10 must do’s for successful pitching

Most of us hate it, but most of us have to go through it at least once in our startup life time:
PITCHING! But as the saying goes: If you didn’t get dirty, you didn’t play! Here are some tips
that help you hit the homerun.

1) The Project and the Team

There are only 2 parts to a pitch: The Project and the Team! You need to get both right to convince an investor. Knowing that the Team has most often more than 50% weight in the decision making.

2) Get your Team right

Be clear on your team’s skill set, experience and capacity. Fill in the blanks via your mentors, advisors or your board!
Looking for an Asian investor? Talk about your past success cases.
Looking for an US based investor - celebrate your past failures!

3) Explain the Problem

Don’t focus on your Product, focus on the Problem! Tell a Story. Investors need to know what the problem is you are solving and why. It’s not your love to your product that counts, it is the love of the potential thousands of consumers to your product that will matter!

4) Seeing is believing

A photo or demo can tell more than thousand words. Or a customer testimonial. You don’t have your MVP yet? Focus on the nitty-gritty elements, but don’t get lost in the details! Keep it simple and impactful.

5) Traction & Milestones

Have your hockey stick chart ready! If you do not have proof of concept yet, at least show that you know exactly where you are going - and be ambitious!

6) What’s your competitive advantage

Breakthrough technology (you’d better have it protected) or network/scale? Be clear on not only how/where you are going to be superior, but also which points need to be at least on parity in order to successfully compete vs. other players!

7) Be precise on your monetisation model

The more detailed, the better. No worries, you can always pivot moving forward. But don’t say: There are plenty of ways to monetise from advertising over selling big data to subscription ..... to an investor, this reads like“I have no clue and not even thought about it”.

8) Inspire trust

Be honest. You don’t know everything and it is OK not to know everything. But don’t BS! Get back to the investor and show that you are reliable and able to follow-up.

9) Practice

Practice. Practice. Practice. Everyday, everywhere, to your team and to people that know nothing about what you do.
One more time : Practice. Practice. Practice.

10) Questions

Prepare for questions and know how to deal with tough ones! Never start by answering an investor’s question with “good question”.
Instead take a deep breath, answer with stats and numerical when applicable. Show confidence and direct to the key points you want to highlight.

Don’t be defensive: Feedback is a gift! Put each and every single ounce of energy you have into your pitch. Remember, investors invest in people.

#StartupPassion

Initially posted on Hong Kong Vibes