<\/p>\n\n\n\n
COO of creative agency Ueno<\/a> Emmanuel Saccoccini advises his staff<\/a>: \u201cWhen someone asks you for a coffee, bring the best one you can, but always add a piece of chocolate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Investors and consumers like value. They\u2019ll consider value. But they\u2019ll buy added<\/strong> value. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In startups and securing investment for them, the pitch is the coffee, and the chocolate is that little something extra that gets you noticed and remembered. The chocolate could be small, it could be decadent and attention grabbing. Either way, it\u2019s an unexpected bonus that surprises and delights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Sticking with the dessert metaphors here, what\u2019s the cherry on top of your startup? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Before investor meetings, every good entrepreneur agonises over financials and metrics. You\u2019ll memorise every detail and prepare for every question. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Being accurate and transparent is second to none. But it\u2019s easy to forget your other job: to excite. Pitches should consider the individual investor. They should be tailored to their areas of interest and business expertise. Sometimes it\u2019s as simple as finding things you have in common – whether it\u2019s fishing or a FinTech background – and using it to forge a bond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When thinking about your \u201csomething extra\u201d, consider what will resonate with them. It might be a certain brand value or pledge, or a partnership with a charity close to their heart. It might be an exciting brand activation event that aligns with their passions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many seed stage businesses are good with big picture stuff. The overarching goals of startups – hit an x valuation, hit x subscribers, exit after x years – can vary little from one pitch to the next. It\u2019s the minutiae that makes you memorable. The small details about why you\u2019re really here that pull intrigue and demonstrate acute awareness of your marketplace and customer base. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Storytelling helps you stand out in a sea of competition. <\/p>\n\n\n\n No one likes a sob story (actually – they must do, because they\u2019re all over LinkedIn and reality TV). But investors don\u2019t like sob stories. Getting the cadence of your backstory right is tricky, because it\u2019s easy to veer into \u2018woe is me\u2019 territory – how hard you work, how difficult your start was, how much you need this break. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As long as it\u2019s the story of your business, not the story of you, you shouldn\u2019t be afraid to open up to investors on your whys and wherefores. <\/p>\n\n\n\n An authentic story about how your origins or beliefs fuel your intentions is well-placed, as long as it\u2019s relevant and engaging. It\u2019s okay to display passion and emotion – in an appropriate way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eyewear retailer Warby Parker did some early brand building<\/a> by putting a showroom in an old school bus and driving it 4000 miles across America (and went public last year with a valuation of $6.8 billion<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jukedeck co-founder Ed Rex won the LeWeb 2014 startup competition by rapping his pitch<\/a> (maybe take this one as an example rather than a suggestion!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n The founder of Instacart bribed a potential accelerator partner with beer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The brands went beyond and above in making their business model stand out. It\u2019s an annoying cliche, but this is true out-of-the-box thinking. It shows your ability to think about what others want to see, rather than just what you want out of the pitch. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That said, it\u2019s important to\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n As with all communications, the way you speak about your startup in investor meetings should be aligned with your wider brand values. A brand personality that scores high in excitement<\/a> should be reflected in your presentation. You\u2019ll bring lots of energy, maybe a bit of unconventionality, and your chocolate offering could be something big and exciting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A sincere brand (whose values might be wholesome, sustainable, and down to earth like Patagonia, Volvo, and Dove) should be reflected in the way you speak and dress, your presentation\u2019s colour and graphic choices, and your chocolate offering. A sincere brand wouldn\u2019t make some big, extravagant gesture to impress (it certainly wouldn\u2019t rap). <\/p>\n\n\n\n For a great example, check out Cocofina<\/a> founder Jacob Thundil\u2019s pitch on Dragons Den<\/a>. He references his personal connection to the product via his homeland Kerala (the \u2018land of coconuts\u2019) without overdoing it. And the tone of his pitch closet mirrors the measured, sincere communication style of the brand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As competition for investment capital squeezes, it\u2019s not about meeting expectations, but exceeding them. Think about your core offering, then think further about what that cherry on top could mean for your startup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But we just want to reiterate one last time, please don\u2019t rap your pitch. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s great to have proven traction, solid metrics, and healthy financials. But very few startup founders go into investor meetings without these. How do you stand out from the pack? You bring them a coffee with a little chocolate on the side.\u00a0\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":5806,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"csco_singular_sidebar":"","csco_page_header_type":"","csco_page_load_nextpost":"","csco_post_video_location":[],"csco_post_video_url":"","csco_post_video_bg_start_time":0,"csco_post_video_bg_end_time":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[33,45,46,51,63,65],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/knowhow.skalata.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5805"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/knowhow.skalata.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/knowhow.skalata.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knowhow.skalata.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knowhow.skalata.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5805"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/knowhow.skalata.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5805\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6023,"href":"https:\/\/knowhow.skalata.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5805\/revisions\/6023"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knowhow.skalata.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/knowhow.skalata.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knowhow.skalata.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/knowhow.skalata.co\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The value in delight<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Storytelling <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Spitting bars <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Be on brand<\/h2>\n\n\n\n