The art of the elevator pitch: state-of-the-art and research agenda

Abstract Despite its inherent brevity, the elevator pitch is a complex concept, often hard to master for both scholars and entrepreneurs. Being able to effectively convey an entrepreneurial idea while simultaneously keeping the investors’ attention and trust high requires meticulous planning and a strong execution. Entrepreneurship scholars have investigated the elevator pitch at length in recent years, yet the field remains scattered due to conflicting results and the overall predominance of case study-based empirical research. Consequently, our study presents a systematic literature review of the quickly growing scientific literature on the elevator pitch, focusing on articles published from 2014 to 2024, in an attempt to both critically analyze what has already been established in current literature and derive a structured research agenda based on critical gaps found in the analysis. By combining bibliometric analyses and qualitative coding, we extracted three emerging themes characterizing the field, namely the use of the elevator pitch in entrepreneurship research, the attempts to derive elevator pitch best practices in terms of content and delivery, and how the use of technology is reshaping the concept of the elevator pitch. The research provides both theoretical and practical insights. From a theoretical perspective, it serves as a guide for researchers to link current research areas to future trends. For practitioners and entrepreneurs, the study serves as a multidisciplinary reference for the current state of the art of elevator pitch knowledge.