Download as PDF, PPTX
Uploaded bybrendanbaker
Matter March 2015
Brendan Baker discusses various aspects of fundraising and pitching for startup companies, emphasizing the importance of narrative and traction. He outlines techniques for improving pitches, such as structuring stories with quantified evidence of market demand, and strategies for engaging investors effectively. The document also highlights the evolving nature of venture investing and offers insights into the mindset of successful founders and investors.
More Related Content
![[PreMoney SF 2015] First Round >> Phin Barnes, "How to: Create Value Add, Not...](https://cdn.slidesharecdn.com/ss_thumbnails/pbarnesvalueaddpremoney2015copy-150612024856-lva1-app6891-thumbnail.jpg?width=640&height=640&fit=bounds)
Matter March 2015
- 1. @brendanbaker | March2015 Brendan Baker
- 2. Today Brendan Baker • Howit works • How Investors Think • Traction • Pitch Improvement • Avoiding Douchiness • Fundraising is a process
- 3. Founder Brendan Baker Investor Building anarrative. How venture investing is changing. AngelList. What it’s like to be employee 2. De-MBAifying myself. How to communicate traction to investors. The 4 companies I’d leave Greylock for. How reference points have changed my life. How seed fundraising actually works. Strong opinions on accelerators. The pace of true creators. The magic of rapid prototyping. Data in VC. The most interesting companies I saw at AngelList. The strategy to building a great early network. Who actually changes an industry (or company) from within? Why it’s an amazing time to start a tech company. Productive life as a series of rounds in a game. Focus, low ego, and other life experiments. How I got my jobs at AngelList and Greylock. What’s in a great fundraising pitch? How to find a great job in Silicon Valley. What a fundraising process looks like.
- 5. How Investors Think. BrendanBaker Green is good.
- 6. Brendan Baker Problem SolutionProduct Roadmap Market Distribution Story RaiseTeam Model / Business Traction Unit economics Expect the basics.
- 7. Credible < Notable BrendanBaker Friendly meeting Funded Team Traction Market Product Team Traction Market Product + - + -
- 8.
- 9. Derisking. Brendan Baker Risk Progress Can theybuild the product? Will people use it? Will people pay for it? Will people come in mass?
- 10. Brendan Baker Compare vsthe market.
- 11. Brendan Baker Finding Matches 20/ 80Don’t MatchMatch
- 12. Brendan Baker Think at30,000 Feet Execution Vision How the world will be
- 13.
- 14. Traction is yourstory of momentum, told through quantified evidence of market demand for your product. Brendan Baker
- 15. “quantified evidence” Brendan Baker Profits Revenues Activeusers Engagement Customers/clients Registered Users Downloads Partnerships Traffic Yes Maybe Cohort progress Engagement progress Product velocity No Press Testimonials * This isn’t a set list. Use evidence that makes sense for you.
- 16. Brendan Baker “They’re superearly, but they build and learn fast. They’re worth betting on.” story traction
- 17. Brendan Baker “They’re creatinga marketplace. That’s hard, but they know it. They knew they had to build the supply side first, and they nailed it. Now they’re tackling the demand side. Early indications are good, and I think they know how to ramp it up.” Launched in November 2014: - 25,000 vendors, with avg 25 items (growing 20-30%/month) - 110K uniques (growing 40%/month), with 3% conversion - avg purchase of $45 (growing 5%/month) - $120,000 revenue run rate (increasing 30%/month) - Just signed partnership with Yahoo! And ramping up ads. story traction
- 18. Traction Techniques Brendan Baker • Compress the X axis • Choose your X axis • Bracket your progress (lower their expectations) • Choose your Y axis • Absolute + growth numbers • B2B or enterprise storytelling (rollout) • Annotate a graph • No testimonials or press mentions!
- 19. Pitch Improvement Brendan Baker PracticeMeetings with ‘Team’, and then 2nd choice investors CEO (+1?) Founding Team Real pitches with investors WHAT WHO
- 20. Pitch Improvement Brendan Baker Why? Whydo you care? Why are you doing this? Why are you creating this? Why?
- 21. Pitch Improvement Brendan Baker ValueProposition
- 22. Pitch Improvement Brendan Baker NowStatement Why is now the only time that this could be created? Why are you the only team who could create this?
- 23.
- 24. Pitch Improvement Brendan Baker Fatand Formatting Cut fat • Max 3-4 bullet points • Max a few words • Remove ineffective images Formatting • All titles and body copy in same position, same color • White space • De-pixelate images • Clean up diagrams
- 25. Pitch Improvement Brendan Baker Excitementand Hesitation Game Excitement • … • … • … • … Hesitation • … • … • … • …
- 26. Pitching like anon-douche Brendan Baker • Capture their attention • Be concise and focused • Use evidence (gamechanger rule) • Show conviction (strong wording, etc) • Make it easy (screenshots, logins, etc) • Build momentum by QBing your team • Reflect offline success on AL
- 27. Brendan Baker 1 23 4 5 6 7 8 9 (Example only. Others may apply) Fundraising is a Process