HOW TO PITCH TO A SHARK

WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL PITCH?

ELEMENTS OF A PITCH1. Problem2. Your solution3. Business model – where it’s sold4. Underlying tech – why it’s unique5. Marketing and sales – how much6. Competition7. Team8. Projections and milestones9. Status and timeline10. Summary and call to action

BE READY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS

Product

Why is it unique?

What problem does it solve?

What are the risks?

NOTES ON THE NUMBERS

• Owners pitch many times – even if they’re successful!

• Rounds of funding match growth– Seed– Angel– Venture Series A, B, C, etc.

• “In” means move to due diligence

20%

20%

20%

20%

20%

…determines the value of the owner’s stake.

Shark's Equity StakeOwner's StakeOwner's Stake

20%

80%

The value of the shark’s stake…

Shark's Equity Stake

Owner's Stake

If $250K = 20%, then $250K * 5 = 100%100% - 20% = 80%, or, 4 stakes the size of the equity stake

Therefore, 250K * 4 = $1M, owner’s stake of total 1.25M value

DOLLAR VALUE AND SIZE OF EQUITY STAKE DETERMINE VALUE

25%

25%25%

25%

AND the pie is smaller.

Shark's Equity StakeOwner's StakeOwner's Stake

25%

75%

As the shark gets more, the owner gets less -

Shark's Equity Stake

Owner's Stake

If $250K = 25%, then $250K * 4 = 100%100% - 25% = 75%, or, 3 stakes the size of the equity stake

Therefore, 250K * 3 = $750K, owner’s stake of total $1M value

IF DOLLARS STAY THE SAME AS EQUITY GOES UP, VALUE DECLINES

THE RIGHT FUNDING AMOUNT?

Employee Expenses

Infrastructure

Marketing Sales

Product Development

Miscellaneous

NOTES ON STYLE AND SPEECH

Tell a story

Practice and test

Make eye contact

Stand tall, speak slowly

Limit text, use big fonts

Use a neutral design

10/20/3010 slides.

20 minutes. 30 point font.

20 point font, Times

REFERENCES

– Duarte, Nancy (2012). HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.

– How to Change the World Blog. (2005). The 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint. Retrieved November 14, 2013. http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2005/12/the_102030_rule.html

– Small Business Blog, Wall Street Journal. (2012). The Venture Capital Secret: 3 out of 4 Startups Fail. Retrieved November 19, 2013. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10000872396390443720204578004980476429190