Why did we start a business? Because we had a vision that excited us. But after toiling away for months or years in the business, we sometimes lose sight of the vision that excited us. All the “in the weeds” or “see the forest from the trees” clichés come to haunt us.
To pitch to investors, we have to re-capture that vision and the excitement we started with. Many entrepreneurs make the same mistake; they forget that they are needed to excite investors and not to teach the investors about the nitty-gritty inner-workings of their business.
So, when you are going to meet the investors, keep in mind that you are not there to educate them, but to excite them. You should always remember that it is absolutely necessary for you to understand the needs of your investors and cater accordingly.
Therefore, before going for the investors’ meeting, cook up an interesting story about how and why you started your business. As humans, we are always interested in good stories and if your story is interesting and not over-dramatized, then the investors are bound to like it. I tried this with a pitch for ideatango and it worked fabulously at grabbing investors’ attention. Also, I don’t recommend putting your story on the slides; just speak from your heart.
Your presentation slides, however, should hit the highlights of your business. The rule I’ve heard is have no more than 10 slides for a 20 minute presentation, because that’s often all the time you have. Here are some things you should strongly consider including in your presentation slide package.
1. Introduction & Agenda: The name of your company, location and tagline with the presenter’s name and designation should be mentioned. Brief overview of what you’ll talk about.
2. Brief Company Overview: Generally explain what you are and what you do. Build the vision and story here. Keep this high level.
3. Customer Pain & Benefits: Talk about why customers buy your product or service. What benefit do you provide them? Potentially include some customer testimonials.
4. Market Information: Discuss market size, potential market share, and growth and trends for your target customers.
5. Competitive Advantage: How are you different from your competitors? This slide is probably the most important to investors, because it will help them ensure that you are unique and difficult to copy. Mention intellectual property you own.
6. Execution Strategy: Also a critical slide, more important the farther along your business. Talk about how you market and sell to your customers, how products are distributed, and day-to-day workings of major operations.
7. Management Team: Who makes the decisions? Who’s on the board?
8. Financials: Highlight 3-5 year sales, expenses, and profits for the investors. Stay at a high level, not too many numbers, otherwise eyes glaze over.
9. Capital Requirements: Talk about how much money you need from investors, how many rounds of funding, what sort of return should they expect, when they get their money back, and exit strategy.
10. Backup slides that have more detail if investors are interested.
Don’t forget to leave time for questions at the end!
- Bryan Daigle
President & Founder of ideatango.com – the #1 site for inventors & invention ideas For more good info & advice, check out the official IdeaTango Blog
