Startups require funding, and funding often comes through successful networking with investors. A key part of that networking process is presenting pitches that stand out. These need to be compelling narratives backed by sound data and inspiring aspirations that can quickly grab an angel investor or venture capitalist’s attention and draw them into your startup’s story.
At the Missouri Innovation Center, we understand that crafting a compelling pitch is critical for entrepreneurs seeking investment. We also know that startups in a technical field like life sciences can have trouble communicating complex business ideas in the space of what often amounts to a matter of seconds.
In this article, we’ll consider tips for delivering complex pitches effectively. We’ll also look at some of the innovative ways MIC is helping life science startups raise funds through unique mentorship opportunities.
Tips to Prepare and Deliver Pitches to Investors
If you’re struggling to pitch to investors with confidence and clarity, we have created a five-step checklist to help. Use it to clean up your presentations and help your pitches resonate whenever you have a one-on-one opportunity with an investor.
1. Keep Your Pitches Short and Concise
Investor pitches are never meant to be long presentations. They should be succinct, encapsulated moments that rapidly and effectively communicate key pieces of information. While we’ll go over what that information should be in the following steps, the first thing is to create a mindset that values brevity. That is the kind of approach that will resonate with an investor.
It’s generally recommended to keep a pitch between 30 and 60 seconds. If that sounds too short, you’re not understanding the opportunity. Pitches are meant to simply pique investor interest with key data points that make your startup stand out.
A minute is more than enough time to convey the relevant data in a concise format. Remember, investors are often listening to dozens of pitches at a time. If you talk to them early in that process, a lengthy pitch will likely be buried by the other pitches that follow. If you present later, you have to assume that they will already be mentally saturated with information and will only be able to retain key points.
In either case, it’s wise to keep your pitch hyper-focused. Consider your entire pitch one big hook. If it resonates with an investor, you’ll have a chance to explain it in greater detail in the future. For that initial connection, though, stay brief.
2. Focus on Your Unique Value Proposition
If you’re already an established startup with high-growth potential, you should have a clear idea of your unique value proposition (UVP). This is the essential point of your business that will offer innovative, one-of-a-kind value for your target audience.
Don’t beat around the bush with why your idea is special. Get right to the point. Successful pitches must quickly communicate your unique value proposition. If you can do that in a relatable, narrative style that captures an investor’s interest, even better.
3. Use Up-to-Date Market Research
A good pitch is a relevant one. In a field like life science, you want to back up your pitch with data-driven takeaways that emphasize your existence as an enterprise.
These data points must be relevant and up-to-date. Resist the temptation to use older numbers because they’re splashy or they’re what you used when you initially formed a business plan. Review your market research and related data and make sure it is current, relevant, and serves a distinct purpose in either reinforcing your UVP or one of the two remaining steps.
4. Present a Clear Plan
Investors aren’t interested in hypotheticals. No matter how good your UVP and its market data might be, you need to have a robust business model to back it up. Again, if you’re operating on your original business plan and you’ve already launched your startup and need later-round funding to scale, resist the temptation to simply go back to your old documentation. Make sure everything is relevant and up to date with where you are as a company.
Provide clear business plans that describe what you’ll do with the funds you receive. Connect them to business activities that will produce specific results or help you reach investor-friendly benchmarks. This is the step where you can easily get bogged down. Make sure to remember step one and keep it brief as you convey specifics to an investor.
5. Highlight Team Strengths
Finally, back up your pitch by highlighting the team behind your startup. A founding team is the core driving force behind whether or not a startup will survive. It can be just as powerful as your data when it comes to drawing in an investor’s interest.
Consider each member of your founding team. Highlight relevant strengths that reinforce your pitch and weave them in where appropriate. Also, consider any other hires you might make with additional funding and how that will bolster your startup’s core team competencies as you execute your vision.
How Missouri Innovation Center Prepares Founders to Pitch With Confidence
Even with a clear step-by-step process, the pitching process is overwhelming. As is the case with any professional endeavor, you are pitting your own pitch against competent competitors who are also striving to wow investors and earn their support. This is where the Missouri Innovation Center’s mentorship program can make a difference.
The leader development aspect of our incubator helps entrepreneurs develop into holistic leaders with both technical and soft skills. Part of the latter is the ability to present strong pitches to investors interested in high-growth life science and related tech startups. Along with following the steps outlined above, we emphasize things like a strong opening and closing.
We coach entrepreneurs to structure their presentations with a powerful beginning hook that grabs a VC’s attention. From there, we flesh out a pitch with crisp financial projections, relevant market data, and team member strengths. Our coaches spend plenty of time honing the closing, too, to help entrepreneurs create a confident call to action that leaves investors eager to learn more.
The result is a pitch that not only highlights your innovative solution. It also demonstrates a deep understanding of your target market and potential for scalable growth. This is just one aspect of our industry-leading mentorship program. However, it has helped many resident businesses procure critical rounds of funding that have helped them scale their businesses and take advantage of key growth opportunities.
Effectively Pitching Your Startup
By focusing on your unique value proposition through a combination of strategic storytelling, data-driven insights, and team strengths, startups can transform their pitch from a mere presentation into a compelling investment opportunity.
If you want to learn more about Missouri Innovation Center’s coaching services to improve your pitching success, you can contact our team. Together, we can explore your options and consider how our incubator’s facilities, services, and staff can help you realize your startup’s growth potential.
