Pitching your startup to investors is just as much art as it is science. I’ve personally pitched 100+ times and I’ve been pitched 100 more. I’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t. This article outlines some of the key things to focus on to win over investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I believe pitching is as much art as it is science. Last week I attended the Tech Coast Angels fast pitch competition<\/a> at UCLA, an event I won in 2007<\/a>. As I was listening to the pitches, I realized that the quality of the presentations were dramatically better than when I was on the stage 5 years earlier. I also attended the Mucker Labs demo day<\/a> the other day; another great event and another observation about pitches. Pretty much every pitch was at par or above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Certainly anyone in the startup scene in LA can see that the quality of entrepreneurs in this city has gone up as a whole in the past few years. This is probably one reason the pitch bar has been raised so much. But I think there is another reason. I believe the science of pitching, particularly in large group settings and on stage has become more commoditized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There has been an explosion of startup events from Startup Weekends to demo days. Pretty much anyone with an idea and a napkin has had an opportunity to get on stage and pitch their vision. Because of this, coaching, feedback and examples of what works and what doesn\u2019t work have become much more prevalent and readily available. There are a clear set of attributes that must be included in the pitch and it\u2019s not hard to find out what those things are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Just five years ago, the science of pitching was a bit more of a secret that you often had to learn the hard way (by doing bad pitches) or by hunting for a mentor in small pool of experienced people willing to lend a hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That leads me to the other side of pitching, the art. I believe the art of pitching is probably more important than the science. The art is what distinguishes you and your company. When you pitch to a large audience, particularly when everyone is delivering well organized, thoughtful, clear and consice pitches, you need something to stand out from the pack. Interestingly this is exactly what was missing in the TCA pitches and even the Mucker ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many of the pitches lacked personality. Nothing really resonated and I was left feeling a bit odd because I knew I had just heard a great pitch, but I really had no idea if the business and team was something I wanted to invest in. The pitches were almost robotic in a way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s just an observation of course; a hypothesis<\/a>. But it makes sense and it\u2019s rather ironic. For a while there people just sucked at pitching (frankly that\u2019s why I won the TCA competition in 2007 because pretty much all of the other pitches were mediocre to piss poor on the science side. The fact that I delivered a clear and concise message when everyone else was all over the place made it an easy vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So I go back to the art. The art is differentiation and being different, in a sea of same, is exactly what people connect with\u2026 particular if that sea of same is actually a quality pitches not shit ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the first part of this article I talked about pitching to an audience, primarily on stage. What about pitching to a small group of people, like a VC or investor meeting? Pitching in this setting is quite different and requires a different approach. As it relates to the content here, I\u2019m speaking primarily of super early stage pitches; seed, angel, back-of-napkin<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve sat in more than 100 of these pitches here at Amplify<\/a> since November so I\u2019ve seen just about everything; the good, the bad and the REALLY ugly. I figured I would share some best practices (and worst practices too).<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think pitching in an intimate setting like a conference room with a handful of people (3\u20135) is more art than science. It\u2019s largely about reading the participants and adapting in real-time. The best pitches I\u2019ve seen are very dynamic in that they don\u2019t follow a script, they know when to speed up or slow down, and they shift from high level to detail specific on a dime. Here are 11 do\u2019s and don\u2019ts to consider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a well-known strategy that most of the best salespeople do a shitload of research about the company and people they are selling to before they meet them; down to the schools their kids go to. This approach works just as well in a pitch. The more you know about the people you\u2019re pitching, the better you can tailor the conversation. Know which companies they\u2019ve invested in. Know what kinds of products and services they like. Know the names of people they respect or do business with. Don\u2019t be creepy, be smart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Seriously, pay the fuck attention to what people do with their bodies in the meeting. I\u2019m always surprised at how little this is monitored but it’s chock full of cues. When people begin to get fidgety, they\u2019re losing interest, it\u2019s time to speed up or change topics\/gears. If they\u2019re leaning forward listening attentively, give them more. If they pretzel and look confused or in disbelief, slow down and articulate your points better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019re going to get objections, it\u2019s all good. Don\u2019t get defensive about it though. Take it as insight; perspective and feel free to disagree. But watch the tone and tempo, if things start to get heated or people \u201cpuff up\u201d too much, don\u2019t push it and divert the conversation. I\u2019ve seen conversations go totally south and never come back from this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yeah, this sounds obvious, but I swear, people take forever to get to the point. You don\u2019t have a long time so know what the most important points you want to get across are (which btw usually are one of just a few things like: what your product does, how you make money, the problem you are solving, etc.). Whatever the most important things are, get too them quickly, if the pitch goes well you\u2019ll have time later to get into a deep discussion on the ancillary coolness that you\u2019re accomplishing at the same time like being a green company or whatever.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Too many people read slides in pitches, don\u2019t do this. The easiest way to solve this is to not write complete sentences on your slides, then there\u2019s nothing to \u201cread\u201d. Just have bullets and talk to them. If you don\u2019t know how to do that, then practice with your co-founders beforehand.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have a demo, then get to it, quick. The demo speaks a thousand words and by the way, you can speak while you show the demo so better to do it sooner than later. If you don\u2019t have a demo, that\u2019s cool; <\/strong>try to show screenshots or wire frames. I also like to show comps of competitors or other products that are similar enough that give a sense of how nice you think the design should be (which you should have already done yourself anyway).<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u200aThis is an amazing thing; a pretty deck actually goes a long way. I\u2019ve been in pitches where the company had a beautiful deck but the idea was total shit. The founders are often given an incredible amount of leeway to talk through the business; this can lead to a pivot even in the meeting. This isn\u2019t a terrible thing btw, particularly if the investors take some ownership in the ideation and want to see you be the team to execute on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Incidentally, as much as I think the pretty deck is a good thing, a shitty deck can hurt you even more. Creating a beautiful deck is effing easy, just copy someone else\u2019s beautiful deck; no shame. Yes, the content will be unique, but use their header, typeface, content style, etc. Making a shitty deck is harder, most likely because you spent a shitload of time filling it with text and ugly graphs or pictures. Pro Tip: less is more; less content = more attractive deck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Two things; people love to hear themselves speak and smart people say smart things. When you\u2019re pitching to investors listen to what they say. They\u2019re either going to tell you exactly what they want you to say or they\u2019ll give you real nuggets of value, probably both. When you\u2019re talking most likely you\u2019re not listening, there is a good chance they aren\u2019t either so be very aware of your listening; it\u2019s actually a tricky thing, just ask your wife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a big one, I talked about it a bit in #2\u200a\u2014\u200awatch body cues. You need adjust the cadence and velocity of your pitch throughout the meeting to maintain the perfect balance of engagement and understanding. This is best learned from practice, so pitch a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I really don\u2019t like cocky people, even those that have earned the right to be cocky. It\u2019s just annoying. But being confident is essential. <\/strong>My experience has been that people invest in confidence as much as anything else and confidence can go a long way when everything else is shit. If you believe in what you\u2019re doing, and you better, then show it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Let people know you have confidence in your vision. Backing it up with real data points and metrics can help, but even without that, confidence works alone.BTW, confidence goes hand-in-hand with passion; don\u2019t forget passion<\/a>. Passion with confidence is a killer combo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, let them know what you need from them. Investors, like anyone, want to be wanted for more than just money. Frankly, at this stage, the money is not important; it\u2019s everything else: guidance, mentorship<\/a>, introductions, etc. Tell them how much you appreciate all that. Even if they don\u2019t invest, you might get all that shit for free!<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Art of the Pitch\u200a\u2014\u200aPart II<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Know Your Audience<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Watch Body Cues<\/strong>\u200a<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t Get Defensive\u200a<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Get to the Point<\/strong>\u200a<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t Read Slides<\/strong>\u200a<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Do the Demo<\/strong>\u200a<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Pretty up the Deck<\/strong>\u200a<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Listen<\/strong> Up\u200a<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Adjust Cadence Velocity<\/strong>\u200a<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Be Confident Not Cocky<\/strong>\u200a<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Ask for Help<\/strong>\u200a<\/h3>\n\n\n\n