STUART NIXDORFF

JUNE 7 2016

Into giving you their money

THE KEY TO A SUCCESSFUL START-UP - WINNING INVESTORS WITH YOUR PITCH DECK AND PRESENTATION

Dilutive – (Good) Venture Capital Private Equity Angels Accelerators (some) Anyone who gets equity

Non-Dilutive - (Better) Customers Suppliers Distributors Strategic Partners Government Banks Grant Providers Accelerators (some) Anyone who doesn’t get equity

What do investors want

Before giving YOU their money

To Win – Competitive An Advantage over other options Better Returns – Personally, Professionally

To Believe - Emotional WII-FM – What Is In It For Me Needs to hear and believe a compelling story

To Not Fail – Analytical 10x, 7x, 3x Return vs “3 Out of 4 Start-Ups Fail” WSJ FOMA – Fear of Mission Out

The purpose of your Investor Deck is not to answer all possible questions, nor close immediate investment. It is to open investors minds to your vision and get them excited to know more. The story you craft in your Deck gets them engaged to start filling in the blanks for themselves

You want to give enough information to grab their interest, but not too much as to overwhelm them or have your story lose clarity & focus.

Give them enough to get excited about, but leave them wanting more.

Your Deck should be able to stand on its own, without your presentation.

Compelling Decks are concise, tell a story, are visual, 10-13 slides.

1) Elevator Pitch2) Momentum, Traction, Expertise: Your key numbers3) Market Opportunity: Define market size & your customer base4) Problem & Current Solutions: What need do you fill? Other

solutions5) Product or Service: Your solution6) Business Model: Key Revenue Streams7) Market Approach & Strategy: How you grow your business8) Team & Key Stakeholders (Investors, Advisors)9) Financials 10) Competition11) Investment: Your ‘Ask’ for funding, Basic use of funds

Optional Slides: Exit Strategy, Partnership Agreements, Product/Service Demo, Existing Sales/Clients, Your “Special Sauce”

Problem

Solution

Market Size

Product

Traction

Team

Competition

Financials

Amount being raised

Problem - Describe the pain of the customer (or the customer’s customer). - Outline how the customer addresses the issue today.

Solution - Demonstrate your company’s value proposition to make the customer’s life better. -Show where your product physically sits. - Provide use cases.

Why now - Set up the historical evolution of your category. - Define recent trends that make your solution possible.

Market size - Identify/profile the customer you cater to. - Calculate the TAM (top down), SAM (bottoms up), and SOM.

Competition - List competitors - List competitive advantages

Product - Product line-up (form factor, functionality, features, architecture, intellectual property). - Development roadmap

Business model - Revenue model - Pricing - Average account size and/or lifetime value - Sales and distribution model - Customer/pipeline list

Team - Founders and management - Board of Directors/Board of Advisors

Financials - P&L - Balance sheet - Cash flow - Cap table - The deal

6

They lack a compelling story.

7

#1 — Not Immediately Investing in the Truly Great Ones

#2 — Not Investing the Maximum Amount

#3 — Looking for consensus

#4 — Meeting with anyone that hasn’t already picked me

#5 – Trying to Create Deals

#6 – Spending Time On Anything Outside My Sweet Spot

#7 – Trying to Actively Do Two-Handed Deals

#8 – Worrying At All About Price

http://alexanderjarvis.com/2015/09/13/vc-learnings-the-top-8-mistakes-i-made-in-my-first-18-months-as-a-vc-partner/

Not enough content. Not crystal clear on WHAT they do. No overt ask for capital. No stated plan post-fundraise. Not clear why this is “inevitable.”

All of this only confuses and frustrates investors.

Too much copy. Too many details (vs. the KEY details) Not delivered as a compelling story.

These are hard to follow. The story gets lost in all the noise.

From those, we learned a few things to keep in mind if you want to make a great pitch. If you don't grab people within the first minute, they're going to start checking their email. Tell the story through the problem. It needs to be a story about problems and solutions. Have a concrete business plan and drive home how you're going to make money. Know your material, and keep the energy up. When pitching directly to an investor, make sure you say what you're going to do with the

money. Finish strongly and sum up why someone should invest in the company. http://www.businessinsider.com/the-best-startup-pitches-of-all-time-2012-11?op=1

THANKS & ATTRIBUTIONThis presentation was distilled from a variety of sources:

•Nextview Ventures•Docsend•Crowdfunder Co-Founders & Investors•500 Startups / Dave McClure•Sky Fernandes•Reid Hoffman of LinkedIn & Greylock•Amplify LA•TechStars•Decks uploaded to Crowdfunder by Founders who raised significant investment rounds•Every investor who said yes and no over the past 20 years

With a simple search on the web for their names and ‘ it h d k’ ill fi d it h th