How to Pitch to Venture Capital Investors in Silicon Valley
How to Pitch to Venture Capital Investors in Silicon Valley by Software Developers India General Pitch Overview 15-30 minutes long “Hook” them in the first 30 seconds Visually compelling (but not complex, keep the focus on you) Slideshows and Canned Prototypes are best (live demos are too risky) # 1 Priority: Sell Yourself Sure, you’ve got a product and a business plan, but the main thing you are selling is yourself—are you someone who they can trust and work with for mutual gain? Primary Virtues for the Entrepreneur To impress a VC you need to display certain virtues within yourself. Here’s a short list of key characteristics, and how you might go about showing them. 1. Passion & Vision How: Be excited about your idea. If you aren’t excited about it, why should anyone else be? There are great things in your future, and your enthusiasm should be infectious. 2. Trust How: References prior to the pitch are good for building trust, but it’s up to you to make a good impression and reveal aspects of your background which establish your integrity. 3. Commitment How: The best way to show your commitment is to reveal how much of your own time and money you’ve already sunk into this idea. The more you’ve put into it, the less likely you are to give up on it. 4. Expertise How: Early in the presentation you need to briefly summarise your background as it pertains to the idea being pitched. In general, you need to be able to confidently deliver industry-specific and technical information. Don’t allow typos or false data to sneak into the pitch! Pitch Flow Your pitch needs to quickly guide them through learning the idea, seeing its value, getting them excited to join. Each step builds upward in a sequence that leaves no room for doubt or uncertainty. That’s the big challenge. Other Key Points You only have a short time to pitch, but the more you cover, the less doubt you allow in the investor’s mind: Finances Target Markets Competitors Team & Team Building Other Investors Remember: any details you can’t fit in the presentation you can always include in a handout you leave with them. Thanks for Reading Software Developers India’s business & design experts can help you prepare your pitch deck. We love to work with entrepreneurs, startups and have close ties with investors here in Silicon Valley. Call 408.802.2885 Email team@sdi.la or visit: https://softwaredevelopersindia.com/venture-capital.html Let's see what we can do to make your idea shine.
