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The post 5 Tips for Pitching VCs in Virtual Times appeared first on 500 Startups. All founder pitching oracle for startups pitching pitching investors virtual pitchingGuest Post: The following post is a sponsored guest post by JD Weinstein, Oracle for Startups. All views and opinions represented in this post are the views and opinions of Oracle for Startups and do not represent those of 500 Startups or any of its staff or affiliates. MORE
For entrepreneurs, the operative phrase is, “I pitch, therefore I am.” Pitching isn’t only for raising money—it’s for reaching agreement, and agreement can yield many good outcomes including sales, partnerships, and new hires. Here are the key elements of a great pitch. When the meeting starts, you should set the stage for the rest of the pitch. Entrepreneurs believe that a pitch is a narrative whose opening chapter must always be autobiographical. MORE
Key Questions To Answer When Pitching Real Estate Tech VCs Is there demand for the product? For example, when Bowery pitched to Camber Creek, the partners ran mock appraisals their LPs to prove the efficacy of the appraisal software. In these cases, growth metrics, retention rates, and usage data can be more useful to succeeding in your pitch. You should pitch how to get higher rents. Has the founder done his homework before his pitch? MORE
Your startup’s pitch deck could be the difference between getting funded or getting ignored. But we’re popping the lid off of that black box with the Pitch Deck Teardown. We’re asking EC members to submit their pitch decks right here! MORE
Startup pitch meetings are pretty predictable. You walk into a venture fund’s conference room or Zoom room (if they’re progressive), pitch the partners, offer to answer their questions, maybe ask them a bland question or two, and then leave the meeting to await a response. Here’s the thing: asking a VC a couple of easy questions at the end of a pitch doesn’t get you any closer to receiving a term sheet. MORE
In a classic, “but wait, there’s more” moment, all exhibitors will be able to pitch to conference attendees from around the world. Do you find expression “the sky’s the limit” well, limiting? MORE
STATE COLLEGE, PA – On Wednesday, June 17, 2020, The Tech Celerator @StateCollege, a partnership with Invent Penn State that has helped create more than 130 new startups, hosted a zoom pitch event. Thanks to everyone’s cooperation we were able to not only host the weekly sessions via Zoom, but to also present the final pitches virtually. The post THE TECHCELERATOR@STATE COLLEGE ANNOUNCES PITCH WINNERS! MORE
Many of these new red flags that occur during virtual pitching are easy to fix. In this Dreamit Dose, Healthtech MD Adam Dakin provides 5 simple rules to avoid giving investors the wrong impression when pitching remotely. We hear startups pitch everyday and far too often founders end up joining the meeting late. When pitching investors virtually, you don’t want to start the call like Adam does in the shot above. MORE
Most VC investors see hundreds, if not thousands, of startup decks and pitches each year. In this article, we’ll outline Managing Partner Steve Barsh’s top 5 things investors wish startup founders knew when reaching out, sending a deck, or pitching a VC. MORE
Personally, I find pitch events to be a little bit contrived. For the most part, while the companies may be interesting, the actual pitches are usually so-so. That being said, too many pitch presentations have the delivery of a Powerpoint as the main focus, verses the story. You should be able to get mugged, lose all your stuff, and walk into anyone with an internet connection being able to give a pitch. MORE
The best pitches have a hook. They mostly talk about where you're going, because the what you've done up until now in a seed pitch usually isn't that much. The best pitches acknowledge the reason why we're here--for you to ask me for money and for me to make a bundle of it investing in you. The best pitches follow the word problem with. The best pitches are ambitious--they ask for enough and aim to do something big. MORE
In the episode, Steve asked Ron about his “five slide pitch deck.” Read Ron’s article on his five slide pitch deck here In our most recent episode of DreamitLive , Managing Partner Steve Barsh spoke with Ron Gula , President and Co-Founder of Gula Tech Adventures. Ron has the investor perspective as the President of Gula Tech Adventures, but also can empathize with the founder as former founder of his own company, Tenable. MORE
Even though Kevin Busque is a co-founder of TaskRabbit, he didn’t get the response he was hoping for the first time he pitched his new venture to Felicis Ventures’ Aydin Senkut. Pitch deck teardown: 33:00. MORE
I’ve talked about the role of a compelling executive summary to get an investor's initial attention and secure their agreement to take a pitch meeting. But what should that investor expect out of the ensuing pitch deck Deciding whether to invest in a good idea is hard. Even when its potential is clearly explained. Trying to make that evaluation without a solid explanation is an exercise in needless frustration. MORE
This is the 2nd post in the “Startup Pitching” series. So simplify your pitch. If your product solves 10 pain points then in the pitch focus on the top 2-3 most important ones and simply hint at the others. You can take the same concept and apply it to your pitch. Once we realized this, we updated our pitch so that our narrative featured Jane (mentioned above) who clearly was not intellectually disabled. MORE
Apply to Pitch at the Event The top 10 finalists will be given the opportunity to get their ideas in front of distinguished investor panels, influential media, global partners, and over 300 esteemed guests. The startups chosen to pitch at the summit will get an exclusive chance to participate in our private "speed dating" for 1-on-1 time with leading corporate executives and investors. MORE
LANCASTER, PA – Ben Franklin Technology Partners is pleased to announce the winners of their TechCelerator pitch competition. The pitch competition was the finale for six teams who participated in an intensive 10-week startup boot camp offered by the Ben Franklin Technology Partners. MORE
Companies like Procore have become billion-dollar businesses on the back of their pitch to simplify the construction management process. MORE
Selling a compelling vision is so critical that some investors weigh it more heavily than the pitch deck itself. “It’s Strategies for crafting a strong and compelling vision for your startup: Towards the end of your pitch, tell investors that “this is just the beginning” for your startup. Getting investors excited about your product is a critical part of raising capital. MORE
I heard an EdTech startup pitching to GAN Ventures do this recently, too. You can’t expect just to show up and give a pitch that’s simple and coherent. When I used to work at Techstars, we would spend an incredible amount of time in the first few weeks of a program helping startups understand precisely what their 30-second pitch should be. When you pitch investors and potential clients, you have 30 seconds to hook someone by sharing the foundation of what you do. MORE
Word choice is important and even the smallest detail can make or break your startup pitch. Adam Dakin , Managing Director of Dreamit Healthtech, sees founders make the same common pitch mistakes over and over. Speaking to investors can require a language of its own. MORE
This is the checklist / boil down of the techniques listed in the pior 3 posts in the “Startup Pitching” series. After you complete a draft of your pitch, go over this list to make sure you’ve applied as many of the techniques as possible. One rehearsed presenter – Pick one person to deliver your presentation, don’t tag team your pitches. View all posts in the “Startup Pitching” series. MORE
Not long ago, I found myself pitching GAN. As I thought about other examples where this has happened, I realized that—as companies pitch me for investment dollars from GAN Ventures—I often don’t immediately understand what their companies do, even after their first 15 minutes of presenting to us. Unless you boil your points and supporting research down to their essence, every time, you might botch inevitable questions that come up during your pitch. MORE
And when guys start pitching to women for capital, that's when you really get behavior change. Don't you think guys would be a little more thoughtful about a slate of bros on their team page if they were pitching in front of a partner meeting of all women? The problem is that so few women pitch. I have this vision. MORE
We needed to build our set and props and ship them to California, and I had to prepare a pitch and appear before the Sharks, all in a matter of weeks. Before I pitched my product on “Shark Tank,” I did a deep dive into previous episodes. MORE
Pitch deck outlines are ok, but they don’t say much about what you’re trying to convey besides particular categories that may or may not be relevant. Too often people only pitch what they have, not where they’re going—and they forget that fundraising is selling tickets to the future, not asking for rewards for the past. If you’re going to try to pitch metrics and momentum as the main feature of your pitch—make sure they’re as great relative to other startups as you think they are. MORE
Among several improvements, we’re thrilled to ramp up the Pitch Deck Teardown. In short, folks can submit their pitch decks to get feedback from investors and founders alike. The importance of the pitch deck can’t be underestimated. Extra Crunch Live 2.0 MORE
It''s a co-working space full of creatives and freelancers, most of whom who have never pitched an investor, and probably never seen a startup pitch either. The first question I always get, which I find endlessly hilarious, is "Don''t you get tired of people pitching you all the time?". That''s the key--when you think you can help just about anyone, and you really do like helping people, each new pitch is an opportunity. Other pitches! MORE
Multi-person pitches add complexity that almost always leads to people going over time, stepping on each other, or confusing the audience. Most of the time it is simply to get another, longer “date” with the people you are pitching to. I’ve never seen a pitch that leads right to getting $$ (unless it was the last step in a long process). Would you walk into a room of English speakers and do your pitch in Russian? MORE
A powerful pitch deck is critical for any startup, regardless of your goal. Whether you are raising a round of funding, acquiring your first customers, or hiring a skilled team, these seven components will help you build a captivating yet concise pitch deck. . MORE
About Slidebean: Slidebean is a pitch deck and presentation tool with hundreds of templates available to use as a starting point. Thousands of companies have used our platform to pitch investors and raise capital. It's been about a year since Slidebean’s first Youtube video breakthrough. Since then, they’ve added around 20,000 subscribers, and their videos have been watched over 1.7MM times. MORE
This is part of my ongoing series, “ Pitching a VC.&#. I recently wrote a blog post here in which I argued that the best VC meetings are discussions and not sales pitches. Many people agreed and added that even the best sales meetings are also discussions and not pitches. A Tale of Two Pitches. Pitch 1: I had an awesome young entrepreneur come in this week to talk about his seed stage business. Pitch 2: This entrepreneur had a full house. MORE
VentureWell Director of Venture Development, Eli Velasquez offers insights on how to develop pitch competitions that provide maximum support to startups. The post Rethinking Pitch Competitions: Create Value, Not a Spectacle appeared first on VentureWell. Early Stage Innovators I&E Ecosystems competitions entrepreneurship entrepreneurship education innovation startup MORE
But it’s not the founders’ fault for pitching us this way, it’s on us as early stage investors to help them better frame the conversation. Armed with those learnings, we went out to pitch our investors and asked for $750k to see if enterprises and larger agencies would pay large amounts of money for our solution. Don’t pitch me your product MORE
These are the critical areas where pitches are almost always too shallow If you want to help an entrepreneur get through a demo day or pick up a few seed investors, you can do it by covering the basics. MORE
This is the 3rd post in the “Startup Pitching” series. View all posts in the “Startup Pitching” series. Innovation Accelerator Startup Pitching SeriesIn this post we’ll go over advanced-level (301) techniques. The one (maybe two) number rule. Most people can’t hold multiple numbers in their head. You can put as many numbers on a slide as you like, but people won’t process them. MORE
Lisa Wu, a partner at Norwest with investments like Calm, Plaid, Opendoor and Grove Collaborative, has a message for founders: Think like a VC during your pitch presentation. Startups TC early stage lisa wu Norwest pitching a startup TC Early Stage 2021 MORE
pitching Related Topics Paul G. Silva
MARCH 27, 2020
This is the checklist / boil down of the techniques listed in the pior 3 posts in the “Startup Pitching” series. After you complete a draft of your pitch, go over this list to make sure you’ve applied as many of the techniques as possible. One rehearsed presenter – Pick one person to deliver your presentation, don’t tag team your pitches. View all posts in the “Startup Pitching” series.
Paul G. Silva
MARCH 26, 2020
This is the 3rd post in the “Startup Pitching” series. View all posts in the “Startup Pitching” series. Innovation Accelerator Startup Pitching SeriesIn this post we’ll go over advanced-level (301) techniques. The one (maybe two) number rule. Most people can’t hold multiple numbers in their head. You can put as many numbers on a slide as you like, but people won’t process them.
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Paul G. Silva
MARCH 26, 2020
This is the 2nd post in the “Startup Pitching” series. So simplify your pitch. If your product solves 10 pain points then in the pitch focus on the top 2-3 most important ones and simply hint at the others. You can take the same concept and apply it to your pitch. Once we realized this, we updated our pitch so that our narrative featured Jane (mentioned above) who clearly was not intellectually disabled.
Paul G. Silva
MARCH 26, 2020
Multi-person pitches add complexity that almost always leads to people going over time, stepping on each other, or confusing the audience. Most of the time it is simply to get another, longer “date” with the people you are pitching to. I’ve never seen a pitch that leads right to getting $$ (unless it was the last step in a long process). Would you walk into a room of English speakers and do your pitch in Russian?
GAN
APRIL 23, 2019
I heard an EdTech startup pitching to GAN Ventures do this recently, too. You can’t expect just to show up and give a pitch that’s simple and coherent. When I used to work at Techstars, we would spend an incredible amount of time in the first few weeks of a program helping startups understand precisely what their 30-second pitch should be. When you pitch investors and potential clients, you have 30 seconds to hook someone by sharing the foundation of what you do.
GAN
JULY 22, 2020
A powerful pitch deck is critical for any startup, regardless of your goal. Whether you are raising a round of funding, acquiring your first customers, or hiring a skilled team, these seven components will help you build a captivating yet concise pitch deck. .
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This is going to be BIG.
MARCH 2, 2015
It''s a co-working space full of creatives and freelancers, most of whom who have never pitched an investor, and probably never seen a startup pitch either. The first question I always get, which I find endlessly hilarious, is "Don''t you get tired of people pitching you all the time?". That''s the key--when you think you can help just about anyone, and you really do like helping people, each new pitch is an opportunity. Other pitches!
GAN
MARCH 26, 2019
Not long ago, I found myself pitching GAN. As I thought about other examples where this has happened, I realized that—as companies pitch me for investment dollars from GAN Ventures—I often don’t immediately understand what their companies do, even after their first 15 minutes of presenting to us. Unless you boil your points and supporting research down to their essence, every time, you might botch inevitable questions that come up during your pitch.
StartupNation
NOVEMBER 16, 2020
We needed to build our set and props and ship them to California, and I had to prepare a pitch and appear before the Sharks, all in a matter of weeks. Before I pitched my product on “Shark Tank,” I did a deep dive into previous episodes.
Dream It
MARCH 6, 2020
Key Questions To Answer When Pitching Real Estate Tech VCs Is there demand for the product? For example, when Bowery pitched to Camber Creek, the partners ran mock appraisals their LPs to prove the efficacy of the appraisal software. In these cases, growth metrics, retention rates, and usage data can be more useful to succeeding in your pitch. You should pitch how to get higher rents. Has the founder done his homework before his pitch?
Dream It
AUGUST 10, 2020
Word choice is important and even the smallest detail can make or break your startup pitch. Adam Dakin , Managing Director of Dreamit Healthtech, sees founders make the same common pitch mistakes over and over. Speaking to investors can require a language of its own.
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Ben Franklin Technology Partners
NOVEMBER 18, 2020
LANCASTER, PA – Ben Franklin Technology Partners is pleased to announce the winners of their TechCelerator pitch competition. The pitch competition was the finale for six teams who participated in an intensive 10-week startup boot camp offered by the Ben Franklin Technology Partners.
TechCrunch
FEBRUARY 26, 2021
Lisa Wu, a partner at Norwest with investments like Calm, Plaid, Opendoor and Grove Collaborative, has a message for founders: Think like a VC during your pitch presentation. Startups TC early stage lisa wu Norwest pitching a startup TC Early Stage 2021
TechCrunch
JANUARY 11, 2021
Your startup’s pitch deck could be the difference between getting funded or getting ignored. But we’re popping the lid off of that black box with the Pitch Deck Teardown. We’re asking EC members to submit their pitch decks right here!
Dream It
FEBRUARY 27, 2020
Selling a compelling vision is so critical that some investors weigh it more heavily than the pitch deck itself. “It’s Strategies for crafting a strong and compelling vision for your startup: Towards the end of your pitch, tell investors that “this is just the beginning” for your startup. Getting investors excited about your product is a critical part of raising capital.
Venture Well
JULY 29, 2019
VentureWell Director of Venture Development, Eli Velasquez offers insights on how to develop pitch competitions that provide maximum support to startups. The post Rethinking Pitch Competitions: Create Value, Not a Spectacle appeared first on VentureWell. Early Stage Innovators I&E Ecosystems competitions entrepreneurship entrepreneurship education innovation startup
Dream It
JANUARY 8, 2020
In the episode, Steve asked Ron about his “five slide pitch deck.” Read Ron’s article on his five slide pitch deck here In our most recent episode of DreamitLive , Managing Partner Steve Barsh spoke with Ron Gula , President and Co-Founder of Gula Tech Adventures. Ron has the investor perspective as the President of Gula Tech Adventures, but also can empathize with the founder as former founder of his own company, Tenable.
This is going to be BIG.
JUNE 22, 2020
Pitch deck outlines are ok, but they don’t say much about what you’re trying to convey besides particular categories that may or may not be relevant. Too often people only pitch what they have, not where they’re going—and they forget that fundraising is selling tickets to the future, not asking for rewards for the past. If you’re going to try to pitch metrics and momentum as the main feature of your pitch—make sure they’re as great relative to other startups as you think they are.
Dream It
MAY 29, 2019
Startup pitch meetings are pretty predictable. You walk into a venture fund’s conference room or Zoom room (if they’re progressive), pitch the partners, offer to answer their questions, maybe ask them a bland question or two, and then leave the meeting to await a response. Here’s the thing: asking a VC a couple of easy questions at the end of a pitch doesn’t get you any closer to receiving a term sheet.
TechCrunch
FEBRUARY 12, 2021
Even though Kevin Busque is a co-founder of TaskRabbit, he didn’t get the response he was hoping for the first time he pitched his new venture to Felicis Ventures’ Aydin Senkut. Pitch deck teardown: 33:00.
This is going to be BIG.
JANUARY 16, 2013
And when guys start pitching to women for capital, that's when you really get behavior change. Don't you think guys would be a little more thoughtful about a slate of bros on their team page if they were pitching in front of a partner meeting of all women? The problem is that so few women pitch. I have this vision.
Dream It
MARCH 8, 2019
Apply to Pitch at the Event The top 10 finalists will be given the opportunity to get their ideas in front of distinguished investor panels, influential media, global partners, and over 300 esteemed guests. The startups chosen to pitch at the summit will get an exclusive chance to participate in our private "speed dating" for 1-on-1 time with leading corporate executives and investors.
TechCrunch
JANUARY 26, 2021
Among several improvements, we’re thrilled to ramp up the Pitch Deck Teardown. In short, folks can submit their pitch decks to get feedback from investors and founders alike. The importance of the pitch deck can’t be underestimated. Extra Crunch Live 2.0
500
MAY 12, 2020
The post 5 Tips for Pitching VCs in Virtual Times appeared first on 500 Startups. All founder pitching oracle for startups pitching pitching investors virtual pitchingGuest Post: The following post is a sponsored guest post by JD Weinstein, Oracle for Startups. All views and opinions represented in this post are the views and opinions of Oracle for Startups and do not represent those of 500 Startups or any of its staff or affiliates.
Dream It
OCTOBER 21, 2019
About Slidebean: Slidebean is a pitch deck and presentation tool with hundreds of templates available to use as a starting point. Thousands of companies have used our platform to pitch investors and raise capital. It's been about a year since Slidebean’s first Youtube video breakthrough. Since then, they’ve added around 20,000 subscribers, and their videos have been watched over 1.7MM times.
The Seraf Compass
NOVEMBER 13, 2019
I’ve talked about the role of a compelling executive summary to get an investor's initial attention and secure their agreement to take a pitch meeting. But what should that investor expect out of the ensuing pitch deck Deciding whether to invest in a good idea is hard. Even when its potential is clearly explained. Trying to make that evaluation without a solid explanation is an exercise in needless frustration.
This is going to be BIG.
JULY 18, 2016
The best pitches have a hook. They mostly talk about where you're going, because the what you've done up until now in a seed pitch usually isn't that much. The best pitches acknowledge the reason why we're here--for you to ask me for money and for me to make a bundle of it investing in you. The best pitches follow the word problem with. The best pitches are ambitious--they ask for enough and aim to do something big.
TechCrunch
NOVEMBER 3, 2020
In a classic, “but wait, there’s more” moment, all exhibitors will be able to pitch to conference attendees from around the world. Do you find expression “the sky’s the limit” well, limiting?
Both Sides of the Table
SEPTEMBER 9, 2009
This is part of my ongoing series, “ Pitching a VC.&#. I recently wrote a blog post here in which I argued that the best VC meetings are discussions and not sales pitches. Many people agreed and added that even the best sales meetings are also discussions and not pitches. A Tale of Two Pitches. Pitch 1: I had an awesome young entrepreneur come in this week to talk about his seed stage business. Pitch 2: This entrepreneur had a full house.
Ben Franklin Technology Partners
JUNE 18, 2020
STATE COLLEGE, PA – On Wednesday, June 17, 2020, The Tech Celerator @StateCollege, a partnership with Invent Penn State that has helped create more than 130 new startups, hosted a zoom pitch event. Thanks to everyone’s cooperation we were able to not only host the weekly sessions via Zoom, but to also present the final pitches virtually. The post THE TECHCELERATOR@STATE COLLEGE ANNOUNCES PITCH WINNERS!
Guy Kawasaki
MARCH 9, 2015
For entrepreneurs, the operative phrase is, “I pitch, therefore I am.” Pitching isn’t only for raising money—it’s for reaching agreement, and agreement can yield many good outcomes including sales, partnerships, and new hires. Here are the key elements of a great pitch. When the meeting starts, you should set the stage for the rest of the pitch. Entrepreneurs believe that a pitch is a narrative whose opening chapter must always be autobiographical.
This is going to be BIG.
DECEMBER 21, 2010
Personally, I find pitch events to be a little bit contrived. For the most part, while the companies may be interesting, the actual pitches are usually so-so. That being said, too many pitch presentations have the delivery of a Powerpoint as the main focus, verses the story. You should be able to get mugged, lose all your stuff, and walk into anyone with an internet connection being able to give a pitch.
Founders Coop
AUGUST 15, 2018
But it’s not the founders’ fault for pitching us this way, it’s on us as early stage investors to help them better frame the conversation. Armed with those learnings, we went out to pitch our investors and asked for $750k to see if enterprises and larger agencies would pay large amounts of money for our solution. Don’t pitch me your product
TechCrunch
OCTOBER 14, 2020
Companies like Procore have become billion-dollar businesses on the back of their pitch to simplify the construction management process.
The Seraf Compass
JULY 23, 2020
These are the critical areas where pitches are almost always too shallow If you want to help an entrepreneur get through a demo day or pick up a few seed investors, you can do it by covering the basics.
Dream It
NOVEMBER 18, 2020
Most VC investors see hundreds, if not thousands, of startup decks and pitches each year. In this article, we’ll outline Managing Partner Steve Barsh’s top 5 things investors wish startup founders knew when reaching out, sending a deck, or pitching a VC.
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