Presenting your venture idea

Transcription

1 Nuts and Bolts of New Ventures Presenting your venture idea Different audiences, different goals January, 2018 Bob Jones

2 Popular myths about start-ups There are lots of start-ups and lots of $$$ If I bring my amazing idea to investors, they will shower me with money Which part of this is not true?

3 Popular myths about boot camps There s a magic formula for success If you follow the path that we will teach you, investors will shower you with $$$ Which part of this is not true?

4 Our choice: tell you myths or facts? Facts: It s hard Most start-ups fail Most investors believe you will probably fail More facts: Lots of entrepreneurs lots of competition for talent, funding & other resources More entrepreneurs than money many will not get the talent, funding, etc.

5 Getting to see a venture capitalist 2/wk Find the VC friend Ask for introduction Is it a good fit? Make me look bad? Intro by VC friend Venture Capitalist No Yes Cold call (200/wk)

6 What do investors invest in? Idea Product Business A good idea isn t the same as a good product A good product isn t the same as a good business Investors invest in promising businesses Great team Skilled at execution Understand their business Can you describe it succinctly?

7 Agenda: What s a pitch? What do you hope it will do for you? Let s give some pitches Prospective investors Other target audiences Distillation: are there guidelines we can extract? Give the pitches again, using what we ve learned Your turn Questions? Conclusion

8 So what is this pitch you speak of? Who s it for? What s it supposed to do? It s some sort of presentation that is intended: To persuade others of your point of view To bring about some desired behavior Therefore: To whom might you present? Why? What do they want? How will you provide that? What are your goals? What result do you want?

9 Potential audiences for your pitch Customers Potential employees Current employees Channel partners/retailers/etc. Family members Investors

10 Two requirements: successful pitch The idea is appealing to the audience Examples: good fit Examples: square peg, round hole They believe you Your description is true You can do what you say you can do

11 Understanding your audience This takes thought and research Which do they care more about? You? Themselves? Should your goal be to persuade them that: You re really smart? Your technology is really awesome? Your vision is really compelling? Answer: Yes, but only if it is a Reason to Believe Remember: their 1 st priority is, How will this help me? Make me look good? Feel good? Avoid a disaster?

12 A few guidelines Presenting to your audience Invest the time to understand what they want: ask & listen carefully I know it s corny, but it helps if you actually care about their needs A sequence that is often effective is: Introduction Ask them what they re looking for in a (job, service ), or confirm that you know what they re looking for Tell them why this will be great for them: BENEFITS Support: Reasons To Believe Ask for feedback. If it s encouraging, ask for the order

13 A few more guidelines Presenting to your audience What helps you be believable? Conviction/enthusiasm/passion (but not lunacy) Supporting evidence Brevity Three rules of brevity: Be clear Be brief Sit down

14 How much information is right? Should you tell them everything? What do you want them to remember? Turn your computer off Ask yourself what you want them to say when they describe your talk to someone else Three points is all that most people retain Probably the three that have the most relevance to them personally Be ruthless in your editing

15 Let s pitch prospective customers Volunteers? Guidelines for presenters: Set the stage: Who are you? Who are we? (briefly ) Two minutes What are you selling? Why should we care? Address our potential concerns Guidelines for you in the audience Listen attentively Offer guidance that will help the presenter improve Incorporate the feedback into your own presentation

16 Let s pitch potential executives You need her, so do others with more $$ Same guidelines for presenters, audience Remember: Make sure the idea is appealing Make sure (s)he believes you can make it happen Volunteers?

17 Let s pitch a key retailer or partner Shelf space, representation, etc. Same guidelines for presenters, audience Remember: Make sure the idea is appealing Make sure (s)he believes you can make it happen Volunteers?

18 So what have we learned so far? Different audiences may require different pitches Examples? Why? But in every case, what matters is: That your topic matters to them They believe you

19 The 8-letter word everyone hates PRACTICE Sometimes you have to work very hard to make it look easy You re retraining yourself: these are new habits Give your talk to an empty room Use a timer For the brave: record it (Oh God ) See the first bullet on this page

20 Preparing for an investor pitch Some of the questions they ll have What kind of capital are you looking for? How much? How far will that take you? How will your investors make money from their investment in your business? How long will that take?

21 Basic questions about your business Easy to ask, not so easy to answer What s broke that your company will fix? How many people/companies have this problem? How are they addressing this problem now? Why/how is your solution better? Who will be your first customers? How will you find them and let them know about your solution? How will you make money?

22 Let s pitch prospective investors Volunteers? Guidelines for presenters: Set the stage: Who are you? Who are we? (briefly ) Three minutes Tell us about your investment? Why should we care? Address our potential concerns Guidelines for you in the audience Listen attentively Offer guidance that will help the presenter improve Incorporate the feedback into your own presentation

23 Your turn Any last questions?

24 Summary You will need to make many presentations to many audiences: customers, employees, partners, investors and more Presentations are not one size fits all. Find the places where you and your audience are in harmony Who is your audience? What are their greatest interests? If they do what you want them to do, why will they be better off? Two of the most important components are: They want what you re presenting They believe you

25 THANK YOU

26 Assess your audience; Look the part

27 Get their attention