Pitching to Prospective Investors ... Part 3

In previous posts I've listed some of the things that start-ups should focus on - and things they should avoid - to give themselves the best chance of success when pitching to a prospective investor.

Some are critical - doing a well-rehearsed demo for example. A start-up I saw pitch recently - UserZoom out of Spain - had a very well done video clip demo included in their presentation. This meant the pitch man Alfonso de la Nuez, their VP Marketing, was able to focus on explaining what was going on and how it works rather than fumbling around trying to connect and make it work and he was able to move quickly enough to get the desired effect. Kudos to him - it worked brilliantly!

After observing more funding pitches I notice a substantial issue for many is the one of communication, specifically when English not the primary language of the person pitching.

I saw this with at least 3 different start-ups just last week. Two of the three had great stories. One was an Italian software company looking to start up it's U.S. operations and potentially establish it's headquarters here. The other was a start-up with a Vietnamese cofounder that has developed a explosive detection system. The U.S. Navy has funded 3 prototypes to date. (The third, an Austrian company, had such a badly-flawed strategy for a new password-replacement system that the language issue - and it was there at a low level - rapidly became a non-problem anyway!).

To be perfectly clear, this is not a bias issue. Not even for a Brit used to hearing the Queen's English butchered on a daily basis. It's about getting the message across clearly and concisely in the limited amount of time you have in front of the prospective investor.

Now, most investors are patient and will try hard to make sure they get it. But if you struggle with the English language then find a way to communicate that relies less on you talking and more on the demo, on the slides and so on. Bring a team member who is fluent and can fill in the gaps (NOT a translator, a bona fide member of the management team). The demo approach taken by UserZoom is a great example of a way to solve the problem (in that case the English was perfect, but had it not been then this approach would have helped address that superbly).

It's hard enough to raise money these days. You need to insure that the pitch literally "speaks for itself"!