This is about how to communicate without distracting your audience, focusing your material on a value proposition and the required slides for an investor presentation.
5. About Stirling Mercantile
M&A ADVISORY
Sage advice in times of need
or growth opportunity M&A EXPANSION CAPITAL
Advisory Multiple industry
experience
DIVESTITURES Expansion
Seasoned corporate
Divestitures financiers
Corporate financier Capital
involvement
can improve price,
simplify process EARLY-STAGE
Fairness Early-Stage FINANCING
Opinions Finance Full-service approach
FAIRNESS OPINIONS throughout process
Aligned interests likely
Director comfort & legal
to secure funding
protection from independent,
expert valuation
- PERFECTING YOUR PITCH - .
6. About Stirling Mercantile
M&A ADVISORY
Sage advice in times of need
or growth opportunity M&A EXPANSION CAPITAL
Advisory Multiple industry
experience
DIVESTITURES Expansion
Seasoned corporate
Divestitures financiers
Corporate financier Capital
involvement
can improve price,
simplify process EARLY-STAGE
Fairness Early-Stage FINANCING
Opinions Finance Full-service approach
FAIRNESS OPINIONS throughout process
Aligned interests likely
Director comfort & legal
to secure funding
protection from independent,
expert valuation
- PERFECTING YOUR PITCH - .
20. Pricing : A Science and an Art
TYPE OF INVESTOR
Issue Aftermarket
INSTITUTION UNDERWRITE BUY
RETAIL BUY HOLD
BUY SELL
STAGS
The Secrets of Superb Public Speaking – John Miers 2009
- PERFECTING YOUR PITCH -
21. What was the title of the previous slide?
Keep the answer to yourself for a sec…
- PERFECTING YOUR PITCH -
22. Pricing : A Science and an Art
TYPE OF INVESTOR
Issue Aftermarket
INSTITUTION UNDERWRITE BUY
RETAIL BUY HOLD
BUY SELL
STAGS
The Secrets of Superb Public Speaking – John Miers 2009
- PERFECTING YOUR PITCH -
23. Seating
Both Sides of the Table
- PERFECTING YOUR PITCH -
27. Tell Me What You Do
Describe the problem you solve.
“We sell [hardware/software]
that helps [our target market]
to [save money or make money]”
- PERFECTING YOUR PITCH -
31. Slides
1. Company 1. Sales and
Description Marketing Strategy
2. Team 2. Revenue Model
3. Problem or Need 3. Projections
4. Solution/Demo 4. Roadmap
5. Value Proposition 5. Summary
6. Addressable 6. Contact Information
Market, Traction 7. Appendix
7. Competition 10 seconds to 2 minutes each
- PERFECTING YOUR PITCH -
34. Team
John, CEO
• Former ABC, XYZ
Jim, CTO, Founder
• Former ABC, PQR
VP Marketing
• Identified
David, Board Member
• DEF, PQR
.
3
35. Industry Problem
Revenue is dropping
Expenses are rising
Customers are leaving
4
36. Our Solution
“This should save us $100
per employee per year”
Mr. Big, CEO of Target Customer
5
37. Our Solution
Reference Annual $ Buying Decision
Clients
ABC Co 35,000 Access from the cloud
LMN Ent. 42,000 Flexible pricing
XYZ Inc. 25,000 Convenience, time
savings
• Relate each decision to value
• “Price” is a problem
5
42. Sales and Marketing Strategy
Pricing strategy
Target markets
Channels or partners
Current funnel
8
43. Road Map Funding
IP Roadmap Roadmap
Expan- >$10m Series B
sion
Full
Launch
Beta, one
sector
Alpha
$4m Series A
Design Seed,
$1.2m Angel
$0.3m F, F & E
today
Year 1 2 3 4 5
Revenue Early Crossing Mainstream Exit
RoadMap Adopters the Chasm Growth
11
44. Projections
Projected Income Statement Analysis
($000's)
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5
Net New Members (000s) 3 21 115 332 612
Cumulative Members (000s) 3 24 139 470 1,082
Growth 908% 587% 339% 230%
Gross Revenues 68 100% 607 100% 4,309 100% 17,826 100% 46,684 100%
Growth 891% 710% 414% 262%
Direct Operating Expenses 29 42% 255 42% 1,810 42% 7,487 42% 19,607 42%
Gross Profit 39 58% 352 58% 2,499 58% 10,339 58% 27,077 58%
Growth 891% 710% 414% 262%
Selling, General and Administrative 1,040 1528% 1,140 188% 2,571 60% 9,269 52% 21,942 47%
Growth 110% 226% 361% 237%
EBITDA -1,001 -1470% -788 -130% -72 -2% 1,070 6% 5,135 11%
9
47. Appendix
•IP Summary •Channel Detail
•Development Roadmap •Pricing Detail
•Market Segments •Market Trends
•Use Case – Primary Markets •Tech Trends
•Use Case – Secondary Markets •Proforma HR
•SWAT Analysis •Cap Table
•Positioning Detail •Uses of Capital
14
48. Follow up
• A short email that night
• Answer open questions and tasks
• Lead into next steps
- PERFECTING YOUR PITCH -
49. Avoid Saying…
• ‘Our projections are conservative’
• ‘We have no competition’
• ‘We have a first mover advantage’
• ‘We only need to capture x% of the
market share’
.
D - PERFECTING YOUR PITCH - .
55. Tell Me What You Do
Describe the problem you solve.
“We sell [hardware/software]
that helps [our target market]
to [save money or make money]”
- PERFECTING YOUR PITCH -
59. High Valuation Trap
Problem:
• Follow-on investors value lower than last
• Forced to “cram down” last investors or no
deal
Solution:
• Understand downstream valuations
.
60. Valuation
• Consider the post $ cap table for the next
round
• And subsequent rounds to the exit
Investors Angel Series A
Shares Ownership Value Shares Ownership Value
Founders & Mgt 3,700,000 47% $ 1,423,077 3,700,000 33% $ 3,320,513
Acquisitions 0% $ - - 0% $ -
F&F 600,000 8% $ 230,769 600,000 5% $ 538,462
Angel 2,600,000 33% $ 1,000,000 2,600,000 23% $ 2,333,333
Series A Investors 0% $ - 3,342,857 30% $ 3,000,000
Series B Investors 0% $ - 0% $ -
ESOP 900,000 12% $ 346,154 900,000 8% $ 807,692
Totals 7,800,000 100.00% $3,000,000 11,142,857 100.00% $10,000,000
Price per share $0.38 $0.90
.
61. Exit Valuations
• Multiple of
– Revenue (eg. $10m x 2 = $20m)
– Profit or EBITDA (eg. $3m x 6 = $18m)
• Discounted Cash Flow (can be lame)
• All are better when company is growing
– (Importance of timing)
.
Editor's Notes
Why are we here?
To WIN this competition. What's the most important ingredient to winning this competition? I have been a judge or mentor since inception in 2001 and have seen everything from no presentation at all to 65 slides to a 45 minute video. None of those had a chance of winning because we either didn’t understand the message or we fell asleep waiting. This is the first year we are presenting this and it is the key to winning. All the winners have excelled at this – you cant win without it. So getting this right could be more important than your intellectual property or your team or whatever you have been working on to make your company a success. We’ll break this into 3 sections…
Stirling is a 11 year old investment bank, mostly mid market, but will do one early stage deal a year. We’ve worked with most of the local VCs and have done financings in the valley.
Stirling is a 11 year old investment bank, mostly mid market, but will do one early stage deal a year. We’ve worked with most of the local VCs and know who is the best person within the fund.
Stirling is a 11 year old investment bank, mostly mid market, but will do one early stage deal a year. We’ve worked with most of the local VCs and know who is the best person within the fund.
Once you get your focus statement correct we now focus on communication - Most things you have learned about speeches and communication are wrong. Differentiate the great from the good (not memorable and the memorable) – 10 presentations over 2 days (trying to find ways to disqualify you – one of the ways is communication) – if you can’t pitch your story how can you pitch a client or raise money. Walk into the room and get peoples attention right away. Start with a bang (like everything you know about communication and speeches are wrong) - Success in Speaking Means the audience remembers you and your message - Receiver Driven Communications (let the listener drive) – John Miers Communication is Silence. Got that Pause Silence = Thought = Memory Observe a conversation – (David and I) 1- First Person Thinks 2- First Person Speaks 3- Second Person Thinks 4- Second Person Speaks (in a presentation this is non verbal, a nod – permission to go on) You can’t listen and think at the same time You can’t read and think at the same time Your job as the speaker is to make the audience think – you only speak to achieve this. Build Anticipation A natural conversational style is best for public speaking Next is PowerPoints…. The most overused and misused business tool on the planet. 10 Second Test
Communicate like a pro to ensure your message is understood
Focus your audience on exactly what you do and why that will make you successful
Why are we here?
Communicate like a pro to ensure your message is understood
Easy way to tell if you have enough visuals… do the slide sorter view. Bulleted List Activity….
So now you have a strong focused business statement – essentially a thesis for your presentation and your business. You communicated this in a strong, receiver driven way, a way that will have people remembering you. Now you have 20-30 minutes to give the judges all the information that you need to get an A on the Presentation and win the competition.
Don’t make your speaking notes your presentation. Do it more like this
Pause and let people read it. Strong Visuals – speak to them
Pause and let people read it. Strong Visuals – speak to them
The Secrets of Superb Public Speaking – John Miers 2009
The Secrets of Superb Public Speaking – John Miers 2009
The Secrets of Superb Public Speaking – John Miers 2009
Once you get your focus statement correct we now focus on communication - Most things you have learned about speeches and communication are wrong. Differentiate the great from the good (not memorable and the memorable) – 10 presentations over 2 days (trying to find ways to disqualify you – one of the ways is communication) – if you can’t pitch your story how can you pitch a client or raise money. Walk into the room and get peoples attention right away. Start with a bang (like everything you know about communication and speeches are wrong) - Success in Speaking Means the audience remembers you and your message - Receiver Driven Communications (let the listener drive) – John Miers Communication is Silence. Got that Pause Silence = Thought = Memory Observe a conversation – (David and I) 1- First Person Thinks 2- First Person Speaks 3- Second Person Thinks 4- Second Person Speaks (in a presentation this is non verbal, a nod – permission to go on) You can’t listen and think at the same time You can’t read and think at the same time Your job as the speaker is to make the audience think – you only speak to achieve this. Build Anticipation A natural conversational style is best for public speaking Next is PowerPoints…. The most overused and misused business tool on the planet. 10 Second Test
You can not describe your business in under 2 minutes You can get interest and excitement and a desire for more info The most critical step for start-ups About 30 seconds Excitement, greed, curiosity
One sentence - what you sell, to whom and why they should buy.
One sentence - what you sell, to whom and why they should buy.
Once you get your focus statement correct we now focus on communication - Most things you have learned about speeches and communication are wrong. Differentiate the great from the good (not memorable and the memorable) – 10 presentations over 2 days (trying to find ways to disqualify you – one of the ways is communication) – if you can’t pitch your story how can you pitch a client or raise money. Walk into the room and get peoples attention right away. Start with a bang (like everything you know about communication and speeches are wrong) - Success in Speaking Means the audience remembers you and your message - Receiver Driven Communications (let the listener drive) – John Miers Communication is Silence. Got that Pause Silence = Thought = Memory Observe a conversation – (David and I) 1- First Person Thinks 2- First Person Speaks 3- Second Person Thinks 4- Second Person Speaks (in a presentation this is non verbal, a nod – permission to go on) You can’t listen and think at the same time You can’t read and think at the same time Your job as the speaker is to make the audience think – you only speak to achieve this. Build Anticipation A natural conversational style is best for public speaking Next is PowerPoints…. The most overused and misused business tool on the planet. 10 Second Test
Why are we here?
About 12 slides, average 1 to 2 minutes each Cover following topics A picture says a thousand words Don't present bulleted speaking notes
History: What we do: What we are looking for:
Why they are important Gaps (ok to discuss) Three-legged stool, importance of the team
These should articulate a market pain and tie directly to your value proposition
Show what you have developed Give 3rd party references that tie into value proposition Tell a story about your product and how you designed it to solve the problems your market is living with How does it save money or make money for the customer Why you prioritized this feature or that benefit Show your pride here Describe the IP
Show what you have developed Give 3rd party references that tie into value proposition Tell a story about your product and how you designed it to solve the problems your market is living with How does it save money or make money for the customer Why you prioritized this feature or that benefit Show your pride here Describe the IP
Lots of conflicting data, don’t blow a tire here, just get to $XB Clear description of the target customer TAM = Prospects x Price Not to be confused with a sector’s revenue Not to be used for Forecasting (reasons to follow)
Use the metrics that matter for your sector
Should help all buyers understand your business and it’s value to them What are your key differentiators Why will customers buy your product over competitor products Why will you beat your competitors? Never underestimate your competition
Pricing Initial target markets (geography, sector) How to sell? (web, direct, channel) Sales cycle and current funnel
How much are you seeking? How long will this cash last? Future rounds? Use of Funds? How will this improve the valuation for the next round? Relate this strategy to the milestones
Show take-up, top line, margin line and bottom line for 5 years Your model should have the associated financial statements for 60 months. Investor will focus on the following, so you may highlight or reference them
One graph showing revenues, Margins and Profit/Loss for 5 years Speak to the graphs – “cash flow starts here, cash even about here”, etc Preferably reaching excess of $40 million in 3-5 years
Anticipate questions and add answers to the deck I have seen 30 slides here, accessible by typing the slide number and enter from the presentation screen
PDF, available for download
Once you get your focus statement correct we now focus on communication - Most things you have learned about speeches and communication are wrong. Differentiate the great from the good (not memorable and the memorable) – 10 presentations over 2 days (trying to find ways to disqualify you – one of the ways is communication) – if you can’t pitch your story how can you pitch a client or raise money. Walk into the room and get peoples attention right away. Start with a bang (like everything you know about communication and speeches are wrong) - Success in Speaking Means the audience remembers you and your message - Receiver Driven Communications (let the listener drive) – John Miers Communication is Silence. Got that Pause Silence = Thought = Memory Observe a conversation – (David and I) 1- First Person Thinks 2- First Person Speaks 3- Second Person Thinks 4- Second Person Speaks (in a presentation this is non verbal, a nod – permission to go on) You can’t listen and think at the same time You can’t read and think at the same time Your job as the speaker is to make the audience think – you only speak to achieve this. Build Anticipation A natural conversational style is best for public speaking Next is PowerPoints…. The most overused and misused business tool on the planet. 10 Second Test
Communicate like a pro to ensure your message is understood
Why are we here?
One sentence - what you sell, to whom and why they should buy.
One sentence - what you sell, to whom and why they should buy.
Once you get your focus statement correct we now focus on communication - Most things you have learned about speeches and communication are wrong. Differentiate the great from the good (not memorable and the memorable) – 10 presentations over 2 days (trying to find ways to disqualify you – one of the ways is communication) – if you can’t pitch your story how can you pitch a client or raise money. Walk into the room and get peoples attention right away. Start with a bang (like everything you know about communication and speeches are wrong) - Success in Speaking Means the audience remembers you and your message - Receiver Driven Communications (let the listener drive) – John Miers Communication is Silence. Got that Pause Silence = Thought = Memory Observe a conversation – (David and I) 1- First Person Thinks 2- First Person Speaks 3- Second Person Thinks 4- Second Person Speaks (in a presentation this is non verbal, a nod – permission to go on) You can’t listen and think at the same time You can’t read and think at the same time Your job as the speaker is to make the audience think – you only speak to achieve this. Build Anticipation A natural conversational style is best for public speaking Next is PowerPoints…. The most overused and misused business tool on the planet. 10 Second Test