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It’s been a long and winding road up to this point and you’ve still only made it to the starting line. You’ve come up with a great idea, assembled a team to help you implement that idea, secured clients and customers, researched the market, crunched the numbers and put together a business plan. There’s just one teensie weensie little detail that needs to be sorted out before you can get your company across that starting line and into the competition – money. It’s not easy to convince people to part with their money but there are investors out there who make a living doing just that. You just need to find the right ones and persuade them that your company is worth their while.

Once you’ve tracked down the right angel or venture capitalist and secured a meeting it’s time to take on the role of salesman. You can’t show up and expect your business to sell itself. You need to take command of the opportunity and prove to your audience that you are the next best investment for them. Here are a few ideas to help you prepare a perfect pitch that will assure the investors it is a good idea to pull the trigger on that starting pistol.

Excite, Don’t Explain

Heading into a presentation bogged down with statistics and numbers isn’t going to turn any heads. You need to stand apart from every other mundane proposal that is going to parade through their office. I’m not saying that you should enter the room through a puff of smoke with pyrotechnic sparks falling from the ceiling to theme music and open with a magic trick. But don’t subject them to 100 word-filled slides in a darkened room with a 45-minute lecture detailing your company’s quarterly financial plan for the next five years.

Venture capitalists and angel investors have to sit through these presentations all the time. They may have just heard a proposal before yours and chances are that they will be listening to another pitch by the time you are starting your car in the parking lot. Your job is to make sure that they are talking about your company over lunch. Be cordial and introduce yourself to everyone in the room. Learn about their past investments, use anecdotes that they will relate to and connect them to your company. Express passion about your company and your product because if you’re not excited then they won’t be excited. You need to create a buzz and stir up their emotions if they are going to remember you.

Keep Your Presentation Short

You can kill your chances of finding investors with too much information. Stick to the basics. Don’t overwhelm them with information. The ideal pitch length is 10 to 15 minutes. This will leave time for questions and further discussion about what they want to know as opposed to what you think they want to know.

Limit your accompanying slides to 10. You may be able to get away with 11 or 12 but any more than that and you might as well be showing them pictures of your trip to the Grand Canyon because they will lose interest. However, it is a good idea to have extra slides available to expound on any specific questions that you think may come up after you have made your pitch.

Engage The Audience

Encourage questions and answer them in a prompt and confident manner. Provoke discussion by asking your own questions about the investors, their interests and past ventures that relate to your company. By getting them involved in the pitch you decrease the chances that they will zone out, play with their blackberries or fall asleep. They are more likely to take an interest and you will stand out from all of the other companies that are vying for their money.

Avoid Templates

Articles and programs that outline the dos and don’ts of pitching can be helpful and should not, by any means, be discounted. However, do not take them as gospel. Every situation is different and should be treated accordingly. These types of aids do a good job of addressing the topics and are a good jumping off point to preparing your pitch. What they fail to cover is the details and spirit of your pitch so if you need to stray from the template then start wandering. You know your company, you know what it needs, you know what you need and you better know what your investors are looking for. Tailor your pitch to fit the needs of your company and the investors.

Tell The Truth

A good relationship cannot function without trust. If you cheat on your spouse then the next time you want to go out with your friends or need to work late you can count on you’re better half making sure that you are doing what you say you are doing – if they are still around at all. If you promised to pay your friend back that hundred bucks that he lent you and you never did then you will likely never see any money from him ever again.

The same goes for investors. Don’t fudge your numbers. Don’t guarantee customers or partners that you can’t follow up with. Don’t exaggerate the ability of you, your company or your staff. Don’t try to be more than you are or can be just to try and impress the investors. Likely, the opposite will happen and you will turn them off. If they find you sincere and trustworthy they are more likely to do business with you.

Be Clear, Detailed And Concise

We’ve already talked about how important it is to keep your presentation short but you also need to make sure that it is coherent. Your slides (limited to 10 or 12, of course) should be free of clutter. Limit the amount of words so that they can scan over them in a few seconds. They don’t want to read about your company they want you to tell them about it. If they are relevant and can help illustrate your point throw in a graph or a picture to break up the monotony of the text. Use large text so that it is easy to read and larger text to drive home the things that you really want them to remember like your company’s name and a tagline that summarizes your business. Make sure that you keep the language simple and resist the urge to use jargon.

Talk about how your company is unique, what kind of service you will provide, who your customers will be, what market void you are going to fill and how you are going to fill it. Introduce the key players in your company including the relevant qualifications of each member and the role that they will play. Outline your business model and map out your financial projections (up to five years), requirements and milestones. Don’t waste any words and do all of this in 15 to 20 minutes. If you’re looking for some help, “I Will Fix My Pitch” offers some great ideas about what to include in each of your slides and a few tips on how to make your pitch more effective.

Your Ambition Must Be Realistic

Investors are looking for ambitious businesses to put their money into so don’t downplay your company’s potential. Just don’t get carried away. If you waltz in claiming that your company will put Starbucks out of business in the next year, you will likely end up serving the investors a Grande, skim-milk, vanilla latte from behind the counter of the Starbucks in their lobby instead of going into business with them. Starbucks didn’t get to where they are today because there was no competition. They beat the competition because they know what they are doing. The investors need to know that you understand that.

You have to show them that you have a grip on the market and reality. Prove to the investors that you understand how to compete successfully. Tell them how you plan to draw customers and clients, how many, where they will come from and why they need your service.

On the other hand, contrary to being overambitious is trying to sell them on only needing a small percentage of the market to succeed. Even one percent of the market can be difficult to achieve and investors aren’t interested in what you need to get by. They want you to do more than get by. If they are going to buy into your company then they are looking for a good chance of resounding success.

You’re Not Alone

No matter what kind of service or product your business is going to provide chances are somebody else is already doing it. If nobody is doing it then somebody has likely tried and failed. If this is the case you need to explain what you are going to do different to make it work. If your service or product will be creating a new market then don’t try to convince the investors that nobody else is able to do it. This comes across as cocky. Basically, you need to recognize that you are going to have competition and understand how you are going to meet it successfully.

Control The Flow of The Meeting

Take note of body language and the questions that are being asked and steer the pitch in the right direction. If your audience is shifting in their seats, looking around the room or watching the clock then it is time to move on to the next point. If they look confused then ask if they have any questions. You need to address all of their queries in a clear and concise manner without dwelling. If the investors don’t understand what you are talking about then they won’t hear another word you say but if you hover around a single point too long then they will simply lose interest.

Be Prepared For Follow-up

If you have some real brand names or big name people involved in your company don’t leave them out. In a casual manner work them into your pitch as early and often as you can. Too little, too late won’t stick and too much will overshadow the core of your business and make them seem like a heavy crutch. However, make sure that these brands or people are aware that they are involved and be ready for the investors to contact every one of the names that you drop. If any of the deals or agreements are tentative then leave them out completely. You don’t want to commit with the investors when there is any possibility of a big deal falling through.

You also need to be prepared for a thorough investigation of your projections and the team. Provide contact information for yourself and all of the key players within your company. Make sure that all of your associates are reliable, informed and qualified. When it comes to projections be able to back up your numbers with research and make sure that the investors will find the same thing when they are digging around. It is likely that they are already familiar with the market so they will know exactly what they are looking for and where to find it. This may all seem elementary but it is easy to get caught up with impressing the investors and lose focus your objective to obtain funding for a realistic, viable company that will benefit everybody and build strong business relationships.

REFERENCES

1. Guy Kawasaki’s How To Change The World (Blog) – The Top Ten Lies of Entrepreneurs, The Entrepreneur’s New Year’s Resolution: “I Will Fix My Pitch”

2. eHow – How to Prepare a Pitch to a Venture Capitalist

3. Fast Company – Perfecting Your Pitch, Part One: Assume Short Buildings

4. VCA Online – Venture Capital Presentation/Pitch

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Staff :: May.16.2007 :: Features ::