Investment pitches for small businesses and startups require close coordination between the pitching writer and the Founders.
Many startups believe hiring a content writer to create a beautiful presentation highlighting a venture’s strong points and financial viability will do the trick. I see startups putting out job posts for pitch decks and financial models on UPWORK and other platforms. Many of these are in a great hurry. They want the content writers to send a presentation in a few days. The budgets that they offer are small. No wonder most startups are unable to get the interest of investors.
Investment pitches are not about great presentations and financial models that present a picture of exponential growth and high profits that will interest a hard-nosed investor who wants to invest in ventures that will give him outsized returns. I see so many such fancy presentations on funding platforms. These sit there, evoking no interest. Startup founders blame that on bad luck. It is anything but that.
Create the investment pitch yourself if you do not have the funds to hire a competent business consultant. You will do a better job at it than a young content writer who is skilled in creating pretty present presentations. An investment pitch should present a comprehensive analysis of your sector, competition, and business model, a study showing that your solutions are designed to give you a competitive edge. Ask for a business case, not a business plan. These are two different things.
Investors are seeing dozens of pitches a day. Your investment pitch would barely get a few seconds. Follow a 3:30:3 model. The first three seconds are spent on the headline. The next thirty seconds will look at the main arguments. The investors decide to go and explore a project further in these opening seconds. Therefore, the opening case must contain information that forces the investor to look further.
Another strategy that I have found to be quite effective is to create a three-slide teaser. It focuses on the core idea of your project. Send the presentation teaser to all the investors in your segment. If you persist, you will get a response.
Now is the time to have your business case ready. Use that to discuss the details with the investor.
All the best!
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