Real-Life Pitches: The Good, the Bad, and the Wordy When I put out a media query looking for small business owners who’d found big success by serving a tiny, focused niche, over 40 replies poured in — florists, financial planners, food scientists, brewery architects, and more. Only a handful made the cut. Most either didn’t fit the criteria or were so long-winded that I had to dig for the gold.