What is PitchCamp?
What matters most when making your pitch? Learn from investors and each other what to do and what not to do when pitching a business model.
John Cass moderator from Pace Communications
Tim Janke of the Inception Micro Angel Fund .There are abundant resources for start-up business. “There is less than no money (from the government) today”. 65 members in the Angel fund. It’s a committed fund. There are not 200 members with 28 deals done in the last 6 years. Friends family and other fools. Venture capital to angel capital are different. Venture capital generally are later stage funding. VCs eat the bread. Angels plant the seed and grind the wheat into flour. The first $100 K is the most difficult. Usually, your money from credit cards, HELOC. For 2.5 – 3 million work with Angels in smaller pieces. It’s not a linear path. Not just a cool idea or solution looking for a problem. A real need, a real problem, a real opportunity. Networking is essential. Where are the angels, etc. Where is the exit? Ex: sell to MS, GOOG, Intuit. Need an exit on paper. Check for accreditation of angels meaning they have min. Be $1million. Find angels that have experience… find the right audience.
Pitch outline
- Start with problem/opportunity…here’s the problem/opportunity…esp. in tech/medical. Dumb it down.
- What’s the solution?
- How big?
- What are you the right person/persons
Practice, practice, practice. Worst mistake is not to practice and be cutoff. You have one chance to make an impression.
Six Cs
Clear, concise, compelling, convincing…
Eric Boggs, Founder of ArgyleSocial
Hearing from other entrepreneurs was helpful. Grad from UNC. Former Bronto employee #1 in Sales, Product Management. Then on to Grad School. August ’09 used iDeck as core for end to end social media platform. Used NCIDA $33K for free money. The first money is hardest to get but, enabled us to hire first developer. Coding in Feb, launch in April. As you as you have something that works…get it to customers. Helps with investor conversation, product develpoment. First met with VC Vallhalla Partners. You need to think things through before you meet with VCs. Geared up in May intial $200K. Pitched 10 – 12 people. Closed 325K effective this Tuesday. Grant helped establish brand. Team is most important thing. Traction… business get funding, not ideas. What evidence can you convey. Five angels in one institution. VCs are later stage.
Team/Traction most important.
Big picture… sell the big idea. We don’t have a business plan, we have a slide deck. Slide deck evolved. You need to paint a big picture…convey that the opportnity is big. Know the details but, show less. Use it to move people to a second meeting
Networking – We knew who we pitched to, except for one who he met through a friend. Find someone who can introduce you. Networking is important. It’s incredibly hard. It was easier beacuase they knew me.
Understand decision frameworks…VC Vs. solo angels, Vs. group Angels. Group Angels like VCs. Different sourcing of funding have different agendas. Six weeks to jump through.
Make your deal competitive. Create artificial sense of urgency. Need another source for second chunk of funding. Used first deal to state deadlines for need. Some decisions require VCs control. Some control is the price of business. Angels are closer to a charity. VCs you give up control.
Presentation by @groupstory GroupStory Web site