Startup Idol Perfect Pitch Presentation SLIDES

COPYRIGHT 2009 VENTUREARCHETYPES, LLC

Proprietary & Confidential

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Startup Best Practices:A Field Guide to the Perfect Pitch

Startup Idol Conference

Nathan Beckord, CFAVentureArchetypes, LLC

July 23, 2009



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415-370-5060Agenda

Intro– The Pitch DefinedPreparation & ProcessContent Structure

Elevator Pitch Template1st VC Meeting Pitch Outline

Audience TuningDelivery Tips- Do’s and Don’ts



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415-370-5060What is a Pitch?

A pitch is an attractive lure that has a hook attached to it

The Goal: A. Get a meetingB. Get the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th

meetings until you get funding (or a firm “no”)



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415-370-5060What type of pitch? Back of the napkin? Elevator pitch? In-office meeting?

Progressively deeper levels of information

Elevator Pitch / Email Teaser

Pitch Deck / Exec Sum

Due Diligence Documentation

Negotiations / Structuring / Close

Level of Detail In Your Pitch

Level of Investor Interest

Business Plan / Additional Detail



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415-370-5060Why is it so important?

“The statistics of obtaining funding dramatically improve if you get that first meeting.

If you get to a meeting, your odds of getting funding increase 30 times from 0.3% to over 10%.

These statistics demonstrate why it is crucial how you get to your VC, because you are more likely to get a

meeting if your materials reach the VCs desk through a trusted and friendly source.”

~from David Blumberg of Blumberg Capital, and published in How to Value Your Business and Increase its Potential, by Jay B. Abrams, McGraw-Hill.



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415-370-5060Preparation & ProcessFirst:

Pick your best cat herderFigure out your audience (more on this later)Develop ideas first, slides 2nd

Then:Start with an attention grabberQuickly get to the ‘a ha’ momentTell a complete (short) story

And of course: Extreme text minimalism (“highway billboard”)Weave in a killer, kick ass demoTout your numbers if you’ve got ‘em



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415-370-5060Elevator Pitch Template

What we do

Why weare better

How we make money

Current status

What weneed and why

“Hooks”

Our home pricing tool is more than twice as accurate as the leading competitor, due to our proprietary data scraping engine. And, our UI is easier to use because it was based on 6 months of shadowing agents in the field. This helps agents sell more homes, faster, at higher prices.

Our business model is a “freemium” subscription service, where agents pay a monthly fee for access to our database after an initial usage level. Our upsell rate is 65%, based on 7,000 trial users.

We are currently running beta trials with two of the largest local brokerage firms. We have raised $1 million from angels.

We are seeking $3 million in VC funding for marketing and hiring.This will get us to a national launch with 6 additional brokers in Q1.

Hi, I’m Joe Smith, founder of Acme Software. We develop sales lead tracking applications for the real estate market. It’s like CRM, but with a lot of embedded data and very powerful analytics.

Analogy



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415-370-5060VA Elevator Pitch TemplateMy name is ____________, and I am CEO of ___________________________. We are a developer of

__________________________________________________________ for the ____________________________________ market. Our product/service

__________________________________________________________________ for ____________________________________. We do this

_____________________________________________ than the competition because ___________________________________________________________.

Our business model is ____________________________________________________________________________________.

At present, we are __________________________________________________________________________________________________

We are seeking _______________ in funding to be used for __________________________________________________________________.

This amount will get us to ___________________________________________________________________________________. Our exit strategy

is ___________________________________________________________________.

Optional: selectively include other key points, such as current investors, major partners, or customer traction as appropriate.

Remember: your main goal is to hook their interest– not describe your entire company or technology. This hook will encourage investors to ask follow-up questions and engage in further dialogue.

name company name

product name or brief description of what you do name the market

$XX million

main source of proprietary advantage or “secret sauce”better, faster, cheaper, etc.

specific target customersdescribe a specific problem you solve or need you address

describe stage of business– concept stage, in product development, beta trials, etc.

how you make money– e.g., license sales, subscriptions, advertising, etc.

IPO, acquisition, etc.– name possible acquirers if relevant

describe next major milestone– e.g., commercial launch, profitability, etc.

launch, commercialization, marketing and sales, hiring, etc.

Email me for a copy: [email protected]



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415-370-5060VC Meeting Pitch Deck– Topics to Address

Who– are you?What – are you doing?Why – are you doing it (Pain or opportunity + size)How – are you doing it? (Your solution, and how it is better)When – why now? (Have you launched? Growing? etc.)

Then, How – will you get market share? (aka, Marketing and Sales)Who – else is doing it? (aka, Competition)How Much – money do you need? How Far – does that take you? (Milestones)How Much – money will it make? (Business + Financial model)Who – else is on the team? (full bios)



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415-370-5060Sequoia’s Outline

1. Company PurposeDefine the company/business in a single declarative sentence.

2. ProblemDescribe the pain of the customer (or the customer’s customer). Outline how the customer addresses the issue today.

3. SolutionYour company’s value prop. to make the customer’s life better. Show where your product physically sits. Provide use cases.

4. Why NowSet-up the historical evolution of your category. Define recent trends that make your solution possible.

5. Market SizeIdentify/profile the customer you cater to. Calculate the TAM (top down), SAM (bottoms up) and SOM.

•

6. CompetitionList competitors & competitive advantages

7. ProductProduct line-up (form factor, functionality, features, architecture, intellectual property). Development roadmap.

8. Business ModelPricing, Revenue model Average account size and/or lifetime value Sales & distribution model Customer/pipeline list

9. TeamFounders & Management Board of Directors/Board of Advisors

10. FinancialsP&L, B/S, Cash flow Cap table, The deal

See also Guy Kawasaki, Brad Feld, etc…



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415-370-5060Audience Tuning

Growing momentum - sales numbers, trends and economics

New growth avenues, Exit possibilitiesPlus, all of the above

Series B

Initial customer traction / adoption Show how VC $ will add “fuel to the fire”Plus, all of the above

Series A

Initial market validation pointsTeam, team, and teamProduct specs & advantage

Seed

Focus AreasStage



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415-370-5060More Audience Tuning

Connection:Know who will be there Get them involved, interactingAsk lots of questionsMake it personal

Messaging:Tell them, show them, tell them againUse cases to connect the dotsHave a memorable mission or mantra



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415-370-5060Delivery Tips: Top Ten To-Do’s1. Know your material2. Engage the audience3. Manage the clock4. Keep it painfully simple5. Polish the non-verbal6. Make it memorable7. Repeat as necessary8. Control the presentation9. Create a killer summary slide10. Go for the close, steely-eyed and cocksure. 11. Bonus: Have fun with it!



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415-370-5060Delivery Tips: Top Ten To-Don’ts1. Don’t bring unnecessary people2. Don’t speak to the screen3. Don’t use as much text as I do4. Don’t get funky with animation5. Don’t get stuck on proving a point6. Don’t (not) know your numbers7. Don’t fake an answer8. Don’t say “NDA” “no competition” “conservative numbers” “first mover

advantage” “1% of the Chinese market” etc.

9. Don’t state a specific valuation10.Don’t fabricate other VC interest



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Position the company correctly with a clear, compelling story polished materials, and passionate presentation

Target the right investors; Reach them through warm referrals

Demonstrate management’s execution credibility through early sales, partnerships, and recruitment skills

“Perfect Storm” for raising capital and maintaining negotiating leverage

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50,000-ft. viewStartup Formula for the “Perfect Storm”



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415-370-5060Thank You

www.venturearchetypes.com

[email protected]

P: 415-370-5060

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Startup Idol Perfect Pitch Presentation SLIDES