Storytelling

PITCHING INVESTORS November 25, 2013 Conﬁdential Material: Property of Ken
Singer Ken Singer Managing Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology Fung Institute, UC Berkeley Art and Science of the Pitch

Singer What is your goal when presenting?

Singer Setting up a Date with an Investor •  Do research •  Know who you’re looking for •  Don’t waste time on investors who aren’t interested or don’t have “dry powder” •  Understand their interests •  Assess their style: listening? Active or passive •  Don’t be too eager: Investors run from desperation •  You are looking for the right match

Singer Fundraising: Two Player Game -> ACT You -> Investor

Singer Vendor selection End User LoB IT Department IT Proj. Manager Mgr App Developer Sponsor Enterprise Architect Finance Legal Review License Mgmt Exchange Admin Security BES/MDM Admin Network Admin Tester Compliance Procurement Legal Enterprise Sales: Multi-player Game

Singer •  20-second pitch (Wow statement) •  3-minute pitch •  1-hour pitch Be aware of time…

Singer Quick, powerful… 20-second Wow Statement

Singer 3-minute “Public” Pitch Incisive, interesting, thought provoking…

Singer 1-hour Investor Pitch Important stuff ﬁrst, cogent, interactive…

Singer What you need to do in that time… •  Hook the audience – ﬁrst 10 seconds •  Teach them something new •  Make them believe •  Qualify yourself •  Be memorable

Singer What makes people take action?

Singer The Dirty Little Secret of Presenting… •  People make decisions on emotions •  Justify with logic

Singer Principles of presenting well

Singer Know your Audience: Speak to their interests No one makes a decision by themselves…

Singer Belief leads to conﬁdence

Singer High Energy: Be Passionate!

Singer Project Conﬁdence: Natural Loose Posture

Singer Smile: Americans Smile to Project Conﬁdence

Singer Don’t Appear Too Conﬁdent

Singer Hands… Controlled. Not in your Pocket.

Singer The Presentation…

Singer The Music The Performance

Singer The Music: “The Dirty Dozen” •  The “Problem” •  The “Solution” •  Value Proposition •  The Market & Opportunity •  Product, Distribution Model •  Revenue Model •  Technology •  Competition •  Team •  Financials •  Funding strategy and needs •  Timeline and action plan

Singer Game%FAIL% ! A Note about Facts… Must be relevant, current and RIGHT.

Singer The Music

Singer The “How” Frame your story… •  Context is everything •  Keep your speciﬁc audience perspective in mind •  Be Provocative / Interesting

Singer How to Present Yourself: Must be qualiﬁed to tell this particular story...

Singer The Power of Simple Storytelling: The best stories travel word of mouth…

Singer Building a case – logical order

Singer Importance of the Narrative Arc… •  Goal: create an intriguing storyline •  Different narrative arcs •  Problem-Solution •  Market •  Team •  Different strategies •  Start with strengths •  Start with weakness head-on •  Start with what the speciﬁc audience cares about

Singer Standard Arc or “Problem-Solution” Strategy •  Begin with a “hook” (something they don’t know) •  Convince them of the problem •  Introduce your solution •  Show them how it works •  Prove how big the opportunity is: •  Market size •  Competition can be beaten •  Show timing is right •  Give them conﬁdence you’re the right team •  Close with the exciting next steps

Singer “Team-centric” Arc or “We are Awesome” Strategy •  Begin with a Team qualiﬁcations •  How the problem or technology was discovered •  How you discovered the problem was big •  Show them how it works •  How your solution is better than existing solutions •  Limitations of current technology •  Limitations of market / competition •  Show timing is right •  Show how team has been making the right decisions and executing •  Close with the exciting next steps

Singer “Research-centric” Arc or “Holy Grail” Strategy •  Begin with the technological breakthrough •  What did your team just discover •  Convince them this could be applied to solve a costly problem •  Introduce your solution and how it works •  Prove how big the opportunity is: •  Market size •  Competition can be beaten •  Show timing is right •  Give them conﬁdence you’re the right team •  Close with the exciting next steps

Singer •  How you Frame the story… •  Keep your speciﬁc audience perspective in mind •  Be Provocative / Interesting •  Keep it simple and recognizable •  Qualify yourself… •  The storyteller must be credible •  Narrative: build your case… •  Logical, consistent, relevant Recap: Storytelling is Performance Art

Singer Tactics in Storytelling. Advice from the Trenches…

Singer Tactical Advice: Visuals should assist. Not distract.

Singer Tactical Advice: Careful Word Choice

Singer Tactical Advice: Models are powerful storytelling aids

Singer But they can be dangerous too…

Singer Demos: Required. Keep them simple and canned.

Singer Not so awesome slides… Example Slides

Singer

Singer More effective slides… ! Example Slides

Singer

Singer Tactical Advice: Make them feel intelligent Make People think…but not too hard

Singer Tactical Advice: Comfort with the Material

Singer Tactical Advice: How to Answer Questions

Singer • Slow down • Annunciate • Simple language choice Principles of Speaking for Non-Native Speakers

Singer • Use powerful images • Few words • Use large font • Animate slides that show “process” • Slides must be easy to understand Principles of Slide Design

Singer Your Turn: Practice •  Use the principles outlined here to tweak your pitch •  PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

Singer Dekuji!

Storytelling

Storytelling

More Decks by GSVA

Featured

Transcript