So your ready to make your business pitch, the gears are turning and its time to show what you have. Before you do, I’d like you to consider the following points. Work the list below, and harden your presentation with lots of practice and focus.
1) Less is more – If there is one point I hope you take away. Keep it concise and to the point. Ten slides or less and know your material backwards and forwards.
2) Set that Hook – Whether in an elevator or in a VC presentation, you have precious little time to get them interested. My guess is about 15 seconds in an elevator and maybe a minute or two at your presentation.
MIT conducts a forum where entrepreneurs present their pitch, upon which a vote is taken to listen and pursue the ones found worthy. The time of the pitch…one minute.
When you see everyone reach for their iPhone or Crackberry, your toast.
3) Just the Facts – Remember that the investor assumes you to be overly positive and prone to mass exaggeration. Don’t fall in the trap of coming in with a plan showing a huge market penetration or the classic hockey stick financials. Keep it real and show strong consistent growth. (That is if the plan assumptions truly justify it.)
When I see a presentation with a best case, predicted, or worse case scenario, guess which one I focus on? Be ready to back up your assumptions and never, never walk in and say we have no competition.
4) Be and show you are Frugal – Investors, be they VC’s or Angels, want to know you are hungry and cost effective. Often when funded, companies tend to operate in OPM (Other Peoples Money) mode. Investors are looking to see if you are an OPM spender. Don’t show up dressed in all black, driving a brand new Mercedes. Be real, and show you are going to treat their money like Scrooge on steroids.
5) Come with a single focus – Rome was not built in a day, and nor will your company be built in a day. Remember how Google started with a single page search engine. While Microsoft and Yahoo had these incredibly complicated home pages, Google’s was stupid simple.
In the same vein, focus on a single product, in a single area or space. Once you prove you can execute in one space, then and only then, move on to cookie-cutter your growth. Believe me, the “we will make it up in volume,” never works.
6) Team – One of my favorite sayings in business is, “Great leaders build great teams.” Hire to your weaknesses and be proud of the fact that many if not most may be smarter than you. Think of yourself as a basketball coach. Each and every player must carry the load. The bench is deep and only the best will make you successful. This is not a time to carry a friend on your back or that cousin whose dad gave you a little money. Play hard and play to win!
There are many points to be made, but I think this will get you off to a good start. So let us know how it goes, comments welcome.
