!

How to Pitch a VC in English

Investor Pitch

• Elevator pitch

• 10 slide presentation

Elevator Pitch

• Goal to create interest NOT get investment

• who you are

• what you do

Investor Pitch

Convince an investor that YOU are the person to invest in

in the industry that you are going after

RULE 1

!

• Pace/tempo (slow down, relax)

• Articulate (your name, company name, description)

• Body language

By Adeo Ressi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i68Hts-5gDM

Display Confidence

RULE 2 • No excuses!

• Tired

• First presentation

• No time to do research

• No data

RULE 3 • Avoid Superlatives (any adjectives)

• Huge

• Best

• First, only, number one

• Rock stars

• Revolutionary

• Fast

• Including buzz words, acronyms, industry jargon

Use data

I’m in _____ market that has a 150M _____s and they spend an average of $_____ every

_____

RULE 4

RULE 5

• Money

• Partners

• Connections

• Team

Ask what you need

More Tips to Remember • Articulate YOUR business!

• 3 most important things to say

• Do not save the best for the last

• Every single slide has a reason

• Don’t start with a question

• Relate to the audience, especially VC

• Validate

• Do a demo

• Master 15 seconds pitch: who you are, what you do

1. Integrity

2. Passion

3. Experience

4. Knowledge

5. Skills

6. Commitment

7. Vision

8. Realism

9. Ability to learn (be coached)

Things to Communicate

Distractors1. Speed & articulation

2. Body language

3. No eye contact

4. Typos

5. Poor logic/structure

6. Things that are not true

7. Things that VC does not understand

8. Things that make VC think

9. Inconsistencies

10. Poor Q&A handling

Presentation Structure• Name + business overview

• Problem

• Solution

• Market

• Business model

• Strategic relationships

• Competition + entry barriers

• Team

• Financials

Practice and Feedback

Examples• Presentation decks http://bestpitchdecks.com http://

www.businessinsider.com/airbnb-a-13-billion-dollar-startups-first-ever-pitch-deck-2011-9#-10

• The Next Big Sound (opening min 9) http://www.youtube.com/embed/RAKJcWYAvW4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHh8Xu43KoU

• Elevator pitch (both good and poor) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78NpHIS0U_0&list=PLLUQZuwf1BFohoJAbcF63pGk_TkBlFZhb&index=2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL6CaZ-umk4

• TechCrunch Moscow http://www.digitaloctober.ru/ru/events/techcrunch_moscow_2012_den_prezentatsiy/video

• Some more tips http://video.seedcamp.com/v.ihtml?token=5fd7fbb34aa58db4d8c49256e43ad333&source=share&photo%5fid=865597 http://www.ted.com/talks/david_s_rose_on_pitching_to_vcs#t-458368

More Practice

– Adeo Ressi

One Sentence Company Description

Example 1

“Our company is developing an online community and marketplace for IT/software consultants to discover the best available contract positions based on user reviews of client companies, their preferred vendors, the jobs, and billing rates.”

Example 2

“My company quikStarts is developing an application that helps product support teams in companies of all sizes, create step by step instructions on the web, to reduce operating cost.”

Example 3

“My  company, Quesume, is developing a social network to help employers and college students solve the problem of the “networking and skills divide”  by supplying a social network  for employers to offer real life case studies for students to apply  and get feedback on during each of their college  years.”

Example 4

“My company, SIDCO is developing an assisted living automation appliance to enable medical institutions, along with the family and friends with smartphones or tablets to remotely monitor and assist the ageing population, thereby enabling the elderly to live comfortably in their own dwellings by easily interacting with the state of the art appliance using Natural User Interface.”

Example 5

“My company, Roundtable, is a social decision platform for Type A moms and dads to make considered parenting choices with input from friends through shareable polling widgets, private collaboration pinboards, and a directory of friends who’ve made similar choices in the past.  Parenting is hard…but your friends can help.”!

Maria Netaeva

• mnetaeva@gmail.com

• @mnetaeva