CREATING A SUCCESSFUL

BUSINESS PITCH
A guide for early stage entrepreneurs
 CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PITCH

Context / Introduction

In latest years, the use of terms such as “business pitch”,

“elevator pitch”, “investment pitch” have raised in popularity.
Every tech pro or wannabe entrepreneur uses these phrases
during their daily basis interactions, when they get in contact
with investors, or when they're attending events.

But what is a pitch, exactly? A business pitch is the delivery of a business and product
strategy verbally by an entrepreneur or a startup team to investors, potential partners,
potential customers, media or any other targeted audience.

Every time an entrepreneur is pitching an idea, product or technology, the aim is

typically the same: to secure funding from investors or to close business
partnerships. Nevertheless, it’s important to mention that a good business pitch is
getting better if used not only in front of investors but in every business
environments, networking events or industry conferences that occur on a daily basis,
of course, adapted to each pitching occasion.

A business pitch can vary significantly in content and delivery if it is used for a
public or private event.

A public pitch is targeted to a more diverse audience, most of the times in a context
when multiple presentations are delivered. In such a context, the biggest enemy of
the pitcher is not the previous or next pitch, but the overwhelming quantity of
information that wants to get in the audience's head.

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 CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PITCH

“That's why public pitches focus more on

the storytelling part, trying to engage with
Remember also that the objective audience's emotions and curiosity. You will
of a public pitch is not to get an still need numbers and facts, but the way
you dress up the presentation becomes
investor or partner convinced but
equally important. Remember also that the
curious
objective of a public pitch is not to get an
investor or partner convinced but curious.
BOGDAN IORDACHE Measure the success of your pitch by the
Investor & Program director @ MVP
Academy Accelerator number of relevant people who are
reaching out to you after, or by the number

of people you are approaching who already know who you are and what you do.”, says
Bogdan Iordache, Investor and Program director of MVP Academy accelerator.

A private pitch, on the other hand, is different in many ways. Most of the time private pitches
are targeted towards convincing an investor or partner that you should do business together.
The presentation should be less focused on storytelling (you already have their attention) and
more focused on business details. Get all your numbers and projections straight, know your
market, competition, get ready to explain how you manage the risks associated with your
go-to-market strategy and team enlargement.

Sometimes, public pitches are slammed for their lack of consistency because they do not
provide all the relevant information. It is true that sometimes pitching events, be it demo days
or contests, feel more like a pony show than a business event. But in the same time,
remember that they serve a different purpose and should be judged with different measures.

It is important to understand from the very beginning of this guide that you need to tailor
your pitch to the needs of each business opportunity you're getting. Investors have specific
interests about the team, business model or business strategy, while a potential business
partner is interested in the business benefits and growth opportunity for his business.

A business pitch has various specifications an entrepreneur should care about when creating
his presentation depending on the audience that he/she targets.

In this guide, we will explore in detail how to develop an effective business pitch to attract
the interest of investors, what is a pitch deck, and some of the best structures to use.
Besides, you will access the knowledge and experience of some of the most successful
entrepreneurs in our network that pitched in front of thousands of people and, eventually,
secured investment as well.

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 CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PITCH

The Pitch Deck

Business plan pitches are, most of the time, presented with the
aid of PowerPoint presentations, Keynote/Prezi presentations,
demo videos or other tools that can help you deliver a broad
description of your company, your team, your product, your
overall business: this is what we often call the pitch deck.
You can use the pitch deck for your face to face meetings with investors, during pitching
events, for your online meetings or other business environments where you need to present
your startup.

Regarding pitch decks, there are multiple

templates available on the Internet. You can
find some of them here, here, here and
here. Still, from our experience of working
with tech startups for 8 years now, we
believe that more important than the
template or even the content, is the
structure of your pitch deck and how you
prioritise your information.

As journalists start their articles with the most important information and leave the
background details at the end, this principle also applies to your pitch deck structure.

To make it easier for you to understand, we’ll show you what you should insert on every slide
of your business presentation, your pitch deck:

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 CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PITCH

So, without further ado, here’s the breakdown:

Slide 1 Slide 2 Slide 3 Slide 4

Introduction slide with Customer profile Broad view of your Advantages of your
logo, website link, motto targeted and the problem solution and the main solution, compared with
and more you want to solve for them benefits for users/clients other substitutes or
competition

Slide 5 Slide 6 Slide 7 Slide 8

Your business model and Go-to-market strategy Current status regarding Team composition, roles
pricing strategy the product and the and experience related to
business metrics the roles

Slide 9 Slide 10 Slide 11

Roadmap for the next Details on what you need Final slide with contact
months regarding (investment, partnerships, information, call for action
product and business employees)
development

The content of a pitch depends highly on the stage of the

company.
If you're an early stage company, with an MVP and no real traction, you should focus on the
quality of the team because that's all you have. Mention the team experience in the vertical
that you're targeting, the teamwork experience together on other / similar projects, the
"unique" mix of your competences that makes you different, the exceptional things you've
done together or separately in the past.

“If you've already got an MVP, focus less on the team and more on the technical and product
development challenges you've faced and overcome.

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 CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PITCH

On the user / client feedback of your

product (including, if possible, retention
If you've already got an MVP, numbers), the lessons learned from your
focus less on the team and more users’ / clients’ first interaction with what
you've built and the lessons for improving
on the technical and product
your product. If you've got not only an
development challenges you've
MVP, but also some sort of traction, then
faced and overcome.
balance the team and product value
proposition with numbers and relevant
BOGDAN IORDACHE
information about it: a significant number
Investor & Program director @ MVP
Academy Accelerator of users, pre-orders, distribution
partnerships.”, says Bogdan Iordache.

Whatever your stage, include crystal clear

information about your business proposal:

The problem you are solving The customer profile you Who your competition is
are targeting

Why is your value The market size of your

proposition different than customers
your competition

The market size in particular is a clear indicator of the potential of your business. But it needs
additional information regarding the competition and your differentiators to make it sound
realistic.

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 CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PITCH

ou can pitch?
So you think y
Lessons learned by the best pitchers in our network

Pitching is a skill that you have to practice on and on if you

want to be good at it. Think about the hundreds of eyes that
will look at you, scouting for every innocent mistake or, on the
contrary, waiting for you to amaze them with your product?!
Facing them - this is not easy - but all you need to do is getting
comfortable with having an audience.

For these reasons, a group effort like accelerator programs or Demo Days is, most of the
times, extremely valuable in your early stages. You get a chance to be coached by people that
have previous experience in this respect and that will provide you with honest feedback. You
will learn how to use a mic, what to do with your hands, how to control your emotions and
how to overcome your fears. But more about managing emotions when pitching later on in
this guide.

Meanwhile, every time you see an entrepreneur selling his product like a pro remember that
there was a time when it was difficult for him as well to show his product to the entire world.

We have asked some of our fellow community members, young successful tech
entrepreneurs, to share their most valuable lessons learned from their previous experiences
with investors and pitching events.

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 CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PITCH

BOBBY VOICU
Cofounder @ MavenHut & Limited Partner @ SOSV

Your only focus is to get people to be curious enough to talk to you and
THEN sell them on the idea.

“A common mistake I used to make when pitching was to

forget why I was actually there. Most of the time, I was pitching
to get investment. Sometimes I was pitching to get partners
(ad providers). But that wasn’t always clear from my pitch. And
you shouldn’t make the same mistake.

The most important result of a public pitch is to get people to come to you and talk
(potential partners, investors, employees). Nobody will invest in your business or commit
in any way to it without getting more details. So you need to raise their interest and
convince them to come to you to get more information. This is what you need to focus
on.

It means that you need to show the most important numbers of your business in your pitch,
those showing you are doing something different, that you can change something in your
intended market. Do not focus on the simple details, that can be learned afterward. Also, let
people know exactly why you are there and, of course, let them know how to contact you
(you'd be surprised how many people forget to put a simple contact email in the deck).

Finally, again: your only focus is to get people to be curious enough to talk to you and THEN
sell them on the idea. This is what your PUBLIC pitch is about. Don't make the mistake of
thinking your pitch is about anything else. You will otherwise understand, later, that you lost a
lot of opportunities to reach your real objectives.”

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 CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PITCH

MĂDĂLINA
SEGHETE
Cofounder @ Branch Metrics

Perfect is the enemy of good enough.

“Often entrepreneurs tend to postpone the task of writing and

rehearsing their pitch until they’ll have enough data about
their market, their customers, business valuation and other
aspects they think are way more important than the
presentation. In fact, your pitch will get better and better along
with your business’s development..
If you’re afraid to show what you know because it might not be good data or enough data,
stop thinking about this as a failure:

Don't be afraid to fail - just learn and keep

building. Branch was our fourth product
idea, we failed three times in a year and a Also, perfect is the enemy of good
half, and the Branch idea came from the enough - it's better to put something out
lessons we learned from Kindred, our there and get feedback vs. perfecting
previous failed startup. Failing means you something in a vacuum. You can think you
are learning and if you are not failing, it know what your customers want, but you
means you are not trying hard enough, and won't know until your product is out there.
you are not pushing yourself outside your It's ok if it's not perfect - you will learn and
comfort zone. keep iterating, and nothing will give you
better feedback than going live with your
product!

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 CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PITCH

MARIUS TÎRCĂ
Cofounder & CTO @ UiPath

Your idea is the spark that lights the journey but don’t get motherly proud
of it and lose focus on the real fight

“For us, the funding story did not exactly follow the common
route. By the time we decided to reach out to an investment
fund, we were already a team of several developers with a
small business of our own.

We were more or less self-assured and standing on our

own feet. For the previous ten years we had been
bootstrapping and pivoting by developing several
consumer products and then an SDK (a software developer
kit) that we were selling to other development companies.
We had our own finances, and our business was slowly
taking off, signalling sustainability.

The decision to go and raise the money from investors was

not as easy as one may think. We could have kept our
The decision to go and business going the way it was on its own and have our
raise the money from peace of mind. But we soon realised that we were on the
investors was not as easy verge of something great and unless we got the money,
as one may think. we couldn’t really plan for the future. We needed the
resources to build a bigger team. So we aimed high and we
aimed far and went for it. We went straight for a round A investment, bypassing the incubator
and accelerator phases, and we raised it from Early Bird, Credo Ventures and Seedcamp.

At the time we didn’t have an investor pitch. You may think that’s crazy, but sometimes VC
companies fight over the fish label guys like us. Not having a pitch showed that other
aaaaaaaa

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 CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PITCH

investors hadn't already approached us. We were valuable because we were unpolished. So
they counselled us on how to build the pitch, and how to move to the next level. Some
investors make it their strategy to guide you and expose you to the best opportunities.

Your investor pitch has to be short and focused. Your idea has to be strong, but also show that
you can execute it, that you have a market to go to and sell. Some entrepreneurs aim for the
glittery opportunity, for what’s hip, but sometimes aiming for a less sexy market means less
competition, therefore a better chance to sell. We negotiated extensively on the term-sheet. It
took several good months to finalise. The most important thing for us was that we didn’t want
to give away control of our company too soon. And it’s true that the good investors won’t rob
you of that right.

Once funded, we began to move at a better speed and we were able to follow our long-term
plan to become leaders in the field. We are now three years later and we are proud to have
recently been named leaders and star performers in RPA by top analysts.

For those barely starting, I would recommend several

things. Your idea is the spark that lights the journey but
don’t get motherly proud of it and lose focus on the real Your idea is the spark that
fight. Investors are of course interested in your idea, but lights the journey but
there are also other critical things they value, namely the don’t get motherly proud
team. They invest in people. Is there potential in the team? of it and lose focus on the
Is the team flexible, is it knowledgeable? real fight.

Also, is there a good foundation to what you’re building? They won’t risk putting their weight
on a wobbly foundation. One more thing: never venture on your own! Find a partner,
investors value the balance. They evaluate you through your potential for growth, so as long
as you are scalable and multipliable, you are good. Last but not least, show your passion for
what you want to build! Being true to yourself and the plan is a huge selling point to the
investors.”

Next:

ANDRAS KAPY
Cofounder & CEO @ Axosuits

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 CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PITCH

ANDRAS KAPY
Cofounder & CEO @ Axosuits

Ask for financial expertise! Make sure you “proofread” your numbers with
an expert before going too public with them

“Don't bullshit around! If you don’t know, just tell people you
don’t know!
It often happened to me to pitch to at events and have doctors in the audience as well. When
they asked me about various medical conditions, I didn’t play the expert role saying
nonsenses all around: I just thanked them and said that I will get back with an appropriate
answer after consulting with the doctors I was working with. Had I improvised on the stage,
just to say something, that would have only embarrassed my team and me as well.

Don’t overstate! Be sure that in this entire world there has

to be someone building something similar to your product
Statements like "my or even greater than that. Those statements like "my
product is unique" are product is unique" are just bulshit, and most of the times it
just bulshit, and most of only proves you don’t know your competition.
the times it only proves For those barely starting, I would recommend several
you don’t know your things. Your idea is the spark that lights the journey but
competition. don’t get motherly proud of it and lose focus on the real
fight. Investors are of course interested in your idea, but
there are also other critical things they value, namely the team. They invest in people. Is there
potential in the team? Is the team flexible, is it knowledgeable?

Ask for financial expertise! After many years as an entrepreneur in Romania, I’ve realised that I
don’t have enough financial knowledge. When you pitch in front of hundreds of people, be
sure some of them are good at numbers. So make sure you “proofread” your statistics/
numbers with an expert before going too public with them.

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 CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PITCH

Don’t blame the audience, not even the trolls that are showing up at events with this only
purpose in mind. When people, potential customers, or even investors warn you about
something that it wasn’t clear enough in your presentation, stop for a second, don’t take it
personally, don’t fight with them and think that they might be right.”

CAMIL
MOLDOVEANU
Cofounder & CEO @ Reflex

Start by selling that big idea to yourself.

“Every pitch that you’re delivering should be about your

product, your team, the problem you’re solving, the market
you address and so on. But it should also be about the story of
your startup.

So along with building your pitch deck, preparing your

numbers and researching your market, you have to create a
story for your product as well. In fact, I think you should start You will have to tell the
by selling that big idea to yourself. Get that level of story about your idea to
dedication, energy, and commitment that every startup anybody that is willing to
needs. You will have to tell the story about your idea to listen, and you need to
anybody that is willing to listen, and you need to trust it first. trust it first.
Afterwards, with people’s help and questions, your story will
get better and better.

Always improve your story/pitch and make sure that you find and add the elements that are
missing to get investors onboard. When you have them, build the story for your clients and
repeat the process.”

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OANA KORDA
Co-founder & Product Manager @ Woogie

If you have a particular style or anything that empowers you, use it!

“If we speak strictly about the on-stage presentation, I think

the most important element is the confidence.
For me, this is something that depends on how much you believe in what you say and how
much you’ve practised your pitch: from speaking out loud to posture exercises, to breathing
control, and all these tricks that help. That’s on the one hand. On the other hand, it’s the way
you look.

If we speak about the structure of your

pitch, storytelling is THE THING! Every
During my latest pitch, one of my single pitch is composed by technical
coaches suggested wearing a dress and elements as script, numbers, structure and
high heels, and I must say: that totally by emotions! You just need to ping-pong
changed the way I delivered that pitch! with these items to engage your audience
in your story. If you can make it memorable,

and deliver emotions along with technical information, you can rest assured you’ll get those
meetings you crave for so much.

Also, don’t forget that the devil is in the details: make a script before all else, structure it in
chapters, use a clean design, and fill it in with professional photos to create a mood for your
audience.”

Now, remember!
In order to become more effective in your networking and pitching activities, you
should also focus on building relationships with every person you’re engaging with. If
you expect to sell your idea only by delivering a perfect story, a well-rehearsed speech,
well, you need to change this approach. Here’s Emi Gal’s mindset on the matter:

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 CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PITCH

EMI GAL
Founder & CEO @ Brainient

Build relationships with investors & do your homework

“An entrepreneur should never focus on a pitch. She should

focus on building relationships with investors. Investors almost
never invest in pitches. They invest in entrepreneurs. So the
better they know you, the more likely they are to invest in your
startup. It's as simple as that.

Secondly, it's possible that investors will invest in an

entrepreneur they like. But they are absolutely sure to invest
Investors almost never in an entrepreneur they like that has also done her
invest in pitches. They homework. And by homework, I mean that she has data to
invest in entrepreneurs. support her idea, claim or problem. So in a nutshell, focus
on relationships and focus on data.”

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 CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PITCH

How to co n tro l y ou r
he n s ta nd in g
emotions w lic
up and speak in g i n p u b

Although we just mislead your thoughts with this subtitle

making you believe that we have a recipe to control your
emotions when presenting in public, the reality is that we don’t.
Not because we’re not capable, but there is no such thing as a
secret recipe or set of tips & tricks for you to apply and get rid
of emotions in an instant.
What we have instead is an expert’s opinion to understand what happens to your brain when
you’re speaking in public, why does this happen and what you can do before taking a stage
in order to be more comfortable and achieve your goals.

We have kindly asked Alis Anagnostakis to help us get answers to all these questions. Alis is
an Executive Coach (PCC), Trainer and Organisation Culture consultant with ten years
experience in creating and delivering leadership development and behavioural change
solutions and over 2000 hours of executive coaching. In 2011, she founded Mind Learners, a
company that designs training and coaching programs with the brain in mind. Alis and her
team use the newest discoveries from neuroscience and psychology to create powerful
workshops to facilitate learning in a variety of fields - from leadership to sales or customer
service. Now, let’s hear her opinion.

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 CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PITCH

ALIS
ANAGNOSTAKIS
Executive Coach (PCC), Trainer & Organization Culture Consultant.

Several studies investigating people’s greatest fears constantly

show that public speaking comes up in the top five. In some
studies, it even ranks higher than the fear of death.

Why are we so afraid of standing up and speaking in front of a

group?
One scientifically valid explanation is that, evolutionarily speaking, circumstances where one
man stood alone in front of many pairs of eyes were not usually good news for his survival –
more often than not those pairs of eyes belonged either to a pack of wolves or, just as bad, in
front of the tribe being judged and facing rejection. Social anxiety is a terrible burden to bear
for us humans because, for many thousands of years, our survival depended on collaboration,
on being included in the group. Rejection meant being ostracised and left to one’s own
devices which, in primitive times where life was filled with predators ready to hunt humans at
every step, meant almost certain death.

Our brain has evolved to pay extreme attention to social cues. Our
limbic system, the part of the brain responsible with emotional life,
makes it possible for us to connect with other people, to read their
emotions and to express our own. The limbic system is also in
charge of identifying possible survival threats – be they either other
people or any kind of predator.

When our limbic system perceives a threat, as it did in ancient times when it saw a wild animal
coming to haunt us, it sends signals that start a chain reaction in the brain. Adrenaline and

cortisol are produced, which prepare the body for fight or flight – the basic survival instincts
which helped us escape the threat and stay alive for so long.

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 CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PITCH

This part of the brain, right behind the forehead, is the seat of reason. It makes it possible to
calmly and rationally analyse a situation, to make wise decisions, to weigh in options, to
consciously remember what we have learned and use that information when we need it.

In prehistoric times, when a man was being chased by a

tiger, the last part of the brain that he needed was the
prefrontal cortex. It’s penchant for analysis would have
dangerously slowed down its owner. Pondering on what
might be the speed of the tiger or whether the tiger was
really hungry was not really a good idea for survival.

Faced with direct survival threats, prehistoric man had to react quickly. He had to start running
even before consciously realising what was going on. So our marvellous brain has evolved to
do just that. The same cortisol and adrenaline that make it possible to run fast and far when
chased by the tiger, also make it possible for the limbic system to temporarily shut down the
prefrontal cortex and launch a sort of “emergency procedure” to maximize the odds for
survival.

That’s all good when faced with physical threats. But what about social threats? Well,
apparently our brain doesn’t know the difference unless we teach it to.

Thousands of years have passed since we were physical being chased by tigers, yet we come
into the world with the same brains as our ancestors and the same predisposition to react to
what we perceive as a danger by starting the same old defence mechanisms. The brain hasn’t
changed much, but the world has.

Our modern “tigers” are other people. Angry bosses, colleagues or clients, daily worries
about job safety, mortgages, economic or political uncertainty. Our brain, sadly, doesn’t tell
the difference. The same cortisol and adrenaline are produced, our prefrontal cortex is
perturbed, as is our capacity for logical, clear judgement in stressful situations.

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Beyond making your heart beat faster, blood rush to your muscles in preparation for running
or fighting, adrenaline and cortisol do one more thing – they temporarily shut down another
essential part of the brain – the prefrontal cortex.

Which brings us back to public speaking. For our brain, speaking in front of others can be a
big tiger. Once the defensive cycle has started, and the prefrontal cortex starts shutting down,
that dreadful feeling of “blank” might overcome you. It’s that moment when you have the
impression that you cannot remember anything you have prepared as if your brain is in some
sort of lockdown. Which it is, because the prefrontal cortex is the one which retrieves
memories and brings them back into consciousness at will – so if you are too stressed your
prefrontal cortex can’t do its job. It’s as if you have a huge library, but in order to access it you
need the librarian to go in and bring you the book you need. When fear overcomes you, the
librarian gets locked out of the library.

What to do then?
Fortunately for us, our brain is very plastic. With repetition, it builds new neural pathways, new
connections and habits. Sounds like very common sense advice, but one of the best ways to
overcome fear of public speaking is to expose yourself to it as often as you can. The more you
step up and speak in front of others, the more relaxed you’ll get. It might help if you choose
friendly audiences to practice your speeches and it might also help if you are able to know
your audience, even if very briefly, before a speech.

Connecting to those people in advance will help your limbic system realize it’s not tigers that
you are facing, but people like you, who might very well be afraid of public speaking
themselves.

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Another very common sense technique involves breathing. A few deep breaths might help
calm down your overexcited nervous system (deep in the solar plexus the two branches of the
nervous system intersect – the parasympathetic, which calms you down and the sympathetic,
which stresses you out. When you breathe in deeply, your diaphragm pushes down on this
nervous hub, activating your parasympathetic nervous system, which helps you relax a bit).

Any type of mindfulness exercise is also very helpful in dealing

with public speaking generated stress. A few minutes of conscious
attention, where you are just observing your body, the rhythm of
your breath, the feelings inside (even if they are unpleasant) – just
acknowledging them, without trying to stop or change them – is
very helpful in calming you down.

This kind of exercise, many studies have shown, activates a certain part of your left prefrontal
cortex which is not only responsible with the state of being present in the moment, but also
with the capacity to concentrate on a task and keep one’s emotional balance, generating
feelings of peacefulness and calm. A few minutes of just being present before a presentation
can take you a long way towards a more relaxed attitude and milder emotions.

Finally, another technique you can use when you feel your nerves overcoming you is called –
self-awareness/labelling/reframing. It involves paying attention to your body, observing the
beginning of a strong emotion, labelling it by naming it (“I am afraid right now”) and then
finding a thought that helps you change your perspective on the situation into a less
threatening one. It’s a bit paradoxical, but admitting you are afraid actually helps calm you
down. What happens is that you activate your prefrontal cortex (the one you need most for a
successful presentation) to observe what the limbic system is up to (self-awareness), detect
incoming emotion and consciously name it (labelling) and then help the limbic system realize
it’s not a tiger it is facing, but a mere group of people listening to what you have to say
(reframing by thinking, for example – “these people are not enemies, they are interested in
what I have to say and I have something valuable to share with them”).

For reframing to work, it helps if you observe your own stakes in that presentation and take a
step back, detaching, as much as you can, from the final result. If it’s pitch or any kind of
speech where you need to convince someone to support you in some way – as an investor or
potential client – the best thing you can do for yourself and your brain is stay authentic.
Accept your emotions (if you feel brave enough, admit to your audience that you are
nervous), trust who you are and what you have to offer and relax in the knowledge that you
are there to give them the best version of yourself, but you cannot control all the factors in
their decision.

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The clearer you are about the value of your proposal and the more accepting of the final
result (even before you know what it might be), the more relaxed, honest and impactful you
will be in your presentation. It’s a paradox that our obsessive fixation on success actually
makes us less likely to succeed, because wanting to win at all costs puts a lot of stress of your
brain, which might mean you end up building “tigers” in your head and shutting down your
own prefrontal cortex.

When it comes to public speaking, it is my deep belief that self-knowledge, becoming friends
with our emotions instead of denying or trying to shut them down, takes us much farther than
any kind of “recipe”, “tips and tricks” or other “formula” for being a good presenter.

Striving to seem someone you are not takes a much greater effort and adds much more
pressure and stress than just learning to relax in the knowledge of who you are, confident that
you are enough. If you can do the latter, your wonderful brain will do the rest.

ands-on key takeaways

Afew h eliver your public presentation
on how to d

1 2
Write down your presentation in Repeat your delivery as much as
great detail, so you can time yourself possible — don't try to learn it by
and rehearse it properly. heart if that's not your style, but do
practice it at least 10 times.

3 4
Stop reading the text 1h before the Start with a memorable remark
public pitching. Your short term about what makes you unique, be it
memory will only collide with your about your product, team or
long term memory. industry.

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 CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PITCH

5 6
Don't move your feet while you talk; Don't obturate your slides, stay at
it will get the audience distracted by one end of the projection.
your story.

7 When you go up on stage find 2-4

smiling faces from different corners 8 If you're shy ask a few friends to join
the presentation and look at them all
of the venue, and talk only to them. the time. Ask them to sit somewhere
Th i s w i l l m a ke y o u t o l o o k in the back of the room if possible,
throughout the entire venue, people so you look at the entire venue and
will feel more engaged, and you'll not only the first row.
feel confident you're talking to
people who understand you.

Our top 3 best pitches

from Demo Days

Techstars Demo Day 500Startups Demo Day Startupbootcamp Demo

2016 2016 Day 2012

Watch Watch Watch

What’s your top 3 best pitches from Demo Days? Send us your favourites at
thecrew@howtoweb.co and we will constantly update the list with your suggestions! Can’t
wait to hear back from you!

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 CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PITCH

o’s & Don’ts for pitches

The D Advice from investors

Now, we don’t have a top-secret list of the things investors want to know before signing a
check. What we do have is a list of the do’s and don’ts for business pitches from investors in
our network. Alan Clayton, Max Kelly, Martyn Davies and Rumen Iliev expressed their thoughts
on the matter. Check them out below!

P.S. We will constantly be updating the list so make sure you are subscribed to our
newsletter to be the first to get the latest updates we are doing to this guide. Click here to
subscribe!

ALAN CLAYTON
Investor @ SOSV

DO
Have a clear outcome (write it on your hand if necessary)

Be in the emotional state you want to leave your investor in. For example, if you want
them to be excited - BE excited!

Use stories and pictures more than data or numbers

Repeat company name/tagline several times or it will be forgotten instantly.

Make sure titles on slides are in the form of questions rather than boring statements.
For example: "Who Are We? rather than "The Team"

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 CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PITCH

DON'T
Use jargon

Go over your time

Ask questions - unless you're CERTAIN you'll get the answer you want

Favourite pitch structure

It’s based on my work with Hermann Institute and the HBDI framework. I demoed at How To
Web last November (watch it here). See the picture below.

The most important part of a pitch

The most important part is the ending — needs

to be an "exciting summary of the ONE benefit
of your product. Remember: investors want/
need memorable entertainment and to FEEL
good about the product — BE ENTERTAINING.

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 CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PITCH

MAX KELLY
Managing Director @ TechStars

DO
Always get a warm intro

Remember it is a relationship, so you need to build it over time

Have a number of coffees, meetings etc. and seek advice

Then when you pitch, it is on the basis of the accumulated knowledge of both parties

Practice, practice, practice

Know the obvious questions that will come up and have an excellent answer for each
(keep a running FAQ)

Favourite pitch structure

Tons of good material out there about this. I use this as the most authoritative. I also like
Nicole's summary here.

The most important part of a pitch

People, people, people, market, traction, idea. So the quality of the team is the key: why are
they the one who will succeed, what unique talents do they have which means they will beat
every other start up in their space, what aspects of their character show resilience, tenacity and
drive.

MARTYN DAVIES
Programme Director @ Ignite Accelerator

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 CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PITCH

DO
Do your research if reaching out cold, spraying and praying connections on LinkedIn is
less valuable than spending time targeting investors that understand your space and
invest at the level you're at.

Know your numbers. Your vision, goals, team and progress to date are great but make
sure you're solid on where you are traction wise and more importantly where you're
going to get to with their injection of capital

Try to build a relationship with investors before you pitch them. Spend time seeking
feedback, advice and notes if you can, it will serve you better when pitching a round
later down the line.

Try to build a relationship with investors before you pitch them. Spend time seeking
feedback, advice and notes if you can, it will serve you better when pitching a round
later down the line.

DON'T
Be shy. Ask if they're interested. Getting to 'No' is harder than you expect, and it's
better to end things than hang around in investment limbo and move onto the next
one.

Forget to rehearse and talk to as many people as possible ahead of a pitch. Their
feedback on elements that are confusing/unclear will be valuable in painting a clear
picture for investors.

Be late.

Don't argue or get defensive if they don't like it or have critical feedback, there's no
point arguing.

Favourite pitch structure

I like a short deck if it's being emailed over, one that paints a picture of the problem and the
solution and includes details on the execution up to that point and the team that is working
on it. You want to pique interest and leave room for investors to reach out and ask questions/
set up a meeting. 10 slides usually covers it for me, other people may want more, but they'll
ask if they do.

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 CREATING A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS PITCH

The most important part of a pitch

Vision & team — I want to know the team is excited about making something huge but
understands that it'll take incremental steps to get there and for them to have a grasp on what
they'll execute in each of those stages. Additionally, demonstrating a strong team dynamic will
always win it for me.

RUMEN ILIEV
Partner @ LaunchHub

DO
Be fully committed.

Have the technical capabilities to make it.

Have the marketing and sales capabilities inside the team.

Know the market + this article

Favourite pitch structure

This one: https://www.sequoiacap.com/article/writing-a-business-plan/. Founder can be as
creative as possible. However, you are speaking to investors that want to heat the pitch
elements as they are used to. Behavioral science has proven that if something is easy to be
understood is more believable. So I recommend go with traditional deck that is easy to
understand.

The most important part of a pitch

It is the team and how they perform during the meeting. Can they explain simply enough?
Can they sell it? Do they believe in it? Do I trust them? And then the market - can we make
money? :)

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