It is a common trap for entrepreneurs pitching to investors to demonstrate their brilliance by conveying in a wealth of detail that they are subject matter experts. After all, if the investor is going to invest in your business, they really need to understand your business… right? ………..WRONG!
If you are taking investors’ valuable time pitching the small details of your business, you are pitching low and inside when you need to pitch high and outside.
I get this. I fully understand it. You see, you have a passion for your business. That’s why you’re going to be a great entrepreneur. That’s why you’ll be able to build a great business. But when pitching for money, especially in the first pitch to an investor, subject matter expertise is one of many elements you have 10 minutes or less to convey. And while it’s your passion, the investor’s passion is making money. Demonstrating your ability to make money is what you need to convey in those precious few minutes.
So here’s what you have to demonstrate:
- There is a large identified need for your product or service
- A person can make money fulfilling that need
- You have assembled a team capable of delivering
- You have integrity
- You are intelligent
- You are a leader
- You are coach-able
There is a lot of information you have to convey in such a small amount of time and believe me, if you haven’t made a potential investor confident that you meet those criteria in 10 minutes, that potential investor will lose interest and never be anything but a potential investor.
So, if you’ve invented the best bread slicer since sliced bread, don’t squander your time training a venture capitalist in the baking and slicing business because you might love baking bread, but investors like making dough! So sure, demonstrate quickly that you’re a subject matter expert, and then go on and show them why they can trust you to make them rich. Pitch them high and outside.
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