18 Virtual Pitching Pro-Tips from a Non-Silicon Valley Entrepreneur

In a socially distant world desperate for bright spots during the COVID-19 crisis, here’s one that entrepreneurs outside Silicon Valley can appreciate: all venture capital pitches have moved online. This switch to virtual fundraising means nobody can easily make the trip over to Sand Hill Road, thereby eliminating a huge advantage of startups based in the Bay Area. If anything, startups that aren’t located in places with a significant VC presence might even have an advantage. They’ve been pitching VCs online for years, so they already know how to deal with the unique idiosyncrasies of remote pitches. For everyone else, here’s a list of 18 things you can do to keep “crushing” those pitch meetings, even when they’re virtual.

Tip #1: Resend the meeting link via email 15 minutes before the start

Because you’re already a good entrepreneur, you sent a calendar invite with a link to your virtual meeting room as soon as the pitch was booked. However, a great entrepreneur knows people get annoyed when they have to dig through a calendar invite for the right link, particularly when they’re busy VCs jumping from meeting to meeting and probably running a couple minutes late.

Instead of having an annoyed VC join you in your virtual pitch room, have a grateful VC join you by resending your…