Tips for Presenting Your Startup Vol. II
We’re back with more tips on presenting your startup to investors! In Vol. I, we discussed four main suggestions: explain how will you generate revenue, acknowledge your competitors and their threat level, stress your ability to continuously innovate and develop, and lastly, it might be a good idea to turn your pitch into a story.
As discussed in the first volume, it’s important to acknowledge your competitor, but do so by centering your acknowledgment around your primary product. So, how does your product solve the problem any better than that of your competitor? If you can identify the inimitable, unique aspect(s) within your product or service that competitors can’t duplicate before you gain majority market share, you will surely gather the focused attention of the investors. This is the first check on their list. Sure, your confidence, revenue value, presentation skills, and many other subtle aspects of your presentation attribute to your success, but many investors will never invest in a company that does the same as another. You must do it better and however you do it better, don’t let your competitor, or anyone for that matter, find out.
When describing the problem your product solves, it’s important to present the market size. Consider this example, if you’re selling solar powered heated tents to REI as opposed to a company selling millions of the world’s best car batteries to electric car companies like Tesla, you will be expected to generate less revenue than the company with consistent business to business revenue from major auto manufacturers. The similarity of these two products is irrelevant. However, it draws a clear line in revenue expectations. When presenting your target audience and expected market size, this allows you to expect the possible investment value you may receive while it allows the investor to decide this value based on your expected market size.
Many more presentation tips exist. Follow our page for more general startup/entrepreneur tips posted twice a week!
