What Investors Look For When Evaluating Your Pitch: Laith Zraikat, Senior Investment Manager, Arzan Venture Capital If you manage to get me to watch you do the pitch thing, here's what I'd be waiting to hear.
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I prefer startups ask for help and advice as opposed to pitching. Their questions will hold everything I need to know: team, product, traction, challenges, what they've learned, and how I can add value. That said, if you manage to get me to watch you do the pitch thing, here's what I'd be waiting to hear:
1. INTRO
Who are the team? What are you out to solve? What do you know that others don't? What have you proven to be true that others believe is false? Use simple terms, and no buzz words.
2. TRACTION
Talk about traction if you have any. Show some usage metrics, revenues, and explain user behavior. If you don't have much traction, share some early customer stories and prove that at least some people love your product.
3. DEMO
Show me your product. Your product demo will put everything into perspective. It will also show that you can execute. User experience is very important. If you have a beautifully-built product, you're halfway in.
4. LEARNING PROCESS
Demonstrate a learning process. What worked, and why? What didn't work, and why not? Startups usually don't stick with the exact same idea they set out to build on day one. Being dynamic and having an iterative experimental methodology is essential.
5. VALUE ADD
How can I help? Although money is very important, team is everything. A VC is part of that team. What value can I add and why is it going to be rewarding to work with you?
