This document provides guidance on pitching to venture capitalists. It discusses key elements to include in a pitch deck such as sharing your vision, painting the opportunity and market, demonstrating third-party validation and traction, and outlining your roadmap and use of funds. It also offers tips for preparing for and conducting the meeting, including researching the investors, knowing your metrics, and avoiding missteps like bringing your whole team or getting into arguments. The goal is to help entrepreneurs effectively engage with VCs and secure funding for their startup.

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Getting into the Mind of a Venture Capitalist
PITCH READY
Shruti Gandhi
@atShruti [ARRAY VENTURES]

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Track Record
5 EXITS: OVER 4 YEARS
Venture Capital Experience
Who am I?
Education
Engineer on lotus.
Started incubator.
Think/do tank for
Chairman’s office.
6 US patents.
Operating experience
Founder.
Big data analytics.
Shruti
Gandhi
@atShruti

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CREATING YOUR PITCH
DECK
THE KEY ELEMENTS

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 What is your big idea?
 Tell them your company one-liner
 Don’t only focus on today – talk about tomorrow’s vision too
Share Your Vision

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 Describe the customer’s pain
 Lay out the competitive landscape
 Why are you different?
 Why now?
 How big is the market?
 Be realistic
Paint the Opportunity + the Market
Tell a story. I need to know what problem you are solving and why you care
about that problem.
—David Hornik, August Capital
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 What is your Industry Expertise?
 Tell them why you have the right mix
 Who are your advisors?
 How long you have worked together?
 Outline the division of your responsibilities
Why is Your Team the Right One

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 Customer stories
 POCs
 Paid Customers
Show, don’t tell. show a demo, show customer testimonials; don’t tell me
what you will do. Show me what you’ve done. start with a “bottoms up”
story — why you built the product and started the company. unless you’re in
an obtuse industry don’t start with ‘top down’ — ‘Market size is X; market
inefficiency is Y’ etc.
—David Lee, SV Angel
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Show Us People Want it –
3rd Party Validation + Traction
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You can show
product traction
through a number
of measures –
customer
acquisition, usage,
etc. ReadyForZero
tracks product
efficacy.

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 Show Your Future Roadmap
 List the key milestones before next fundraise
 What is your burn rate?
 Tell them the timeframe for your next round
Use of Funds
Product People
Performance Finances
Fundraising
Roadmap

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LEADING UP TO THE
MEETING
HOW TO PREPARE

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 Warm introductions are preferable but are predicated on the following:
 The person introducing you has a strong relationship with the other
individual
 You know that person will vouch for you
 High-likelihood that the other individual will accept the intro
 You have a compelling reason to be introduced
 Go in cold if the above are not true
The Introduction
Sometimes going it alone can be the best route afterall. While a warm
introduction can be valuable when the stars are aligned, they can do more
harm than good when they are not.
—Scott Pollack, Head of BD at SumAll
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 Aim for Investors with Fit & Focus
 Chase a Partner, Not the Fund
 Ensure there is no competitive interests (i.e., a portfolio company)
 Research the size of their investments
Who to Reach Out To and How

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Sending the Pitch Deck
 Most investors want to see your deck before hand but they will
probably spend only 20 seconds on screening it
 They look for:
 Fit / Market
 Round size, deal terms, and traction
 Team
 Depending on the firm, they will ask their associate to screen and take
next steps
Who is your audience?

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THE MEETING
WHAT TO DO

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What to Expect

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What Investors Expect From You
 Thorough knowledge
 Aware of competitors
 Knowing your metrics cold
 Good formulated answers
 Good team dynamics

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What You Should Expect From Investors
 Impatience
 ADHD
 Some knowledge of the space
 Get to the point

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What Not to Do
If you have co-founders, pick a single co-founder to do the pitches & the
meetings. Two reasons:
1) Nothing worse then having 2 or more people show up, but only one
person does all the talking. Makes you suspect some odd founder
dynamic.
2) Fundraising is a massive distraction and pretty hard to run the company
and fundraise simultaneously. If all the co-founders are involved, makes
me nervous that the company isn’t running at full speed.
—Raanan Bar-Cohen, Resolute VC
 Don’t bring everyone to the 1st meeting
 Don’t get into an intellectual argument
 Don’t make up numbers on the fly
 Ask for intros
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 Square
 AirBnB
 Mint.com
 Dwolla
 Piccsy
What to Do

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#AMA
@atShruti