Weekly 🔥 31: The anatomy of a successful VC pitch
In this week’s edition, we discuss
- The art and science of pitching (sweet visuals included)
- The one winning formula to pitching
But first, some wise words from angel investor and startup mentor DC Palter:
“Amateurs pitch that their startup will succeed; professionals pitch how their startup cannot fail.”
The art and science of pitching
Gleb Maltsev has spent more than a decade coaching thousands of people on how to tell stories. The biggest takeaway? The majority of pitches miss their mark. Maltsev deep dives into why and what you can do about it (with visuals throughout). Some standout points include:
- VCs abide by the power law — 80% of VC money is raised by 20% of the companies, meaning professional investors go through long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of mild curiosity. Will you spike this curiosity?
- Early-stage fundraising is less about the slides — Instead, develop more accurate mental models of how venture capital works and how humans make decisions under uncertainty.
- One-fifth of a stage pitch is noise — Help your audience get your message by writing it down first. Pitching or speaking is not improv.
- Lead with story — A story-driven pitch balances logic, emotion, and credibility while combining two fundamental questions: what is right now and what could be in the future. Investors love it.
👉 Learn more about the Art and Science of pitching: The Anatomy of a Pitch
The one winning formula for VC pitches
Donna Griffit has spent 17 years as a professional storyteller helping all kinds of companies reach their funding goals, and she’s reviewed upwards of 30,000 pitch decks.
This is what every successful pitch boils down to:
- Give them the North Star — Hit your potential investors with a powerful value statement. And it’s not just what you are doing now — it’s “who will we be when we grow up?”
- Paint the problem picture — Your company is fantastic because it solves a problem, a pain or it fills a gaping hole — what is that? Use a story within a story here; it’s always easier to “get” something when you show how it matters on a personal level.
- Wow them with your solution — Use the Simple Solution Statement: “We’re solving X [Problem] for Y [Your Target Audience] with Z [Your Company/Product].” It should be so simple that anyone would get it immediately.
- Hit them with your silver bullet — Focus on answering why you, why now, and include compelling details about your current status, traction, revenues, LOIs, pipeline, partnerships, IP and more.
- Paint your happily ever after — Impress investors with how you plan to use their hard-earned funding, circling back to where you started, the North Star, and how you plan to get there.
👉 Go deeper here: I Boiled Down Hundreds of Successful VC Pitches to One Winning Formula
Till next time,
Team EH
