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Secret of the Startup Pitch To a VC- The right cast is the Hero or the Heroine?

If you explore the adventurous world of a Startup Entrepreneur (SE), you can observe that it is driven by a fairy tale with its own triumphs and disasters. He has his own story to tell and to sell. How mighty is his wing or how high can he fly? Like the hero of his tale his endeavor is to “steal” golden treasures from the Giant’s den; that is the Venture Capitalist (VC); which is no easy task. Yet, these very stories show us that something more than a random distribution of luck will determine the success of an entrepreneur.

Let us first see how he tries to churn that tale to attract a VC to make or break his luck. He tries all kinds of stunts like that of a typical hero to get an invitation from a VC to narrate his story. But the all-time-busy VC, who gets thousands of business plans and hundreds of pitches every year has no time to spare for our SE. Obviously, he is not ready to pie his time for a gratifying chat with each and every company that needs funding. To win a ticket to pitch to the VC, our SE is compelled to enchant all his magical tricks. He dials the VC’s number, follows his footprints everywhere and shares his card. All in vain.

He may even be a real hero with his business on track and a lot of good press elsewhere. He has an end goal for the company, building something quick that could change the world, ramp up revenues and can sell for a nice payoff. But that one invitation from a VC to present his mighty idea seems to be a nightmare.

Here, we help you to craft your own “happy ending” trusting on your ability to cast yourself as a star.
Venture capitalists look for a strong management team, a large potential market and a unique product or service with a strong competitive advantage. They also look for opportunities in industries that they are familiar with, and the chance to own a large percentage of the company so that they can influence its direction.

If you have it all, then, you are covered. That’s not all! you need to focus on your starcast. All your attempt as a hero has failed.Think different. Why not this time act as a heroine?

If you are a young and promising startup, then all the ramp in style. Be a show stopper and leave the rest to the VC to call you on a date.

How to walk the ramp and show off?

Be a good performer in a business presentation.
After all, a wise man once said it’s always better to hear it “straight from the horse’s mouth”. Grab the VC’s attention by a persuasive presentation of your venture.

Hit at all business events

• Take part in events like Techcircle Showcase.
• Join Microsoft’s Bizspark community.
• Attend Techcrunch and attend the various events organised by them.

These platforms will hand-pick start-ups to make presentations on their businesses to an audience comprising of leading technology focused venture capitalists.

Show off your abilities in business conferences

Attend conferences like TED , Webby awards , The Global 1000 Conference that allows attendees to meet the most active venture investors and build their own network of people with common interests. Conferences help you in exchanging business stories, Ideas, brainstorm a new concept and have a lot of fun in the process. Conferences pave way for in-depth follow-up with the new contacts after it is completed. This approach helps you in getting the attention of the Venture Capitalists in no time.

Be active on social media

Upload your venture’s super-cool logo and other details in sites like Startup.pitchxo.com where potential investors actually log in with LinkedIn, AngelList or Facebook and see the super-secret business idea. And you get an email right away about this guy looking at your stuff. To a VC who gets thousands of business plans it is exponentially harder to prove your business as a worthy investment. So present your data with some nuances. Present market data effectively which will help draw-in potential investors and shed light on what you are doing. Let investors see the vision and mission of your venture.

Let people recommend you instead of you screaming for yourself

Indulge in communicating with peers of your VC. Take a chance to spin your tale to them. While doing so, keep the following in mind;

• Do not dwell on backstory, explain what you are doing today and where you are headed tomorrow.
• Keep descriptions grounded.
• Show off expertise to raise confidence.
• Know the VC’s strategy, philosophy and attributes.

Thus, a happy-ending can be crafted in a small businessman’s tale. Thanks for travelling with us throughout the tale. Hope it helps you to impress the VC by elegantly walking along the ramp as a heroine and henceforth decipher any business treasure map like a hero!The curtains are up and there you go, be the heroine,seduce your VC and sell your product. Share in your views on whether a startup should be portrayed as a hero or a heroine?