10. What makes you smile about your business?
What are you most proud of?
What is the coolest thing about the work you're doing?
13. The power of storytelling
People hate pitches but they love stories
BUILD TENSION
14. What do investors care about?
Investors care about two
things: Low risk + High
returns
When you are pitching it is
your job is to de-risk the
opportunity as much as
possible and show the
HUGE potential for success.
15. A good pitch can communicate value in 2-3 minutes
Reid Hoffman
Goal is to build CREDIBILITY so
investors will trust you with their money
21. My company, (Company name)
is developing (a defined offering)
to help (a targeted audience)
(solve a problem)
(with secret sauce)
Mad Libs for Pitching
45. Online Takeout Orders: Market $ize
Top Down
$511 Billion spent dining out annually
• source: National Restaurant Association, 2006 (http://www.restaurant.org/)
Bottom up:
100M people eat out every day
Today ~4% of meals ordered online (= 4M/day)
In 5 years 20% of meals ordered online (=20M/day)
Average takeout order cost is $12
Available Total Market Size:
• today = ~$50M daily, ~$20B annually
• in future = $250M daily, $100B annually
57. Core skills of team members
Key accomplishments (previous successes,
work experience at reputable companies)
Experience working together
Credible advisors/investors
Build credibility
Team
58. Geeks with deep technical background
Entrepreneurs who have sold companies
Sales/Marketing who Make it Rain
Also Identify:
Key Hires you Need but *Don’t* Have, and…
… you’ve got candidates lined up in those areas
... ready to hire as soon as you close funding
… or at least job descriptions / est. salary
Team
60. Pitch training 1.0
Rules of engagement:
3 min + P2P feedback
• Who is the user?
• What problem are you solving?
• What’s your solution?
• How big is the market?
• How’re you making money?
• Who are you (team)?
• The ask?
Get us hooked!
Show us your passion!
68. Investment rounds
Pre-Seed/Family round/Accelerator
(~$20-500K used for building team and initial product/prototype)
Seed round
(~$500-6M used for building product, establishing product-
market fit and early revenue)
Series A
(~6M-$25M used to scale customer acquisition and revenue)
Series B, C, D, IPO/EXIT
Raise enough for 3 experiments / 18 months runway
72. How to send e-mail introductions
If you are asking for an intro..
• Ask nicely (it’s a big favor)
• Explain why this is a valuable intro for both parties
• Make it easy (write the e-mail intro)
When you receive the intro..
• Follow up the same day
• Say thanks to the sender and introduce yourself
• Move sender to BCC
• Later: send the sender another thank you e-mail with
details on how it went.
73. How to send e-mail introductions
If you get asked to make an intro
• Ask why this intro is valuable for both parties
• Ask your other contact if it is ok that you send the
intro and which e-mail he/she prefers
• Send the intro introducing both parties and
include why you think both people will benefit
from the introduction
• Thank your contact for taking the time to connect
with your friend.
74. What questions can you expect?
Company Questions:
• What’s the history of the company? When did you start operating?
• Why did you create this company?
• How did you meet/find your team members? Why are you / team
right people to execute this business?
• Target market size? Minimum market penetration needed for success?
• What’s your traction? (MVP done?, user/revenue growth?, key
milestones?)
• Why will you fail? Biggest challenges?
• Why will you succeed? Unfair / sustainable advantages?
• Are you a starter or finisher?
• Show me how you achieve the magic ratio: ARPU / Life-time Value >
Cost to Acquire / Maintain a Customer
75. What questions can you expect?
Capital Raising Questions:
• What’s the capital raising history of the company? How much / what
terms?
• When did you start raising this round? What investors have committed?
• Have you invested any of your money?
• Are your advisors investing? Why not?
• What’s your valuation? Terms?
• How much cash is in the bank? What’s your monthly burn rate
(expenses not covered by operating cash flow from revenues)? =
Runway (Cash / Burn Rate)
• Use of proceeds and expected results/milestones?
76. Surprising questions
#1: Who believes in you and how can I get in touch with them?
#2: What entrepreneurs do you admire and why?
#3: How do you track trends in your market?
#4: Can you tell me a story about a customer using your product?
#5: How do you know how much money you need and could you scale your
business with less?
#6: How can I connect with 5 customers who have used your product or service?
#7: What will your market look like in five years as a result of using your product
or service?
#8: What mistakes have you made thus far in this business and what have you
learned?
#9: What if three or five years down the road we think you’re not the right person
to continue running this company—how will you address that?
#10: Have you ever been fired from a job? Tell us about it.
77. “Whether you think you can, or you think
you can’t - you’re right!” Henry Ford
Henrik Scheel
henrik@startupxp.com
Linkedin.com/in/henrikscheel
StartupExperience.com/pitch
Good luck with your entrepreneurial journey!