Introductory VC Pitch

1
Introductory VC Pitch

• Month, Year
• Company Name

2
Overall Guidance

• Demonstrate your domain expertise with your
  understanding of the market
• Use the slides to lead, not read
• Ask questions be a good listener
• Less is More 12-20 slides
• Keep it Simple
• Emphasize momentum/milestones that confirm
  progress
• A Pictures worth a thousand words

3
Cover Sheet

• A brief one-line mission statement
• E.g. Updata Partners is a venture capital firm
  that invests in early and growth stage companies
  that provide innovative IT software and services.
  
• Contact information

4
The Elevator Pitch

• What is value proposition for customers to buy
  your offering?
• Example
• XYZ develops software solutions which help
  school
• districts better manage their special education
  programs
• by ensuring compliance, increasing revenues and
  reducing administrative time and expense
• Why is it compelling now?

5
Company Background

• The management team
• Is this a high performance team?
• Articulate team members relevant experience
• Areas where the team needs additional help?
• Summary of the organization
• Headcount by Dept (include FTEs)
• Office location's
• Date Company was founded
• Board Members and/or Advisors
• What credibility do they add?
• Why did they choose to be involved?

6
Market Opportunity

• Market need define customer pain and drivers
• Market Size-Keep it Real!
• Total size
• TAM (Total Addressable Market) what subset is
  relevant to Company
• of market you will own
• Growth rate
• Segmentation
• Company Positioning

7
Competition

• Know Your Market Cold
• The competitive landscape
• Who are your competitors? Collaborators?
• Too little competition is not necessarily good
• Competitive differentiator
• What is your secret sauce or unique advantages?
• How sustainable are these advantages?

8
Sales Model

• Vertical or Horizontal play?
• To whom do you sell
• What Titles are decision makers and influencers?
• How do you get to them (Direct, Inside Sales,
  Telemarketers)
• Length of sales cycle
• How do you generate leads and awareness?
• Channels/Indirect Sales
• Mix
• Cost
• Partnerships

9
Customers

• Number of current customers or Pilot/Beta
• Lighthouse clients
• Customer Concentration
• Customer Retention/Attrition
• Sales pipeline
• Whats the momentum in new opportunities and
  bookings?
• Whats Visibility for Forward 12 Months?
• Win/Loss Ratio
• Brief case study can help
• Company Name
• Pain Point
• Solution/Features
• Result/ROI

10
Technology/Solution/Service Offering

• How does it work and whats different?
• One page architectural diagram or logical
  description
• Is there defensible barrier and have you
  protected it?

11
Product Development

• Status of product (Alpha, Beta, 1.0,)
• Product/Service mix
• Product Roadmap
• Key milestones and expected completion/release
  dates
• Dependency on external technologies/partners key
  vendor licenses

12
Economic Model

• What is your economic model?
• Recurring or Transactional?
• Direct or Indirect?
• Highlight economic model assumptions
• -Revenue Growth
• -Margins
• -Wheres leverage in the Model?
• -Key Performance Assumptions
• Bottom line How do you make money?

13
Sample Economic Model

• Specify the cash flow breakeven point
• Monthly burn rate gross net

14
Risks

• What keeps you up at night?
• Whats the biggest risk of NOT raising money?
• If the business doesnt take off, what will be
  the reasons?
• Who are the latent competitors, including
  customer make decisions (vs. buying your
  product)
• Who loses if you win?
• Be Honest!

15
Financing History

• Capitalization table
• Amounts previously raised w/ dates
• Security type Common Equity, Series A, Series B,
  Convertible Debt
• Any special provisions, terms held by prior
  shareholders
• Post-money valuation on last round
• Are your valuation expectations realistic?

16
Proposed Financing

• Total amount to be raised
• Amount already committed from prior investors or
  new lead
• How far does it get you?
• Expected future financings
• What do you need in an investor?

17
Use of Proceeds Exit

• Breakdown of proceeds usage on
• RD
• Sales marketing
• Acquisitions
• Other
• Exit scenarios and timeline
• IPO vs. MA
• Who are the buyers
• Why will they buy you

18
Summary

• Bullet point summary of deal highlights
• Why is now the time to invest?
• Key momentum indicators
• Market Size and Opportunity
• Team Qualifications/Previous Success
• Barriers To Entry