. The ratio matters. Communities where everyone only asks and nobody gives go quiet quickly.

Good feedback is a skill, and like any skill it gets better with reps. Give some today.