On Friday, March 26, Hen House hosted our first monthly Hen House Ventures Open Pitch event to help entrepreneurs hone their pitch deck messaging, regardless of the stage their company is in. No matter who you are pitching, practicing your delivery in a supportive setting among peers will aid you in creating and presenting your business in the best way possible.
Here are some tips and tricks to improve your investor pitch:
Sign up for the April 30
Hen House Ventures' Open Pitch Event
This is your opportunity to present your 10-minute pitch to funding experts and get helpful feedback on the presentation and delivery.
Slow down.
With some investor pitch presentations limited to two minutes, you won’t have much time to tell your story, and if you speed through your delivery your audience won’t even hear you. Don’t put yourself under pressure. Remember to breathe and pace your speaking so that your excitement and passion still come through.
Time yourself beforehand.
Remember, you do not need to include EVERYTHING in your pitch. Your deck should not be crowded with copy or graphics. Think of the page as a palette to communicate an IDEA that you can speak to. In any case, it is a good idea to keep investor pitches to 10 minutes max.
Capture the attention of your audience right out of the gate.
A quintessential or funny graphic image that represents your business can be an attention-getter. At our first Hen House Ventures Open Pitch Event, Wümgo CEO, Teri Tito, used a black and white photograph of an irritable baby to show disfavor over the old-fashioned approach to baby carriers created without baby safety in mind. Any images that communicate the extent of the problem you are addressing or the power of your solution is a good idea.
Keep your audience’s interests top of mind.
- If you are pitching to investors they will want to understand why your company won’t fail
- If you are pitching to a channel or partner audience, they will want to learn how they can earn additional income by incorporating or reselling your product
- If you are pitching prospective customers they will want to hear time- or money-saving ideas that can provide a more positive outcome.
For example, Gonzalo Peña, founder and creator of Innolatino, a multi-media platform for professional Latinxs that provides multiple ways to earn income with his one platform. This approach makes investors more confident that income is certain and is not reliant upon a single revenue plan. His platform is comparable to what notable and successful media groups have built later in the lives of their businesses.
Teri Tito’s pre-revenue investor pitch demonstrated traction and interest in how her product has already received recognition for its innovative design and safety features. She also entered an international contest to show off the safety features of her design and won. Tito is also testing different price points through competitive research and by talking to prospects to determine production costs and profitability.
We will continue to share the knowledge gained from our next Hen House Ventures Open Pitch Event, scheduled for Friday, April 30.