I’ve decided to post some really basic tips on presenting your startup business plan to venture capitalists. The intent of these tips is to help the entrepreneur with little things that can be done to make the actually meeting with a venture capitalist go a bit smoother. None of these tips will directly cause you to raise capital, but may make the actual pitch go more smoothly.
Pitching a VC your company is quite stressful. I hope that these silly little tips can help you relax and decrease distractions, so you can focus explaining your business and selling your team.
VC Pitch Tip #1 – Turn off your screen saver.
Many times during a presentation by a startup CEO we get into a lengthy discussion. During these discussions the startup executive’s computer (the computer that they are using to project their slide deck for us) can kick on. I’ve seen CEOs horribly distracted by their screen savers turning on, even when we were not looking at the slide/screen at all. I don’t mind when the screen saver flicks on, and I’d imagine that most VCs don’t care either, but if this sort of a thing distracts you then turn off the screen saver before your pitch.
November 14th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
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December 9th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
[...] VC Pitch Tip #1 – Turn off your screen saver VC Pitch Tip #2 – You won’t be eating much lunch during that “lunch” meeting VC Pitch Tip #3 – Get to the venture capitalist’s office early VC Pitch Tip #4 – You don’t need to wear a tie to meet with an early stage venture capitalist VC Pitch Tip #5 – The Venture Capitalist will want to hear a lot about your team VC Pitch Tip #6 – Bring a USB drive with your pitch saved on it VC Pitch Tip #7 – Format your financial model for printing VC Pitch Tip #8 – If you are going to use WebEx to during your venture presentation, send the slide deck over email ahead of time and have a direct phone line available VC Pitch Tip #9 – Don’t show the VC the IRR they will get VC Pitch Tip #10 – Technology venture capitalists love demos VC Pitch Tip #11 – Keep the actual slide deck short but sweet VC Pitch Tip 12 – Be able to complete your entire fund raising presentation in 10 minutes [...]
December 12th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
[...] VC Pitch Tip #1 – Turn off your screen saver VC Pitch Tip #2 – You won’t be eating much lunch during that “lunch” meeting VC Pitch Tip #3 – Get to the venture capitalist’s office early VC Pitch Tip #4 – You don’t need to wear a tie to meet with an early stage venture capitalist VC Pitch Tip #5 – The Venture Capitalist will want to hear a lot about your team VC Pitch Tip #6 – Bring a USB drive with your pitch saved on it VC Pitch Tip #7 – Format your financial model for printing VC Pitch Tip #8 – If you are going to use WebEx to during your venture presentation, send the slide deck over email ahead of time and have a direct phone line available VC Pitch Tip #9 – Don’t show the VC the IRR they will get VC Pitch Tip #10 – Technology venture capitalists love demos VC Pitch Tip #11 – Keep the actual slide deck short but sweet VC Pitch Tip 12 – Be able to complete your entire fund raising presentation in 10 minutes [...]