THE DREAM IN ACTION

If there is one thing that I do plenty of at GE, it’s present. Whether this be over the phone or in person telling a story in a business setting is a skill that one should continue to foster and treasure everything you learn. Along with presenting, the skill of building powerful Powerpoint presentations in order to communicate a project status, present a business case, and sometime request funding for a project is key. I’ve never pitched VC’s or Angel investors for funding on a startup, although I may soon :), but I have learned a thing or two about requesting cash using a solid slide deck and good story.

Recently, I’ve been studying methods on pitching for startup venture funding and have looked through many example decks and I’ve created this list of tips for getting funding in either the corporate or startup worlds. Believe it or not, I find many similarities between the two. I’d love your feedback on which tips have worked for you or which tips you disagree with.

1. You can visually overwhelm, don’t – Your visuals will usually be posters or charts and most of the time in a PowerPoint deck. Whatever you decide to use to grab your audiences attention, you should keep visuals simple and focus on adding to the story, not distracting from it. The most powerful tool you have in the presentation is you, so make sure that is the focus, take the Steve Jobs approach and use very simple slides to enhance your vocal presentation.
2. Be you, that’s what they are investing in – Especially in the startup world, the investors will be looking at you very closely to see if not only your idea is good, but how you plan to execute that idea. Make sure to be yourself and show them the real person they are investing in. By trying to be something your not you won’t come off confident, capable, or authentic…3 must have’s before making an investment.
3. Don’t be boring – Your goal is to keep the audience engaged and interested in what you’re pitching. If they get bored, they won’t invest, so make them laugh a little. My junior year Chemistry teacher educated her audience, but it wasn’t interesting or engaging at all. Had she made us laugh a little and been cognizant of the fact that half the class was sleeping I think we may have invested more time into her class.
4. Focus on them, not the idea – If you lose focus of your audience, they’ll lose focus of you. Make sure not to dive too deep into the details of your project or idea otherwise you’ll lose their attention and the chance of getting funded. If you are staring at your slide or the screen, then they are looking at your ass or their blackberry’s, and not your pitch. If you don’t keep eye contact with the investors then you’re essentially talking to yourself.
5. Have a conversation – If you are reading your presentation or just going through the bullets without any real engagement then your not getting anywhere. Keep them engaged by keeping examples relevant to them, or ask them direct questions that require a response. This will keep them on the ball and related to your story. If you go too deep in the technology or details of your idea then they won’t be able to respond or relate with you.
6. Say, “I don’t know” – Do not try to be flawless. It is critical to built a rapport with your audience so that you can connect with them on a real level. If a question is asked of you that you don’t have the answer to, then just say, “I don’t know, I’ll definitely get back to you”. They will be impressed with your honesty, your comfort level, and with your request for a follow up. Sometimes, I’ll say I don’t know just so I have the opportunity to follow up with them. This gives me the foot in the door next time. The uber critical key here is to be honest. If they sense that you are trying to pull one over on them, your chances of funding are finished before they started.
7. Prepare but don’t obsess – You obviously need to prepare enough so that you know the topic you are presenting, but if you are too rigid and too rehearsed it will be obvious. Do not try and memorize a script! Know the bullets of your pitch, then wing it. There is a comfort level that you’ll build with your audience when you talk with them versus reciting to them that will be very valuable to you. Comfort level is very important when pitching for funding so find your personal, ideal level of preparation by doing it over and over.
8. Don’t be stiff, but don’t rock out – When presenting I’ll usually stand up if I can. Even when it may seem more appropriate to sit I like to stand to grab the audiences attention and introduce the right amount of motion. When beginning public speakers talk they are usually doing 1 of 2 things: They are stiff as a board and their audience falls asleep, or they are rocking from foot to foot so bad that it completely distracts from the message. I like to use the area to walk from side to side to highlight a specific points and draw visual focus to the point I’m making at the time. If you know your slides, you can use your body position to really bring focus to the topic. Just remember, save your rocking for the weekend.
9. Remember me – Just like in my post about getting a job talking about the importance of elevator pitches, it’s critical that you do or say something that will be memorable. In the case of VC’s, they hear tons of startup pitches and there needs to be something about you and your idea that really grabs their attention. Think about crazy “go-to-market” strategies as a way to capture their attention…
10. Call to action – At the end of the pitch, do not just finish with “Questions?”, that’s weak! Make sure you have a clear and concise call-to-action from the audience. You’re either asking for an approval, for a funding, or for a pat on the back, but you want something, so make sure and ask for it. If you leave the end of the pitch open ended even the best slide deck and greatest story can be turned down or brushed off. Put the ball in their court and call for a decision.

We’ve all heard the adage, you need money to make money, well in my experience it’s true. Asking for money is not easy but it’s a skill that if you work on now it will help you exponentially later. If you’re 22 with the next Facebook, or if you’re 60 and you just found a must have investment property, pitching for and getting funding is a must have skill.

Have you ever raised VC money? What tactics did you use to land the much needed cash? Or, if you’ve pitched for, but never received VC funding what were some of your lessons learned? We’re all about helping each other out on THE DREAM IN ACTION so let’s hear your stories!

photo credit: tiedemann.marc