My Pitch Framework
The rules of a good pitch
I often get those same questions… What is a good pitch? How do you conduct one as an investor? How should you address it as an entrepreneur? There are so many things to say on the matter, I have tried to break it down into a few concrete elements, starting with some rules of thumb:
The goal of a first meeting is to trigger a second one;
Send your presentation before/after, but don’t use it to pitch;
A good investor will show you the way by asking the right questions;
A bad investor will slow you down by asking the wrong ones;
Either way, your job is to leave a good impression!
Now, my framework is composed of five elements:
Timing. It’s all about timing, always.
Pitch. You’ve got to put on a show.
Emotion. Make me feel something.
Signals. Some things are irresistible.
Assessment. Where we deep dive.
Timing. You’ve got 1 minute to make a good first impression, 5 minutes to build credibility, and 15 minutes total to convince. The more time you get, the higher the risk of being verbose. Less time is an opportunity to strike faster and better, which takes me to the second point. The Pitch.
Pitch. A good pitch is on point and it allows me to quickly understand the market, the opportunity, the product, the team, and the milestones. For this pitch to be on point, it also needs to be precise. If it’s on point but wordy, you will lose my attention. And to keep me engaged, you also need to bring good energy into the room. And good energy often comes with emotions.
Emotion. Investors are curious, I mean in theory of course. The more you make me curious about what you’re building, the more engaged I will be. But to satisfy that curiosity, I also need to understand, so your ability to express things with perspective and intelligibility will make me feel intelligent. To strike me, you need to bring irresistibility to the table, whether it’s how you’ve uniquely cracked your go-to-market strategy, how fast you’ve built your product or anything but think of a couple of magic elements that will be amplified by some of the signals that I am looking for.
Signals. Your ability to be super reactive and strike through a great rhythm shows how fast you can think, act, and build upon everything that you will be facing. But it has no value without adaptability. You will be looking for product market fit, the right go-to-market strategy… Your ability to adapt properly and rapidly to the things that you will face is a strong marker of success. Of course, all of that only works if you can surround yourself with the right people. Ultimately, all the things above will allow me to form an opinion on the three pillars of entrepreneurship.
Assessment. Down the line, I am looking for entrepreneurs with both optimism and clarity of vision, who are learning by themselves, on the field, through the singular choices that they make through their own analysis of certain situations, but who are also able to learn from the best people and best practices, embracing the fact that they are many things that they don’t know and want to learn. Last but not least, I will try to assess whether you’re moving fast enough while breaking not too many things along the way because it’s nearly impossible to merge velocity and excellence within the same motion in entrepreneurship, there are too many people involved for that.
It feels good to have put this framework finally in writing, it’s been in my mind over the past few weeks and I hope it will help you thrive through your next meetings with investors :)
Onwards!