The round
Amount, what the money is for, and the milestone. If you do not know the instrument yet, say so, and do not invent a valuation.
How to Pitch to Investors
Pitch to investors by naming the cost of the problem, the proof you have, and the amount you are raising. They decide whether to take the meeting before they decide whether to write the cheque.
Un film de projet d’une minute
Qui est dans la salle
Angels, seed funds, and partners who will hear several companies the same day. They are not buying the product. They are deciding whether this round can reach a milestone they believe.
Send a one-minute film when you ask for the meeting. In the room, keep the same order and let them stretch the proof. Ten minutes is enough. A demo that runs longer than the problem has already lost.
We help [who] stop paying [the cost of the workaround], and we are raising [amount] to reach [milestone] by [date].
Quoi dire, dans l’ordre
The cost of waiting
One person, doing a real task, losing a real amount of money or time. Not a market. If you cannot name the person, you are not ready for this room.
Why now
The change that made this possible this year: a regulation, a cost that fell, a behaviour that already shifted. A trend slide is not a change.
What you do
One sentence, then two or three steps the user actually takes. Stop before the architecture.
Proof
Revenue, usage, a named customer, or a designed test if you have no customers yet. Say which it is. A total addressable market is not proof.
The ask
The amount, what it buys, and the date you will know it worked. “We are raising” with no number is not an ask.
Remplissez les crochets
Si un crochet n’a pas de fait, coupez la phrase. N’inventez pas un chiffre.
- Cost
[Who] still [the workaround]. It costs them [number] every [week or month].
- Why now
That held until [the change]. It no longer does.
- What you do
[Name] lets them [step], then [step], and they get [result] without [the old pain].
- Proof
Today [the fact you can stand behind]: [customers, revenue, or the test and what it showed].
- Ask
We are raising [amount] to reach [milestone] by [date]. That is the round.
Quoi avoir prêt
One customer story
A named situation you were part of. If you have no customer, twelve conversations and what you heard.
The fact you will not stretch
Investors forgive a small number. They do not forgive a number you made up when asked how you got it.
The leave-behind
The one-minute film and a short deck. The film gets the meeting. The deck is what they flip while you talk.
The film is for the meeting you do not have yet
Most first meetings never happen because the email was a biography and a link to a twelve-page deck. A partner will watch a minute. They will not read the deck to decide whether you are worth a slot.
Record the five lines above and send that. In the room, start at the same place. Let them interrupt on the proof. Do not restart from your childhood.
Là où ça échoue
Opening with your résumé
They can read a team slide later. The first sentence is the customer’s cost, or you have spent the only attention you get.
A market size in place of proof
“It is a forty-billion-dollar market” tells them nothing about whether anyone pays you. If you have no revenue, say what you have seen.
An ask with no number
“We are raising a seed round” makes them do arithmetic you should have done. Name the amount and the milestone.
A demo that eats the pitch
Show the product after they understand the cost. A tour of screens is not a reason to invest.
En faire un film
Turn the five lines into a one-minute film and send it when you ask for the meeting.
A project video runs about a minute, in three chapters: the painful situation, the solution, and the advantages. You submit the name, the audience, the situation, the solution, how it works, the evidence and the next step, and you can upload a plan, a deck, a PDF or photos. You see the production plan before anything is made. Do not include a result you cannot source. A film is delivered only after it passes checks, and charged only once delivered.
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FAQ
How long should an investor pitch be?
About a minute to get the meeting, and under ten minutes in the room. The extra time is for their questions about proof and the ask, not for more slides.
Do I need traction to pitch investors?
You need something you can defend. Paying customers are best. A finished test, or a count of conversations with the same answer, is honest. A borrowed market size is not traction.
Should I send a deck or a video?
Send a one-minute film when you ask for the meeting, and bring a short deck to the meeting itself. The film is watched. The deck is scanned while you talk.
What if I do not know the valuation?
Say the amount you need and the milestone it buys. Agree the instrument when both sides want the round. Do not invent a valuation to sound further along.