Investors and venture capitalists listen to a lot of pitches each week and if you want to stand out from the crowd there are several parts that are important to include in your pitch.
Capture the interests of the investors by summarizing what your startup does. Make it short but powerful to awaken curiosity for what's coming.
Describe the problem that your startup solves and explain when it occurs. How big is the problem and how do customers solve the problem today? Tell us how your solution solves the problem, preferably using a prototype or descriptive keynote. Do not forget to explain why your solution is better than other existing solutions on the market.
Use a persona to describe who your typical customer is. What does the person work with, when does the problem arise and what is the person willing to pay to solve the problem? Investors want to see your market potential, make sure numbers are correct and show what potential customers like about your solution by presenting results from your market research.
Nine out of ten startups will fail within two years. Therefore, you need to convince the investor why your company will succeed. Prove that there is a demand for your solution by presenting key KPIs and how these have evolved over time. A good start is to show the growth of users / customers.
Fresh ideas are good, but there are as many new ideas that exists, as many variations and repetitions of existing ideas is there. Therefore it’s important that you explain how your solution differs from the existing ones on the market. Are you aiming to reach a different target group with your solution or is your company known to have a great customer service?
All companies need to earn money to survive. Explain what the company's revenue model looks like. Is the product or service a one-time purchase or are you expecting recurring payments? How is the price level in comparison with competitors?
Strong team creates trust, so your challenge is to prove why your team is worth investing in. If your company has an Olympic champion in the team or a coder who helped build Spotify, this is the time and place to flaunt it. Present the team's strength’s, how these complement each other and how you intend to recruit the skills that the company is missing at the moment. If you want to forego questions about how the shareholdings are distributed, you can easily show this using a so-called cap table.
Present progress by using milestones in terms of beta tests, launches, customers and investments. Make sure to include future milestones, since Venture capital is often based on valuation points where payments are distributed with different milestone payments.
Investors need an offering to evaluate and therefore you need to present the capital needs and what the money will be used for. In addition to that you should explain how long time the money is estimated to last for and what the conditions for an investment are. Make accurate calculations that make sense. A common mistake is to demand a sum that sounds big and "should be enough" but lack detailed plans for how to use the money.
Investors meet many new founders, and in order to be remembered you need to end strong. One good tip is to leave investors with an open question or by connecting your introduction with your ending.
Now you're ready to pitch your startup idea for the Venture Cup jury. The first step towards becoming one of the contributors to meet the jury is to upload your pitch deck here - good luck!