Comments on: Tips for Pitching to Investors http://fastwonderblog.com/2008/09/10/tips-for-pitching-to-investors/ Thoughts on online community strategy, community management, blogging, social media, Yahoo Pipes and open source. Mon, 23 Jan 2012 00:59:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Venture Capitalists Love Sex Because Sex Sells http://fastwonderblog.com/2008/09/10/tips-for-pitching-to-investors/comment-page-1/#comment-53591 Venture Capitalists Love Sex Because Sex Sells Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:43:08 +0000 http://fastwonderblog.com/?p=570#comment-53591 [...] give you one less thing to worry about. Pitching is extremely hard. Asking for money is hard. Having sexy slides is just one thing that you can check off on a long [...] [...] give you one less thing to worry about. Pitching is extremely hard. Asking for money is hard. Having sexy slides is just one thing that you can check off on a long [...]

]]> By: James http://fastwonderblog.com/2008/09/10/tips-for-pitching-to-investors/comment-page-1/#comment-40045 James Thu, 11 Sep 2008 23:28:33 +0000 http://fastwonderblog.com/?p=570#comment-40045 Excellent takeaways Dawn. As one of the five presenters I can tell you that four minutes goes by in a heartbeat and forces you to really focus - which is, of course, intentional by the organizers. It is worth noting that VC's see thousands of business ideas a year. You have to be focused and tight with your presentation to cut through all the noise and really catch their attention. Another good resource on the topic of how to pitch is Guy Kawasaki. Guy suggests the 10/20/30 rule for a typical one hour VC pitch: 10 slides, 20 minutes, and 30 minutes of Q&A. His comments are well worth reading. http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2005/12/the_102030_rule.html Excellent takeaways Dawn. As one of the five presenters I can tell you that four minutes goes by in a heartbeat and forces you to really focus – which is, of course, intentional by the organizers. It is worth noting that VC’s see thousands of business ideas a year. You have to be focused and tight with your presentation to cut through all the noise and really catch their attention.

Another good resource on the topic of how to pitch is Guy Kawasaki. Guy suggests the 10/20/30 rule for a typical one hour VC pitch: 10 slides, 20 minutes, and 30 minutes of Q&A. His comments are well worth reading. http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2005/12/the_102030_rule.html

]]> By: REMINDER: Silicon Forest Forum tomorrow » Silicon Florist http://fastwonderblog.com/2008/09/10/tips-for-pitching-to-investors/comment-page-1/#comment-39932 REMINDER: Silicon Forest Forum tomorrow » Silicon Florist Thu, 11 Sep 2008 20:01:47 +0000 http://fastwonderblog.com/?p=570#comment-39932 [...] effort to continue the wacky week of Silicon Florist appearances at events. I had a great time at LivePitch Portland on Tuesday and was honored to moderate a phenomenal panel—Josh Bancroft, Dawn Foster, and Marshall [...] [...] effort to continue the wacky week of Silicon Florist appearances at events. I had a great time at LivePitch Portland on Tuesday and was honored to moderate a phenomenal panel—Josh Bancroft, Dawn Foster, and Marshall [...]

]]> By: David Haimes http://fastwonderblog.com/2008/09/10/tips-for-pitching-to-investors/comment-page-1/#comment-39620 David Haimes Thu, 11 Sep 2008 07:31:46 +0000 http://fastwonderblog.com/?p=570#comment-39620 There's a program on BBC Amercia I TiVo called Dragon's Den http://www.bbcamerica.com/content/323/index.jsp From your account it's similar to the event you attended and as BBC America is a minority channel, the audience might well be similar too :) The particular thing that comes up in that show is they really want to invest in a person and they often want to make sure that you have no other side projects on the go and the idea being pitched will get all of your time and effort. There’s a program on BBC Amercia I TiVo called Dragon’s Den

http://www.bbcamerica.com/content/323/index.jsp

From your account it’s similar to the event you attended and as BBC America is a minority channel, the audience might well be similar too :)

The particular thing that comes up in that show is they really want to invest in a person and they often want to make sure that you have no other side projects on the go and the idea being pitched will get all of your time and effort.

]]> By: Dawn http://fastwonderblog.com/2008/09/10/tips-for-pitching-to-investors/comment-page-1/#comment-39399 Dawn Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:07:58 +0000 http://fastwonderblog.com/?p=570#comment-39399 Steve, Excellent point! One of the panelists also suggested using visuals to help them understand how the technology fits together, which I think is part of the same point. They didn't really want to know all of the technical details; they just needed to understand the big picture. Steve,

Excellent point! One of the panelists also suggested using visuals to help them understand how the technology fits together, which I think is part of the same point. They didn’t really want to know all of the technical details; they just needed to understand the big picture.

]]> By: Steve Morris http://fastwonderblog.com/2008/09/10/tips-for-pitching-to-investors/comment-page-1/#comment-39373 Steve Morris Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:24:58 +0000 http://fastwonderblog.com/?p=570#comment-39373 Excellent advice Dawn. I'd add one more suggestion: if it's an investor pitch, don't make it a product demo! (One of the presenters Monday fell into that trap, taking up almost all the time with a demo.) An investor wants to hear about the business opportunity, not just watch a product demo. Excellent advice Dawn. I’d add one more suggestion: if it’s an investor pitch, don’t make it a product demo! (One of the presenters Monday fell into that trap, taking up almost all the time with a demo.) An investor wants to hear about the business opportunity, not just watch a product demo.

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