10 tips for a successful pitch

Put every single ounce of energy into your pitch. Remember, investors invest in people, writes Karen Farzam in Tech in Asia

Most of us hate it, but most of us have to go through it at least once in our start-up life time: PITCHING!

Here are some tips that help you hit the homerun:

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. 

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!

Explain the problem

Don’t focus on your Product, focus on the Problem! Investors need to know what the problem is you are solving and why. 

Seeing is believing

A photo or demo can tell more than thousand words. Or a customer testimonial. 

Traction and milestones

If you do not have proof of concept yet, at least show that you know exactly where you are going – and be ambitious!

What’s your competitive advantage

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!

Be precise on your monetisation model

The more detailed, the better. 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.”

Inspire trust

Be honest. Don’t BS! Get back to the investor and show you are reliable and able to follow-up.

Practice

Practice. Everyday, to your team and to people that know nothing about what you do.

Questions

Prepare for questions and know how to deal with tough ones! Never start by answering an investor’s question with “good question”. Instead answer with stats and numericals when applicable. 

This is an excerpt from Tech in Asia. You can read the full article here.