Why You Need To Make Your Pitch Helpful To Investors
Dear fellow entrepreneur,
I know you want to knock it out of the park with your pitch. And I know you want to help investors clearly see your vision.
[Do you want to grow your business? Maybe I can help. Click here.]
Here are my seven tips for hitting a home run each and every time you pitch to investors:
A. Know your audience.
Spend the time before you meet with an investor to learn about the investor. Read the investor’s biography on the fund’s webpage.
Go to LinkedIn and read the investor’s biography there too. Look at the investments the investor has previously made.
Maybe there are interviews the investor has done. Look those up and read, watch, and listen to them too.
All of this work will help you understand who you are talking to. The better you know someone, the better chance you have of receiving an investment.
Then…
B. Get to the meeting 15 minutes early.
Investors are notorious for being late. But you’re going to show up early.
Why? Because you never want to be late to an investor meeting. Just think of this 15 minutes early as your buffer in case of unforeseen circumstances.
Sometimes, the investor’s admin will let you set up early in the conference room you are going to meet in. So get your computer hooked up to the flatscreen and make sure everything is ready to go.
Then, after the investor arrives…
C. Get down to business fast.
Time is an investor’s most important commodity, so start your pitch quickly to be helpful. Yes, shake hands and exchange pleasantries, but you need to get moving.
You’ve got thirty minutes to an hour, maybe. If the investor was late to your meeting, assume you only have the remaining time to deliver your pitch.
That’s why…
D. You need to sell your business based on your first slide.
Investors make their decisions quickly. You have a limited amount of time, maybe seven to ten seconds, to get the investor you are meeting with excited about your company.
So help the investor make the right decision about your company by explaining in the first slide why the investor should invest in your company. You need to explain in the first slide:
- What your company does
- Why your company is 10X to 100X better than anything else
- How big the opportunity you are pursuing is
You can be even more helpful by…
E. Simplifying your pitch.
Less text and more graphics is always the way to go when you’re pitching. Always be thinking about how you can make it easier for an investor to see what your company's value is.
The simpler and easier it is for an investor to see what you’re doing, the more helpful you are being to the investor. Don’t try and prove how technical you are. Keep it simple and easy to understand.
This gives you the best chance for success.
Do you want to be even more helpful, then…
F. Have easy to follow, pro-forma financials in your slide deck.
Maybe it’s just the entrepreneurs I’ve been meeting lately, but I’ve seen this trend where financials are being shown as graphics. I’m old school, and I find it much easier to follow if your financials are shown in a spreadsheet format.
You can just cut and paste from your financial plan. You do have a financial plan, right? (Read: How Do You Know It's Time To Hire Your First Employee?)
Finally…
G. Have your backup slide deck at the ready.
There’s a common list of questions you are going to be asked that don’t fit into your deck. Include these slides in a backup deck, so you can help your potential investors get the information they are asking for on the spot.
That way the question is fresh in the investor’s mind, and you’ve immediately answered the question. That helps the investor, and it helps give you the best chance of success.
I hope you found my list of the seven steps you can take to make your pitch deck more helpful useful.
Best regards,
Brett
For more, read: How To Successfully Pitch Your Business In One Slide
Do You Want To Grow Your Business? Maybe I Can Help? Click Here.
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