Kelvin Johnson Jr. wanted to find a better way to help startup founders craft and deliver the perfect pitch. Leveraging his expertise in technology and consulting, Johnson co-founded Brevity, a Minneapolis-based software-as-a-service company, which uses AI to help entreprenuers improve their pitch to clinch deals.
“If someone has an amazing idea, concept, proposal, internal pitch, whatever it may be, what are the current solutions in the marketplace to improve someone's ability to craft and deliver a persuasive pitch?” Johnson said in an interview. “... I saw a clear gap when it came to story content, messaging and delivery.”
After going through an initial beta-testing period, Brevity launched its software on the market in November. He's now looking to further scale by raising additional capital and gaining more customers, particularly sales teams, Johnson said.
Johnson, who grew up in west Philadelphia, was initially in the accounting space, earning his CPA despite the insistence of his parents, who were in sales, that Johnson "can't stop running (his) mouth," he recalled. He later realized they were right, transitioning into consulting work and later, the tech startup space where he could "see (his) ideas come to fruition" at a Denver firm called ThrivePass.
That job eventually brought him to the Twin Cities, where he started his own freelance consulting group, Humble Warrior Advisors, and began helping early-stage entrepreneurs go to market and secure funding. But in this work, he recognized that consulting can be expensive and time-consuming for founders, and other software services didn't adequately address the communication side of forming and delivering a pitch, he said.
So, in 2020, Johnson formed Brevity alongside co-founder Maximilian Huc.
Brevity's software works by allowing individuals to form their pitch using AI-enabled guidance based on factors like audience, pitch type and pitch duration, as well as practice its delivery and gain feedback, according to Brevity's website.
So far, Brevity has secured more than $2 million in capital, with the help of a recent infusion from Cincinnati-based Lightship Capital. Minneapolis-based Brown Venture Group is another investor.
Under its beta mode, the company has been able to help over 200 founders, including several who participated in the University of Minnesota's startup pitch competition, the Minnesota Cup, Johnson said. (The longtime director of the Minnesota Cup, Jessica Berg, recently announced she was leaving the program to join Brevity as head of business development.)
After Brevity launched commercially last fall, the company’s first customer was MEDA, the Metropolitan Economic Development Association, which saw a $24 million jump in contracts it was able to secure for its entrepreneurs and small business owners for its Ascend Twin Cities program after partnering with Brevity, Johnson said.
With a team of five full-time employees, Brevity's vision to to be able to help individuals feel understood, Johnson said.
“It sucks to be overlooked, it sucks to miss opportunities, but the greatest pain ... is being misunderstood,” he said. "A lot of what we're doing is helping to empower the misunderstood.”
