The pitch is the most critical moment in a startup’s life. It’s your chance to make an impression on investors, and it could be the difference between having funding and going broke. But how do you craft a pitch that captivates investors and makes them want to give you money? That’s what we’re here to talk about! We’ve put together some tips for creating a pitch-perfect enough to make even the most jaded investor give you their cash.
Keep things simple
If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a sales pitch, you know how annoying it can be when the person pitching to you goes on and on about everything but what’s being sold. You just want them to get down to business. In other words, keep it short and sweet. If you’re talking about your startup, that means no more than three minutes—max!
Keep it simple: don’t try to cover everything in your pitch; if they want more info, they will ask questions later. Don’t try to be funny (it never works) or make it too entertaining; focus instead on explaining why your company is unique and how those qualities will help solve a real problem or meet an actual need among consumers/customers/users/patients/etc., etc., etc.,…
Don’t talk too much about yourself
Don’t let your pitch be a big me, me, me fest. Your audience doesn’t care about you or your team. They don’t want to hear about how awesome your product is. And they certainly don’t need the history of your company or its future—they want to know what you can do for them today.
Don’t talk too much about competitors either; it’s not going to help them decide whether they should invest in you or not.
Find a problem your startup solves
Finding the right problem gives your startup a chance to succeed. It’s important to pick a problem that is big enough to be worth solving, but not so big that it can’t be solved by you and your team.
It’s also important that you have experience with the problem or are passionate about it. Otherwise, you may lose interest when things get tough (and they will).
Why is that a big problem?
The reason why you’re even pitching your idea in the first place is that you see a problem — and others do, too. It’s important to be able to clearly explain why the problem exists and how it affects people.
What are the consequences of this problem?
For example: does this lead to unhappy customers, an inefficient process or missed opportunities? Who is affected by this issue? Is there a big market for solving this issue (and if so, how big)? How long have other companies been working on solving it (if at all)? What are some of the challenges involved in solving it (for example, time constraints)?
How does your startup solve it?
- Tell a story.
- Use examples.
- Don’t use jargon or technical terms.
Don’t hype your team or product
The most common mistake we see in pitches is when founders spend too much time talking about themselves and their company. Don’t be that guy! You may think you’re the best thing since sliced bread, but investors will see through any attempts to hype your team or product.
Instead, focus on delivering a clear message about what you do and why it matters. Think of it as an elevator pitch: what would you say if someone asked you what your business is all about while walking down the hallway with them? That’s the kind of answer investors want to hear.
Don’t talk about irrelevant metrics or milestones
Avoid talking about irrelevant metrics, milestones and competitors.
Although it may be tempting to mention your company’s growth over the last year or how you beat out the competition in the latest round of funding, these details aren’t important when pitching a startup like fxapi.com or freecurrencyapi.com. Instead, focus on what makes your company unique—the product or service it provides and how it is different from its competitors.
Be prepared for tough questions
If you’re pitching a business plan to investors, you should be prepared for tough questions. You will likely be asked about your team, product, and market, as well as how you will make money and what makes your company different from competitors.
A good pitch tells investors why their money is going to make them a lot more money than they have now
You need to make sure that the investor has a clear understanding of how his or her money will be used in your business. If you are unable to articulate what problem your product or service solves and how it does so, then you should rework your pitch until you can clearly communicate this information.
Investors want to know that there is a clear path to profitability (or at least sustainability), but they also want to know what kind of financial returns they can expect from their investment. They usually aren’t interested in making personal loans just because they like you; they need more concrete reasons than that. So if your startup isn’t profitable today and doesn’t look likely to become profitable soon, it may be time for a pivot—or maybe just time for something else entirely different.
Be sure that any numbers included in your pitch are real—don’t inflate them or leave them out altogether just because it might sound better this way—and back up any claims with data whenever possible (for example: “We have 100 active users per day on average over the last three months.”).
Conclusion
The final takeaway is that pitching your startup to investors is a lot like dating—you’ve got to know what they want and show them why they should love you instead of other options. You also need to be able to tell a good story about how you’re going to get there. And finally, if you can’t think of anything else, keep telling yourself over and over again that it doesn’t matter if nobody likes your idea so long as someone does.
Interesting Related Article: “4 Tips To Run a Modern Startup“