For four hours today, I was making notes on my observations of the 15 people who pitched their ideas to a panel consisting of experts within the incubator, entrepreneurship, venture capital and angel space:
- Peter Christo (Christo Partners)
- Rober Mair (Pioneer Development Fund)
- Nigel Hall (Innovation Centre, Sunshine Coast)
- Anna Rooke (QUT – Creative Enterprise Australia)
- Justin Brow (60Sox) – wasn’t in the panel but interjected with helpful commentary or extra questions
For four hours, I was exposed to not only the trial and tribulations of entrepreneurs seeking to gain leverage, obtain mentors and other support services, gain funding and other investment opportunities and to also obtain feedback on their ideas. It would have been a very tense situation for the pitchers – being sent into a room to pitch to such a panel. And that’s not even the actual Pitch Club event itself!
Anyway, I’ve taken notes and I have decided to share this to you all in case you find it helpful. I didn’t link the individual to a certain points because I think that this is relevant regardless of what your idea is.
Some questions to ask yourself while developing your pitch
- What/where is the market opportunity?
- Who else is doing it? Who are your competitors?
- What is the value proposition of your product or service?
- Do you have or do you need tangible materials to support your pitch?
- What is the exit strategy?
- What can the investors gain?
Angles to take on board while refining your pitch
Being so involved IN the venture, it can be quiet easy to make assumptions that the other party will understand the industry lingo, or understand the importance of why a product or service need to exist. It’s important to approach your pitch from a variety of angles – from the angle of a potential customer, from the angle of a potential VC or angel, from the angle of a potential mentor or benefactor. What is going to be the ‘noise’ to your message?
Another thing to take on board is to look at the nuances between geographies and cultures. A name may mean something else in another country.
Intellectual integrity
I may be good at this, but I am not good at that. This relates a lot to making sure that you communicate exactly what you need in terms of intangibles – for example, mentorship opportunity, accounting skills or legal consultation.
Know your industry and your product/service
Be clear as to what exactly you are offering for the sake of clarity. What your stance is within the venture – are you the producer, the distributor, the CIO, etc – when engaged with other parties that are contributing to the venture. Who are you aligning with? What is your product, service or competitor? Why would they choose your product/service over the other?
Do you have the freedom to operate a certain functionality? This relates a lot to web-based services.
Monetisation and commerciality
If you are offering a product or service that may be non-commercial (ie it relates to cultural products or services), do you have the commercial skills to monetise it?
How are you getting your product or service into market?
Be realistic with the figures and ensure that you have strong figures. You can either be direct with what you need (for example, # amount over # years with # return) straight away or you can create a proposition to have a more in-depth discussion with a potential investor and test the waters. However, do not sit on the fence and be sure about where you want the investment to go.
Look into other ways to obtain what you need – perhaps grants, sponsorship or benefactors are the more preferred option.
Stages
Each individual were in various stages of their ventures – from a local start-up that would benefit more from having mentors and angel investment right through to an established enterprise with international exposure and they are looking for the right exit. Be clear and be honest as to what stage you are in and what you need to get into that next stage.
Another stage to be aware of is your own – going from a practitioner mindset to an entrepreneur mindset.
Credits to your pitch
Have you or your venture won awards or have you gained media attention? Showing that the media or industry is interested in this adds credibility to the pitch because other entities have already shown it. Do you have a history of entrepreneurship and if so, provide examples of successful business ventures in the past – one described himself as a ‘serial entrepreneur’. Sell your skillsets and make it the attractive part for investors. Also, has there been interest from organisations or key individuals that can add weight? What is the expertise of your staff? Do you have endorsements?
A way to strengthen your pitch is to seek out similar case studies that have been successful, find out what the common ground is and ensure to let the other parties know about it.
Speak from the heart
You need to speak from the heart- don’t read from the notes. We are all human and if you have been involved with your venture for the past several years then we will appreciate the hard work that has been put into your venture to make it possible. If you had to quit your job or took on a night-time role or make any other personal sacrifices, then we will further appreciate or even relate to the personal story behind all the numbers.
Ultimately, people will be curious at your personal story – how did you get involved? What drives you to do what you do? Don’t be afraid to share a bit of that.
It was interesting that many of the individuals opened up about themselves during the Q&A portion because they are able to share their story and their passion just merely by talking about it.
That is all the notes that I have from sitting through the pre-selection of Pitch Club Brisbane. This is definitely another event to go to – it’s on tonight, starts at 6pm at the Caxton Hotel on 38 Caxton St.
