Pitch Decks

The Monumental Hack For Winning Pitches

The biggest distraction in founding a company comes from pitch competitions, pitch practices, and pitch nights. The reason I know is that I got sucked into it. The premise goes that you need a good pitch to land investors. However, that is so far from the truth.

What investors want

Unless you are famous or have a proven track record of hundred-million-dollar exits, the quality of your pitch does not matter. The reason is that investors want proof that you have a product-market fit. If this is your first company, they do not expect you to be a great or polished speaker. Instead, they want to see that your business idea will work.

The pitch business

Conferences, co-working spaces, and consulting companies use pitch competitions to prove they are on the cutting edge of business. That is great for those hosting the event but a poor deal for the startups involved. First, no one in the room is there to invest in your company. Second, even if your company has the best pitch, how does that translate into revenue? Third, how much more profitable would you become if you put the effort spent in crafting a pitch into gaining new customers?

Getting discovered

You will not be discovered at a pitch event, entrepreneur breakfast, or vanity meetings designed to steal valuable time. The best pitch is that you have done $100,000 or even $1 million in revenue during your first few months in business. That kind of pitch does not need a deck. You could cold call investors with, “We just did $1 million in revenue in our first four months and are looking to raise $5 million.”

How I know

“That was a great pitch,” the host exclaimed as I handed back the microphone. “Thank you,” I said, looking for an empty chair. Winning the pitch competition took several hours of preparation, thirty minutes in the car, and two hours at the event. “I must be getting better,” I thought as I drove home. However, it resulted in zero investment, no new business, and it cost $10 for a non-alcoholic drink at the bar.

How to get investors

Once you have revenue, you are ready to seek investors. I have raised money on a business plan, a technical paper, and a pitch deck without anything, but having revenue is the attention-getter. The act of getting revenue gives you answers to the critical questions of how to scale, what the product needs to be, who the ideal customer is, and so much more. That makes the words “I want to invest” much more likely to be heard.

You will still hear no.

Investors have their theories, industries, and business models that they specialize in. For this reason, an investor may say “no” to a great company because it does not fit their thesis. There have been many investor meetings where I thought our company fit their thesis, but the investors disagreed. It is not a reflection on your idea, progress, or team. They must invest in those companies that they understand best. If you fall outside of that box, then you could hear the dreaded “no.”

How to get to yes

The feeling in the room changes just before the “yes” comes from an investor. It is similar to closing a customer where, little by little, the questions and answers all end positively with a gradual crescendo that results in due diligence. However, you will probably have to meet with over 100 investors to get here. The best way to begin is to ask your network for referrals. I used acquaintances to land meetings with famous investors. I was also refused because the contact did not know me outside LinkedIn.

Conclusion

Focus on growing your revenue first. Everything else is a distraction. The companies “getting known” at pitch events will not be in business next year. At the same time, those that generate actual revenue, instead of talking about it, will be 2x, 5x, or even 10x larger in the coming months. Those companies will get press, investor attention, and everything else. Remember that the CEOs of growing companies get paid to speak while the wannabe entrepreneurs practice for free. 

Thank you for reading,

Todd Moses (CEO)

Let me know what you think: [email protected]