What to Say in a One Minute Pitch that Will Make You Attract Investors

Hi. Chinny here. Today I will show you what to say in a one minute pitch that will get you the funding to start and grow your business.

Pitching investors most times sound very intimidating, but when you know the right thing to say and how to present your startup or business, you should be good to go.

Alright, lets roll.

What you say in a pitch depends on the kind of audience it is. There are two different kind of pitches: the sales pitch (to a customer) and investment pitch(to investors). Most people confuse one with the other.

The most important thing in a pitch whether its to a customer or an investor is the VALUE you have to offer.

We are all looking out for our interest in everything and so do our customers and investors.

When you are pitching to a customer to buy your product, you tell them these 3 things

• What you have to offer and how it will help them solve their problem
• How you will get it across to them and how fast
• How their lives will be after they have used what you are offering.

All these adds up to the value or the benefits you are offering. The customer does not care about your product or service or about how good your product is as they get to see a lot of other products like yours on a daily basis.

All they care about is how your product will help them if they are to part with their money.

It is the same thing when it comes to pitching to investors.

When you are telling an investor to fund your business, all the investor is thinking is: what is in this for me? Its all about the deal except the investor is a charity, but I believe that no charity will want to waste money on a worthless cause.

So, lets be clear about this. Let them know exactly what is in it for them without sounding too pushy or salesy.

What do investors look out for in a pitch?

Investors, when you pitch to them will want look at your business holistically. Please don’t just waste all the time telling them about your product or service and its features. Don’t give them a sales pitch. Show them the deal too!

Put yourself in their position as an investor. If you are the one will you invest in your business? Be very clear about where you are now and where you are headed next.

Here are a list of what investors look out for in a one minute pitch or pitch of any duration.

• The problem you want to solve. Establish that there is a need for your product. What problems are you trying to solve. Convince them that there is a need with one or two examples of the need showing how it affects people.
• The solution you are offering. This involves the products/services you are offering and its benefits and how it will address the problem your customers or potential customers are already having.
• Your competitive advantage viz-a-viz other competitors. How is what you are offering better or different from what your competition is offering? What is your shield against new entrants in your industry?
• The size of your market. How big is your market? This means your target customers. The bigger your target market the better.
• The team behind your business. Introduce the team behind your business. They want to know you have a solid team to back you up. Please add only relevant things. Create a document that shows your team’s best qualities. This will help potential investors feel they can trust you and your managers from a financial perspective.
• Your marketing plan. How do you intend to get customers to buy your product? Which sales strategies do you intend to use.
• Your fundraising ask and what it goes for- this means the amount you are asking for and what you intend to use it for.
• The investment opportunity into the company aka the deal. Tell your prospective investors how your business will make money and how long it will take for them to see returns on the funds they put in. Focus on the information that will help them feel that their investment will pay off over time.

You should be as clear, accurate and as concise or straight to the point as possible. Remove garbage because you don’t have all the time. Ditch the Slide and the catchy language if you can. Convey all that need to be said in one minute or at most less than 3 minutes. It’s better to tell your solution in form of a story.

All you need is for the investor to understand your business the way you do and be able to communicate exactly that to another person without loosing any of the ingredients .

Always remember: its not just who you pitch to; its who they have to pitch to that matters.

So, be as clear as possible and make it memorable with stories.

Get this book below to learn how to pitch with a story from the pitch legend himself.

Things to Look out for When Pitching to an Investor

• Don’t be salesy or too pushy- By this I mean you should not mount so much pressure on them to fund your business by saying things like ” this is your only opportunity. You have to invest in this now or the offer is gone” This pisses them off and makes you look bad. The fact is that’s not the truth. They have a lot of offers every day. So be persistent but not too pushy.
• Don’t say there is no competition as there are a lot of people already doing what you are doing or something similar even if its not the same. Be authentic and truthful as this will go a long way to help you win their attention.
• Give them an investment pitch not a sales pitch.
• Be clear and specific about your product offering. You should not be a generalist or everything to everybody. What are you doing in the industry you are in that makes you different?
• Pitch the deal and not the business. Show them how your business will make money.
• Be authentic
• Get to the point fast. I will recommend you give them your most compelling reason to fund your business and arrive at your point at most in 3 minutes. This way you will capture and hold their attention.
• Don’t use too many slides. I recommend you forget the slide if you can. Watch this winning pitch
• Practice a lot. Learn from others.Watch videos of past winning pitches.

What Happens After the Investor Agrees to Fund Your Business?

When you succeed in convincing an investor to fund your business, your job has not ended. You still have some work you need to do even though your investor will do all he/she can to help you succeed.

In your negotiations with your investor, you may need to specify the timeline for delivering their returns, how the investment will be used and much more. So, you would need to follow your agreement in detail after you get funding.

Also, you will also need to give your investor an exit strategy in the event they loose interest along the way. This entails when and how they can sell their stake in the business and cash out.

You need to keep this in mind and ensure that should they want to leave, that you have already become profitable and can stand on your own.

My No 1 Recommended Book for Pitching to anybody

This book is a must have if you are serious about pitching.

Alright, you have it. Now its your turn.