The Art of Pitching

InvestorPitch (for bath profitsand nat-far-profits)

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TItle Organization name; your name and The audience can read the

title; and contact information. slide---this is where youexplain what your organizatiadoes. ("We sell software." "Vsell hardware." "We are aschooL" "We are a church:"

"We protect the environmentCut to the chase!

Problem Describe the pain that you're alleviat- Avoid looking like a solutioning.The goal is to get everyone nod- searching for a problem. Miniding and "buying in." mile or eliminate citations of

consulting studies about thefuture sile f your market.

Solution Explain how you alleviate this pain This is not the place for anand the meaning that you make. in-depth technical explanaticEnsure that the audience clearly Provide just the gist of howunderstands what you sell and your you fix the pain-for exampllvalue proposition. "We are a discount travel WE

site. We have written softwarthat searches ail other travel

sites and collates their prieequotes into one report"

Business Model Explain how you make money: who Generally, a unique, untestepays you, your channels of distribu- business model is a scary prtion" and your gross margins. position. If you truly have a

revolutionary business mode

explain it in terms of familiaones. This is your opportunilto drop the names of the or-ganizations that are alreadyusing your product or servicE

Uhderlying Magic Describe the technology, secret The less text and the more

sauce, or magic behind your product diagrams, schematics, andor service. flowcharts on this slide, the

better. White papers and ob-

jective proofs of concepts arehelpful here.

The.Artof the Start

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InvestorPitch(forbathprofitsandnot-for-profits)cont'd.

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Marketing andSaJes Explain h9Wyou are going to reach Convince the audience that

you'r customer and your marketing you have an effective go-to-

leverage points. market strategy that won'tbreak the- fiank.

Competition Provid,a complete vlew of the com- Never dismiss your competi-

petitiitelandscap,e. Too much is lion. Everyone-customers,better than too little. investors, employees-wants

to hear why you're good, ROtwhy the competition is bad.

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ManagementTeam' Describe th key playersof your Don't be afraid to show uprnanagementteam, board of direc- with Jessthan a perfect team.tors, and bOardof advisors,as weiL Ali startups haveholes in theias your major mvestors. team-what's truly important

is whether you understand, that there are holes and are

willing to fix thelTl.

FinanclalProjections Provide a five-year forecast contain- Do a bottom-up forecast (mandKeyMetric$'i

'.ing ROt ORlydollars but also key about this in Chapter 5, "TImetrics, such as number of customers Art of Bootstrapping"). TakEand conversion rate. into accouRt long sales cycl

and seasonality. Makingpeople understand the und!Iying assumptions of your

'" forecast is as important as 1

- numbers you've fabricated.

CurrentStatus, Explain !he currnt status of your Share the details of your posiAccompllshments product or service, what the near tive momemtum and traction,

Date, Timeline,and, " .future looks like, and how you'lI use Then use this slide to closeUseofFunds the money you're trying to raise. with a bias toward action.

The Art of Pitching

Sales Prospect Pitch

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Title Organization Dame; your Dame and The audience tan read thetitle; and contact Information. slide-this is where you

explain what yourorganizatiOidoes. ("We sell software." "Wsell hardware." "We are aschool." "We are a church."

J "We protect the envlronment.Cut to the chase!

Problem Describe the customer pain thaï Be sure thaï you are sure tha1you're alleviating. you're describing pain the

customer bas.

Solution Explain how you alleviate this pain. This is Dot the place for anin-depth technical explanaticProvide just the gist of howyou fix the pain.

Salll$ Model Ensure that the audience clearly" \ This is your opportunity tounderstands what you sell and your drap the Damesof theorgani-.value proposition. zations thaï are alr!,!adybuy-

ing your product or service.If you have a strong storyin ibis area, add a si idecalled "Current Customers"

instead of talking about ithere.

Technology Describe the technology, secret The legs text and the more

sauce, or magic behind your product diiigrams, schematics, andor service. flowcharts on ibis slide, the

better. White papers and ob-jeètive proofs of concepts arehelpful here.

Demo If possible, segue iota a live demo A demo is worth a thousand

of your product or service at ibis slides if you tan do a good1 point. one.

The Art of the Start

Sales Prospect Pitch cont'd.

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pitch youe organization using a projector. Think about it: Any ven-

ture capitalist who survived the dotcom carnage is probably avecforty and bas deteriorating vision. A good ruIe of rhumb for font size

is to divide the oldest investor's age by two, and use that font size.

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EXERCISE

Deleteail the text that is smaller than fourteen points in your pres-

entation.Whatremains iswhat your audience can read.

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Seriously, if you have to use a small font to accommodate rouematerial, you're putting tao niuch detail on the slide. Each slide

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CompetitiveAnalysis Providea complete view of the com- Fil1dout.inadvancewhatpetitive landscape. Toomuch is competitive product or ser-better than too little. vice the prospect uses. Even

better, try to find out whatproblems the prospect ishavingwith il. However,neverdismiss your compe-tition. Customerswant tohear why you're good, notwhy the competition is bad.

ManagementTeam Describethe key playersof your The purposeof doing this ismanagementteam, board of direc- to make the prospect feeltors, and board of advisors, as weil comfortable with buying framas your major IOvestors. a startup.

NextSteps End your presentationwith a cali toaction such as a trial period or atest installation.. ...

TheArt of Pitching

PotentialPartnerPitch

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Title Organization name; your nameand The audience can readthetitre; and contact information. slide-this is whereyeu

explain what your organiza-, tien does. ("We sel! softwàre.'

"We sel! hardware." "We area school." "We are a church.""We protect the environ-ment.") Cut to the chase!

Problem Describethe customer pain that Be sure that the potentialyou're alleviating. partner currently sells, or

wants to sel!, to the samecustomer as yeu do.

Solution Explain how yeu alleviate this pain The goal is to get the poten-for the customer, plus how yeu could tial partner thinking how 2 +do an even better job.with a part- 2 can equal 5.nership.

PartnershipModel Explain howthe partnership would This slide should continuework: who doeswhat, when, how, and the positive effects of thewhy. previousslide-making the

synergiesmoreand moreapparent and appealing.

UnderlyingMagic Describethe technology, secret The legstext and the more

sauce, or magic behind your product diagrams,schematics, andor service. flowcharts on this slide, the

better. The purpose is to con-vince the potential partnerthat yeu havesomethingspecial.

Demo If possible, segueinto a rivedemo Just like for customers, aof your product or service at this demo is worth a thousandpoint. siides if yeu can do a good on

Competition This is an optional slide. The mainreasonto skip it is to avoid informingyour potential partner of a betterorganization to work with than yours.

The Art of the Start

PotentiâlPartnérPitchcont'd.

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ManagementTeam Describe the key players of yourmanagement team, board of direc-tors, and board of advisors, as weilas your major investors.

Thepurpose of doingthis isto make the potential partnerfeel comfortable with workingwith a startup.

HextSteps End your presentation with a cali toaction such as a trial period or atest installation.