Is There Venture Capital in Your Future? 15 Rules for the Perfect VC Pitch

Michael Evans
Sun, 25 Jan 2015 08:00:00 +0000

By Jeff Bernel and Michael Evans

Funds raised from investors for venture capital investments hit $32.97 billion in 2014, a 62 percent increase over 2013 and the highest total since 2007. According to the Wall Street Journal, fundraising was up across the board, with venture firms focused on early-stage investing showing an increase of 33.1 percent, late-stage up 41.1 percent, and multistage up 157.2 percent, according to Dow Jones LP Source. Multistage VCs raised the most, with $13.52 billion, followed closely by early stage fundraising, with $13.04 billion.

There are the headline-making venture capital fund buyouts such as Facebook’s purchase of WhatsApp for $19B as well as Facebook itself, which started with venture capital money.

But there are also many smaller success stories, and your company could be one of them. But first you need to know what venture capitalists are hoping to hear when you present to them.

Here are 15 key rules to help you prepare the perfect VC pitch:

The Business Idea

What the venture capitalist is thinking: OK, I looked at 10 opportunities today. What am I going to be looking at for the next 45 minutes? Why should I be enthused? Is this really an innovation that has potential to define a new category?

Rule #1: Be concise and convincing. Express your idea in one sentence. Describe a big idea that has potential to earn outsized returns and generate real wealth for investors.

The Market

What the venture capitalist is thinking: Is this market/opportunity big enough to yield a highly valued investment? It is growing fast? Are there changes in market structure, technology, business models, etc., that are creating room for an innovator and making the entrenched companies nervous? Are there barriers to entry that will make it difficult for competitors to copy or replicate the innovator’s success and position it for sustained growth and market share leadership?

Rule #2: Describe the opportunity you have to create revenues and margins by disrupting the existing industry, your total available market/return, and what your revenue would be if you got 100 percent of your target customers paying what you expect.

The Problem/Opportunity

What the venture capitalist is thinking: Will customers care about this product and company? Are the customers significant? Do they have the power to make a decision for their company and a reputation for being friendly to startups—or are they leery of new companies and their lack of staying power? Are the customers "good" customers who will pay for product/service features and don’t just seek the lowest possible cost? (Companies that sell to high gross margin customers tend to have high gross margins. Those that sell to low gross margin customers have low gross margins.)

Rule #3: Know the problem and the opportunity. What problem are we solving for? Who is the target customer; does he/she have buying ability and authority; what problem does the customer have today; why is that a big problem, why is it his/her biggest problem? “The problem our product/service addresses is the most important problem for our customers, who are high gross margin, high-growth companies in high-growth sectors who move very quickly and are open to buying products from startups”.

The Solution

What the venture capitalist is thinking: Will it give the organization a competitive advantage? What changes in the market and buyer preferences is creating room for this opportunity?

Rule #4: Find and articulate the solution. “We have come up with a solution that is truly innovative and value creating, which you found due to exclusive domain expertise or intellectual property that is really hard for others to match.”

Current Status

What the venture capitalist is thinking: Is there a lot of research and development remaining to be done, or are the company’s products/services really marketable?

Rule #5: Present a factual current status. “All the risk of research has been managed and no major unsolved technical problems remain.”

Customer Status

What the venture capitalist is thinking: Are there customers that matter with a high willingness to pay?

Rule #6: Share who has agreed to pay for the product. If the product is still in “beta test,” present specific customers who have provided credible evidence that they are ready to buy the product and will work with the company to help improve it over time.

Getting to Your Market

What the venture capitalist is thinking: Is there a channel that can allow this company to get its product to customers profitably? What is in the way to this company reaching his or her customers? Does the company have effective sales collateral and has it armed its sales force/distributors?

Rule #7: Address the issue of accessing the customer. Explain how will you get in front of the customer, direct, indirect, etc. “Product flies off the shelf quickly; very easy, short sales cycle.”

Customer Economics

What the venture capitalist is thinking: Is there a channel for the product, do people care (i.e., are they paying?). Who will be the ultimate decision maker?

Rule #8: Know what customers pay, what it costs to service them, and what it costs to acquire them. “We have an efficient new customer-generation engine and exceptional customer-retention rates that will result in compelling unit economics. Each new customer generates an attractive rate of return. We can reach a broad, diverse customer base across industries/geographies inexpensively, yet get big revenue out of them.”

Your Key Milestones

What the venture capitalist is thinking: How much progress will the company be able to make with the funding they are seeking? Where will this round of investment take us?

Rule #9: Set milestones. “Tangible major milestones will be hit quickly that prove the value proposition and indicate that the company can address its market, allowing a big step-up in value for the company.”

Your Team

What the venture capitalist is thinking: Is there a world-class team in place with relevant skills and a solid track record to pull this off? Have they been successful entrepreneurs themselves, or just associated with innovation that others were really responsible for? Will they be able to recruit from their networks? What have they done before that is special? Have they done it before or are they learning as they go? Do I want to work closely with these people every other day for the next three years and every month for the next ten?

Rule #10: Prepare impressive profiles of the top team members, with quick bullet points about their relevant past. “Done it before, recruiting is easy, key team in place, success follows all these people yet they are hungry for a defining moment in their careers in building a world-class company.”

Financial Information

What the venture capitalist is thinking: What are the unit economics? How are the gross margins (how competitive), how quickly does the opportunity ramp up, how many dollars to profitability? Do these guys understand how an opportunity grows? Are they believable numbers—or have they “cherry picked” them?

Rule #11: Present a chart outlining financial projections. On the horizontal axis: last two and next two quarters, next year, two years out, and three years out. On the vertical axis: key metrics such as number of customers, big revenue lines, COGS, gross margin, big expense lines, net income, cash flow, and EBITDA.

Your Competition

What the venture capitalist is thinking: How is the company positioned in the landscape with all the other companies I've seen? How are companies in this category valued? Do I know about competitors that these guys don't have listed or are these guys clued in on their competition? If they are initially successful, will they face a threat from better-financed new market entrants or substitutes—who can afford to “buy” customers with cutthroat pricing?

Rule #12: Create a matrix of the competition with the variables that matter. “No big ‘uglies’ directly with the startup in their sights, no large sum of money already invested by other companies attacking the same space.”

Get Specific

What the venture capitalist is thinking: Do I believe these guys can win? Where should I focus my due diligence efforts? Do their assumptions and plans involve wishful thinking?

Rule #13: Be specific about your top two or three competitors, and present a one/two-liner on their story (funding, etc.) as well as a one/two liner on why you beat them. “No one else has invested significant money yet. An underserved segment.”

History

What the venture capitalist is thinking: How much has been invested and did it make a difference? Did the investment in this team make a difference?

Rule #14: Create a history of achievements. Detail what investments have already been made and how far they went. “Great return on investment in this project and in the team. Real value added to the organization!”

Why This Project?

What the venture capitalist is thinking: What are YOUR motivations?

Rule #15: Play the long game. Understand the company’s investment portfolio and style and where your particular project fits into its strategies and objectives. Understand what the company is good at and be realistic about how it can help your project succeed. Understand its ability to add value in ways other than providing capital, such as challenging your thinking, helping you make contacts in your market, and enhancing your credibility and reputation. “The team is focused on getting the right investment, commitment, and project team and is in it for the long run.”

One final thing to consider: While venture capital can be an excellent way to fund the growth of your business, you should also be prepared to give up a significant part of your business, some of your independence, and a fair amount of your autonomy.