Tips When Making Your Pitch
I think there really is an art to a great pitch. It’s not something that comes overnight. I’m probably most excited to see the progression of our pitch from its first iteration (which will be posted up shortly) all the way to its final iteration that is used to close our round of funding. Hopefully that’s sooner than later. Keep in mind Fundraising is a whole lot more than “hearing a pitch”. I’ve put together a good list of advice, resources, thoughts,etc. that I have on the entire pitching process. This isn’t a “what to include in your slides”. There’s enough resources on that. I’ll most likely be updating this throughout the life of the project with things you contribute you via your comments and more resources I find.
- Solve a Problem… Off The Bat- Business are all about solving problems that people have. Investors are pitched numerous times a day, let alone a week. You need to get the value proposition in their head even sooner than a prospective customer.
- Don’t Clutter Slides- Many people often pitch with cluttered and irrelevant slides. You know what I’m talking about, the guys who fit in so much information that they have to start making the font size smaller. You know what that causes? Blackberry usage by the VCs. It’s overwhelming and a turnoff that causes them to concentrate elsewhere. Instead, use big font with one to a few main take home points. Make them focus on you! A lot of this can relate to the 10/20/30 rule that Guy Kawasaki has.
- Seeing Is Believing- Now this may not be true depending on the level of funding you’re going for/ the type of company you’re building. I’d say it falls true for mostly everyone though. HAVE SOME SORT OF DEMO to show. This is why I think Y Combinator’s demo days are important. It’s easy to state the problem your solving, but actually showing it can mean the world of difference. I know for a fact that as much as I clarify our pitch, nothing will have as much power as a DEMO.
- Let The Public Speaker Take Control- In founding teams, there’s always the “CEO type” or founder who loves to talk in public. Which one do you think I am :-)? Don’t let their be an argument- let them take control of the show. Make sure that the quieter founder also gets his say in and makes a presence known. Remember, vcs/angels invest in TEAMS, not one person, or uneven teams where there might be a problem. Frank and I agreed a while back, that I’d be doing most of the speaking and CEO type duties. He’s a smart and well spoken guy, but we both agreed where we would devote our energies. Also make sure that the rest of the founding team (usually one other person) knows the pitch deck from top to bottom.
- Don’t Be Late- Nothing more to say. DO NOT BE A DOUCHE AND BE LATE.
- Identify Next Steps- Too many entrepreneurs talk with VCs (I’ve been guilty of it before), and they never identify what the next step is. Granted, most investors, if they love it, won’t need you to motivate them. This sets a tone for deliverables on everyone’s end. Most likely they’ll either want you to talk with more of their partners, analysts, team members and/or speak with some trusted contacts in your industry.
- Tell A Story- Your company’s pitch should be told like a story, not some monotone “Revolutionary Contextual Advertising Startup For The Long Tail”. Do you have any clue how sick VCs are of hearing pitches? There’s even shirts dedicated to it. Everywhere they go, they get pitched. That term “elevator pitch” did not come from thin air. Be intriguing, give them a show, make them love the vision you’re building.
- Not Who You’re Competing Against, But Who You Aren’t- You need to list your competition out. One recent trend that I’ve started to integrate is a “who we aren’t competing against” slide. This makes things a whole lot clearer. Investors will understand who you are and aren’t competing against. Granted, the people you’re competing against, may end up deciding to compete against you.
- Bring Something Physical- It should usually be a print out of the slides + executive summary binded nicely. You can add in a business plan if you have it. My thoughts on business plans are another post…
That’s all I have for now. More to be added. Some of which, I’m sure I’ll add myself.
No responses yet