David Cummings on Startups

Pitching Your Startup

Written by

David Cummings

in

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Today I had the chance to help a friend that is working with a startup from Tennessee that is trying to raise money. The team behind the startup has a fair amount of technology services experience and is building their first enterprise software company. Of course, even with experience, their pitch left several areas for improvement. Here are some ideas when pitching your startup:

  • Find out how long you have to pitch and make the presentation for half the alloted time so that you can make it a conversation and have sufficient time for questions
  • Follow Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint
  • Determine in advance if the audience is more the visionary type or more of a spreadsheet jockey type, and tailor the presentation appropriately
  • Pick a theme (e.g. recurring revenue, market size, gross margins, etc) and focus on it throughout the presentation so that the investors have a takeaway
  • Remember that the goal of the pitch isn’t to get the investors to write a check on the spot, rather, it is to get another meeting

Pitching your startup should be fun and a great chance to get feedback from a variety of people. Use these techniques to improve the experience and increase your chance of success.

Comments

5 responses to “Pitching Your Startup”

  1. Jon Birdsong Avatar
    Jon Birdsong

    Great post David. In your opinion, how much feedback should an entrepreneur expect in a pitch? Is it dependent on the stage of the company, type of pitch, and VC/investors? Also, keep us updated on you goal of shooting par, I always love to hear a golfer’s progress.

    Reply
  2. davidcummings Avatar
    davidcummings

    Thanks John. An entrepreneur should be prepared for lots of questions and feedback, but it really depends on the audience.

    Reply
  3. Jane Williams Avatar
    Jane Williams

    This is a great post…

    Reply
  4. Steve Donovan Avatar
    Steve Donovan

    David,

    Looking forward to meeting you at TAG. I am on my second start-up (first was in 1998) and boy have times changed.

    I am trying to decide if and when to present the idea. In today’s market, are ideas (angel funding) even worth discussing? Based on what I have seen it looks like Angel funding has mutated closer to Series A with a greater emphasis on management team, progress, customers and proof points beyond the concept itself.

    I would love to hear your thoughts on when an idea warrants a realistic conversation, if it does.

    Thanks.

    Reply
    1. davidcummings Avatar
      davidcummings

      Thanks Steve. I look forward to meeting you next week at the TAG event.

      My take on the funding climate in town is that the only deals that are getting funded are ones where the investor have experience in exactly what you’re doing or you’re already generating revenue and can prove how adding more fuel to the fire will produce excellent returns.

      Reply

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