by AcuityCFO Team

Strategies for a solid entrepreneur pitch

Anyone who has participated in a venture event like Venture Atlanta  or watched Shark Tank knows that the key to a successful investor pitch is a solid presentation. Know your business, be able to articulate and cultivate excitement, and – probably above all else – know how it will make money.

The 10 tips below are extrapolated from comments made a panel of investors including Karen Griffith Gryga of Mid-Atlantic Angel Investor Group Fund, Bob Thomson of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania and Ellen Weber of Robin Hood Ventures.

1. Assume investors know nothing about your business or sector. A balance of information is key. Time is limited, so you must be succinct and pointed in your overview.
2. Offer competitive analysis.  Paint an accurate landscape of the market, the competitors and how your product will change the landscape. In other words, do your homework – or better yet, get someone not emotionally connected to your business to do it for you.
3. Explain sales and marketing. At the risk of sounding too much like Seth Godin here, you are in business to ship. How will you do that, who will do it for you, what and when and how much will you ship?
4. Does your product solve a problem? Why are you in business? Make it clear to potential investors.
5. Dont sound like an infomercial. Be contagious in your passion but don’t be smarmy.
6. Outline time to market. What does your growth trajectory look like? Is there a partner involved? Think through these details… they will.
7. How will you monetize? Give a clear and reasonable road map on how your business will make money, and be ready to back up your points. Also, provide a sense of your exit strategy.
8. Props can work. Bring your prototype, if you have one. Provide tangible evidence of your business proposition.
9. Sometimes, less is more. It’s a twitter universe. Make sure your audience is listening, not reading – be succinct.
10. Have a Plan B be prepared to wing it. Be able to deliver your pitch seamlessly no matter what – power outage, computer crash… things happen. Be ready.

But no matter what else you do – DO. Pitch. Practice first. Use your network of fellow entrepreneurs. Take constructive advice.  Then put it out there. It’s a little bit like the quote that the difference between a jogger and a runner is an entry form. The difference between an idea and a business can be that investor pitch. Run with it.