Pitch Perfect Tips
If there’s anyone who knows a good pitch, it’s Sean Wise.
The former Dragons’ Den advisor and current host of Naked Entrepreneur is an expert on startups and venture capital. He’s a tenured Ryerson University professor, bestselling author, international business speaker, and partner at Ryerson Futures. If that’s not impressive enough, Wise is also a professor of Entrepreneurship at the Ted Rogers School of Management in Toronto.
So when this man offers you advice on how to pitch your company, you may want to listen up.
With the Dragons’ Den holding auditions on the East Coast next week, Wise graciously shared some tips with Huddle on how you can wow the Dragons (or any other possible investor).
You’re welcome.
1) What are the main elements to a good pitch?
Every great pitch has two parts: the pain statement and the value proposition.
Each pitch must be succulent, easy to understand, greed inducing and attractive.
Check out this video we made for Dragon’s Den:
2) What is the single best thing someone could do in a pitch?
SHOW don’t tell.
In five seasons, I met more than 10,000 entrepreneurs, not one of them wanted to say “my business sucks” but some certainly did. Investors can’t simply take an entrepreneurs subjective opinion, they need objective facts.
So instead of saying: “Our customers love us.”
Show: “78 per cent of our customers come back daily.”
Instead of saying: “We are the best!”
Show: “We have 61 per cent market share.”
Show the results, don’t tell investors your opinion.
3) What are some of the most common mistakes you’ve seen people make during their pitches?
Besides relying on subjective self-serving statements (e.g. see “Show don’t Tell”) the biggest mistake made by founders seeking investment is not matching their stage (pre-revenue, revenue, scaling, etc.) to the source.
Like venture capitalists, angel investors have a sweet spot (e.g. I invest in pre-revenue SaaS startups), if you aren’t in that spot, don’t pitch them.
4) Where do you see things often go horribly awry?
Lack of preparation is the number two killer of pitches (Number one is not matching your stage with their sweet spot).
5) Is there a way to recover from a minor mis-step or flub?
There is always time to recover. And even if you can’t, there is always another pitch tomorrow.
6) What’s the best way to follow up with someone you’ve pitched without being annoying?
When an investor wants to do your deal, they pursue you. Anything else is a no in disguise. So always end your emails with “…what can I do for you next” and let the investor lead the way.