Pitching… that thing we force notoriously introverted entrepreneurs to do for funding. The main idea is that an entrepreneur— unless his name is Bernard Arnault or Elon Musk — has limited resources and needs the financial support of pockets that are substantially deeper than his own.
Successful startups are created on a great idea and greatness here implies workable ideation. No matter how revolutionary the idea is, it is akin to an investment. As a founder you can sow in the initial fund for your business but for you to grow would require a substantial injection of capital. Presenting a perfect Pitch worth attracting an investment has been a struggle that founders are challenged with. To Grow a startup you need investment and to get investments you need to clearly, effectively and convincingly communicate your business to investors.
If you, as an aspiring business leader, want potential partners and investors to buy into your idea, you need to sell it in a concise, explicit and exciting way to a floor of overconfident, seen-it-all financiers who might not know much about the technical complexities of that next big idea you’re certain to have found.
Today, pitching is an integral part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem and an inevitable hurdle on the road to financial sustainability. You are about to discover some really interesting tips that will help you master the art of Pitching.
1) StoryTelling.
Neurology has shown that stories stimulate the brain and even change how people act in life.
“The brain, it seems, does not make much of a distinction between reading about an experience and encountering it in real life; in each case, the same neurological regions are stimulated.” New York Times
So telling a story with your investor pitch makes investors remember what you say and gives them the feeling of experiencing what you pitch in their minds.
2) Use Real Numbers.
Vague ideas and guesstimations have no place in your investor pitch deck. You don’t want to give investors an impression you do not know what you are going through. You want to build investment confidence
To have enough confidence to invest in your product, investors must see genuine validation with real numbers. If you’re using charts or graphs, include numbers and text that give a quick understanding of the data you’re presenting.
Whether you’re talking about company growth,market size, or revenue stream, using real numbers adds meaning to an otherwise vague and unconvincing pitch.
3) Great Design.
A well designed pitch deck shows investors, the meeting is important to you that you took some time and effort to create to make a presentation pretty.
It actually communicates that you are organised and put in efforts to make what’s valuable to you the best. It may not seem like a big deal, however having a visually appealing, and well-designed pitch deck can help you in the long run.
4) Keep to date Your team’s information.
Give investors an up to date information of your team. Getting investment may require many meetings and as the startup experiences change make sure to update the changes on your deck.
5) Be Transparent and Honest.
Investors are never convinced by “I all have it in place founders” or “I know it all founders”, if you were, you wouldn’t be pitching. They need you to be honest with everything your startup is going through and the areas of your business you are still trying to figure out. Are you losing money? Explain to them with clear solutions and strategies to improve. It shows you are working to better your startup and alleviates the minds of investors. The fact that you hide something under the rug will ruin your reputation. Transparency is the best investment policy. You shouldn’t Pitch if you want to hide aspects of your startups from investors.
6) Bold and Realistic Project.
You have dreams, you have the vision. Your bold vision and how eloquent you present it will convince investors that you know what it takes to build a successful startup. Don’t underestimate the potential of your startup. Get the investors to buy your vision.
7) Be Prepared for Questions.
For investors to give you money you have to prove that your idea is worthwhile, reasons why immediately after pitching, you’ll be bombarded with many questions to see if you know what you are getting into and doing. Thus, preparing for questions is very essential. Write down expected questions from your pitch presentation. While you do your best to include the important things in your pitch deck remember they still have questions. This will help you not be defensive when answering questions. Being defensive is never an option – it offends investors. Admitting you do not have an answer to a question is not a big deal.
Talk to other Founder of similar field(or not) who have pitched to an audience of investors to find out the kind of questions they received. It will help you prepare more.
That’s it! The next time you are going for a sales pitch, make sure you follow up on these tips outlined above and see your results!
And if pitching for Investment is still a Matter of concern for you? Mountain Hub will soon Launch “Pitch Master Class” to get you the investment you Need.
Before we close the read, we want you to stay alert on our next blog post which will be focused on reasons why should attend Pitch events in the first place.
If this sounds like a teaser to you, see you later!