Pitching MMI
How to make a convincing short presentation
This material was captured from a TED talk by David S. Rose: 10 things to know before you pitch a VC for money. The talk can be found at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/david_s_rose_on_pitching_to_vcs.html.
What you're selling:
- Integrity
- Passion
- Experience
- Knowledge
- Skill
- Leadership
- Commitment
- Vision
- Realism
- Coachability
Re bullets: Good = Just a few bullets, Better = Just a title, Best = just a picture.
Start fast (10 to 30 seconds to get their emotional attention on you), keep going up, finish with a rocket
Things to include:
- Logical progression
- Things I (the audience) know or understand or can relate to
- Provide validators (what shows this is right)
- Believable Upside
Avoid:
- Things I know are not true
- Things I don't understand
- Things that make me think -- take it through like to a 6th grader but without talking down
- Internal inconsistencies
- Anything that's an error: typos, errors, unpreparedness
Things you want to present:
- Company logo
- Business overview (2 sentences)
- Management team
- Market (size)
- Product (what the heck is it)
- Business Model (how to make money on it)
- Strategic Relations (special ones that help you)
- Competition (who is it, how are you special)
- Barriers to Entry
- Financial Overview (maybe 4 years)
- Use of Proceeds (how will this money help)
- Capital and Valuation (the 'ask')
Top 5 presentation tips
- always use presenter mode
- always use a remote control
- handouts are NOT your presentation
- don't read your speech
- never ever look at the screen, it should supplement what you're doing, not replace it
Posted September 27th, 2008 by graybeal