Talk to the Hand

The five fingers of a very good idea pitch

Long/short idea generators do a lot of work to come up with reasons for their PM, boss or colleagues to add a position to a portfolio. Today’s note highlights five ways to make sure that work counts. You will be heard more often, help deploy capital more effectively and told (or merely signaled) to “talk to the hand” a lot less.

The idea pitch - written or verbal - is the finishing touch on a great investment idea and some pretty important icing on the cake of an everyday idea. Communicating the basics well not only helps the PM invest but helps her track positions more easily in the book and ultimately better monetize trades. But first, you need to make sure you don’t get waived off on the approach. Or more bruisingly, that you don’t get “the Heisman”, a stiff arm that feels painful, like Derrick Henry just lifted you off the ground and backwards. But instead of the grassy gridiron behind you as you try to roll off and get ready for the next play, you’re just standing there, in the middle of a room full of people, all looking at you, sort-of/kind-of feeling bad for you, wondering why the hell you opened your mouth without having anything much to say. Yep, it happens. It can be a career altering moment. Oh sure, most of the time PMs, bosses, teammates are nice. Some will be polite. They will even say, “thanks, good idea, but not right now”. But you self-aware types out there, (read: good analysts) know when it’s not happening. So, let’s avoid that little pitfall, shall we? Here is a proven architecture: