Two Ways You Can Deliver A Better Pitch

And Win The Crowd

Many founders still believe the best way to deliver a pitch and win over investors is by emphasizing their strengths — diminishing weakness. This approach might be good around familiar faces, but not in the presence of investors who are, for the most part, already entering the pitch with reservations about your startup.

Whether in private or in front of a large audience at demo day, investors are looking for holes and areas to disprove your business model. In many situations, it’s a natural instinct for human beings to reject novel ideas that they are unfamiliar or uncomfortable with. They become increasingly skeptical the more you try to sell them on the upside. For the reasons of appearing sincere and not like a used car salesman, below are two methods you should follow to deliver a better pitch:

Lead With Weakness

In Originals: How Non-Conformists Move The World, Adam Grant shares the story of Rufus Griscom and Alisa Volkman pitching their startup, Babble, to VC’s. Griscom did the unlikely — he pitched a slide listing the top five reasons not to invest in his startup. This should have buried his pitch, but his counterintuitive approach paid off and Babble received $3.3 million in VC funding. Two years later, Griscom pitched Disney to seek their interest in acquiring Babble. With every incentive to emphasize strengths, Griscom lead his pitch by telling Disney “Why you should not buy Babble.” Babble would later be acquired by Disney for $40 million. Griscom recalls:

“Every time I would say something emphasizing the upside, I would get skeptical responses. Unbridled optimism comes across as salesmanship; it seems dishonest somehow…Everyone is allergic to the feeling, or suspicious of being sold.”

By leading with a weakness you disarm the audience. When investors realize they aren’t being sold they can let their guards down and listen from a place of endearment.

Identify The Enemy

Connect with your audience on an emotional level before describing your business. One way to do this is by identifying the enemy. As Andy Raskin notes about Elon Musk’s presentation for the Tesla Powerwall:

“Start by naming the thing that’s getting in the way of your customer’s happiness. Do that by painting an emotionally resonant picture of how your customer is struggling, who/what is to blame, and why.”

Musk opens his 2015 pitch by displaying an image of burning fossil fuels, which are what he depicts as the enemy. The audience could not only identify the enemy but gather a better understanding of the severe environmental consequences of being dependant on fossil fuels. Before the problem and solutions slide in your pitch deck comes the vision. Win the crowd by deriving emotion from the audience’s circumstances, mood, or relationships with others. The most convincing way to do this is by naming the enemy.

Investors hold courtside seats to hundreds if not thousands of pitches every year. They’ve seen it all and nothing is new to them. So why not try the opposite by connecting with them on an emotional level. Investors without a doubt hold some influence, but it’s the entrepreneurs who can truly direct the conversation instead of maniacally selling them on reasons to invest. Maybe it’s time for you to give them reasons not to invest.