How to prepare, boost your confidence, and handle killer questions during your startup pitch. Tips to help any entrepreneur pitch to VCs with wow them with your confidence, passion, and grasp of your venture. The third and final session on pitching perfectly I gave at Samurai Startup Island in Tokyo.
4. DARREN
MENABNEY
-2011, Toronto
BSc Astrophysics, U of T
Government of Canada
Revenue, Industry,
Foreign Affairs, Defence
2011+, Tokyo
MBA, GLOBIS University
Global HR, Ricoh Co. Ltd.
Part-time Faculty, GLOBIS University
4
7. “In all things the way you practice
defines the way you perform. It’s selfish
to make an audience endure your first or
even third try. Why be selfish? If you’re
generous to your audience they’ll love
you.” – Scott Berkun
Author, Confessions of a
Public Speaker
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25. The Five Minute Pitch Deck
Title Page with Company’s Purpose (0:15)
Elevator Pitch (0:15)
The Problem (0:30)
Market Sizes (0:20)
Your Value Proposition (0:30)
Why Now? (0:20)
Go To Market Plan (0:30)
Competitive Landscape (0:20)
Business Model (0:30)
Your Team (0:20)
Financials analysis & projections (0:30)
What You Have, What you need (0:30)
Summary (0:10)
26. If your pitch needs to be
done in 10 minutes,
rehearse for 8
HOW to prepare?
26
30. Identify weaknesses in pitch
Anticipate questions
Prepare answers
Practice giving those answers
Rehearsal helps you…
30
31. Past pitch events they judged?
Questions they asked
Their style
Read judges’ blogs & watch any videos of them
Demographics of audience?
Industry crowd vs general audience
Other startups
Know Your Audience…
31
38. Two minutes of this
Stress level DOWN 25%
Confidence level UP 20%
http://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are?language=en38
49. "Thanks for that question."
"Great question!"
"That's a really good
question."
"I was hoping someone would
ask me that."
49
50. Title Page
Elevator Pitch
The Problem (Opportunity)
Market Sizes
Your Value Proposition
Why Now?
50
Go To Market Plan
Competitive Landscape
Business Model
Your Team
Financial Analysis & Projections
What You Have, What You Need
Summary
13 Points You Should Have Covered in Your Pitch Deck
55. Some Actual Killer Questions I’ve Heard
“Who are your competitors and how are you
beating them?”
“Is your customer base growing? What
is your retention like?”
“Are you a platform, or are you offering a
service?”
56. Some Actual Killer Questions I’ve Heard
“Show me how you can scale.”
“So when would I get my 100X back?
“I just have one question. What the f**k
do you do?”
“Why did you start this company?”
68. The following slides show examples of some common
questions you must be prepared to answer
Questions have been summarised according to the
relevant slides you must include in your pitch deck
Green questions indicate killer questions, good luck!
Questions You May Get
68
69. “How have people been dealing with this problem before
you came along?”
“Why is this a problem?”
“Why is this a BIG problem?”
Questions - The Problem
69
70. “How much does that problem cost?”
“How much will customers pay to fix that pain?”
“How did you calculate the Total Addressable Market?”
“What original market research have you done?”
Questions - Market Sizes
70
71. “Take me on a typical customer’s journey.”
“Why should I care?”
“I still don’t get it. What do you do?”
“I just have one question. What the f**k do you do?”
“What’s your proprietary IP?”
“How will you deal with government regulations (e.g. FDA)?”
Questions - Your Value Proposition
71
72. “Why has no one been able to do this before?”
“What changed to make now the right time for your
solution?”
Questions - Why Now?
72
73. “How will you enter the market?”
“How will you grow in the market?”
“How much do you need to expand?”
“Who are your existing customers?”
“How do customers find you?”
“What kind of traction have you got so far?”
Questions - Go To Market Plan
73
74. Questions - Competitive Landscape
74
“Who are your biggest competitors?”
“How can you beat them?”
“Why are you better?”
“Competitor X is a huge, established player in this
market. How can you beat them?”
“How did you research the competitive landscape?”
75. Questions - Business Model
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“How do customers pay you?”
“How did you calculate your unit cost?”
“How will you distribute your product?”
“Who are your suppliers?”
“Are you a platform, or are you offering a service?”
“What are your bottlenecks and how do you manage them?”
76. Questions - Your Team
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“Why did you start this company?”
“How much have you personally invested in this venture?”
“Tell me more about your past successes.”
“Tell me about your past failures. What did you learn?”
“Your team is spread over the world, how to you make
decisions and communicate?”
“Why is this team capable of executing your growth plan?”
77. Questions - Financials
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“When will I get my money back? When will I get my 10X
or 100X back?”
“When will you be cashflow-positive?”
“Explain how you’ll get from point B to point C on your
financial projections?”
“Why aren’t you bootstrapping?”
78. Questions - What You Have/Need
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“How much have you already received?”
“Who has funded you so far?”
“I still don’t get it. How have you survived so far?”
“Tell me why you need to spend $100,000 on marketing.”