TED: David S. Rose on pitching to VCs

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/david_s_rose_on_pitching_to_vcs.html

by kleevr • 18 years ago

22 7 18 years ago

rantfoil• 18 years ago

Additional piece of advice: Pitch to lots of people who have not seen the pitch before. You've seen the material a billion times! And you know it backwards and forwards... but the downside is that it can be unclear what is a logical step and what's an impossible leap. Pitching to friends who don't know what you're doing is the best way to improve.

delano• 18 years ago

These are my notes from the first 5 minutes (the rest is worth watching too):

Single most important thing that a VC is looking for when you're pitching to them: you, the people. The entire purpose of a VC pitch is to convince them that you will make them money. Angel pitch takes 15 mins, VC pitch, less than 30. You have to convey around 10 characteristics.

#1 Integrity.

#2 Passion

#3 Experience. "I've done this before.", where this means creating value. That can be starting a company, other teams or organizations, etc...

#4 Knowledge.

#5 Skill. Technical skills, marketing skills.

#6 Leadership. You either have the team that has these skills or the ability to inspire people to be part of your team.

#7 Commitment. Someone that will be there to the very end.

#8 Vision. Don't want a me-too company. You need to see where it's going.

#9 Realism. Before you get to change the world bad things are going to take place and you need to be able to plan for that and have rational projections.

#10 You can Listen. You need to be coachable. The VC has experience and they want to know you're willing to listen to it.

DenisM2• 18 years ago

I noticed that some VCs insist on knowing your background (like this one) while some say (like Kawasaki) says that they couldn't care less about you and only care about the problem and solution.

The funny thing is that both are very patronizing about it, as if theirs is the only true way.

davidsrose2• 18 years ago

If a VC cares only about the problem and solution, what does that say about how much they want to invest in YOU? Not much. Most early stage investors (like me) have no choice but to 'bet the jockey, not the horse', because we are betting on YOU to take something that barely exists and go to the ends of the earth to make something of it.

In a later stage deal, such as a private equity acquisition, we're investing in the existing company: its cash flow, operations, customers, etc. The CEO is less important, because we can get rid of him/her if necessary and put someone else in. Is that the way you'd like us to think of YOUR deal?

DenisM2• 18 years ago

All I ask is to be easy on the poor entrepreneur about his choice of {himself, subject} because he can't read your mind. :)

Myself, I'm not sure I prefer invetment in me or my idea. There are pros and cons both ways.

Frocer• 18 years ago

I am surprised that David encourage you not to demo the product and just show a screenshot... if I were an investor, I'd like to see what I am investing in.

It also go against all the other recommendations I have read -- they usually recommend demo your product early if you have it.

davidsrose2• 18 years ago

My [very strong] advice is not to do a live demo DURING YOUR POWERPOINT PITCH. You'll absolutely need to do a demo at a later point (perhaps even immediately following your pitch presentation), but what we're talking about here is a very specific piece of performance art: a carefully-tuned, 15-20 minute presentation which is usually presented in front of a group (either a formal group of angels, or a smaller group of VCs). For this presentation, you want as much control as possible, where NOTHING can go wrong.

You can deliver 200% of the value of a live demo in a CANNED demo (or screen shots of a demo). There is no time spent moving between screens, no chance that a bad connection or temporary glitch will make you look like an idiot, no chance that Murphy's Law will rear its ugly head.

Think of this as one of the [very important] communications pieces in your arsenal. You'll also need an elevator pitch (60 seconds, max, no slides), a business plan (so you know what your business is all about), an executive summary (which is what the investor usually reads), handouts to leave behind after your presentation (these are NOT your slides!), and, increasingly these days, a short (5 minute) video, which can be uploaded to the angel's or investor's web site if you're asked to submit your materials that way.

TED: David S. Rose on pitching to VCs

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