Avant View

Advice for Founders: Pitching to Investors

While we acknowledge that views on investor pitches can vary widely across funds, we thought it would be helpful to provide a few thoughts on how we think about the process and what we typically look for in meetings with founders and management teams.

Time

Your value proposition is a succinct statement that highlights the unique benefits your product or service offers to customers. It answers the question, “Why should customers choose us over the competition?” A strong value proposition is crucial for differentiating your brand in a crowded market.

  • What your company does
  • The technology and problem it will address
  • Your business model
  • Your market and competition
  • Your team and organizational structure
  • Your proposed financing needs
  • Your openness to coaching and advice

The first meeting, for us, is a chance to get a sense of the company, but more importantly the leadership and team dynamic. From there, if it makes sense to move forward, we typically will move to a series of more detailed diligence calls with deeper dives on various aspects of the business.

Content

This depends on the audience and the profile of the fund you are pitching to (i.e. a generalist fund or investor will be different from a life science sector specialist). It is important during a pitch to optimize the time allocation and understand what areas to focus on more vs. others. For sector specialists, they likely already have a strong grasp of the market and not a lot of time needs to be spent on general / generic market data unless you have proprietary market sizing analyses to show. Another area we see founders spend a lot of time on during a pitch is the problem statement, or the “why what we’re building is important” section. As specialists in the space, you’re preaching to the choir. We are already fully bought-in and committed to the broader mission that founders in our space share. Rather, we encourage you to spend more time on practical aspects of the business that more objectively inspire confidence in the business or highlight key differentiators that set you technology apart. Finally, the financials section is an opportunity to build credibility and show a strong grasp of the less technical aspects of the business. Be sure revenue projections are thoughtful, grounded in the reality of the market, and err on the side of conservatism as overly optimistic forecasts will be ignored and can hurt credibility.

While not a comprehensive list, some things we love to see in pitches are a sense of pragmatism from the founders and a practical approach to building the business, a strong focus on cost efficiency and lowering burn, knowing the customer perspective, a clear LRP, comprehensive and realistic scenario planning, and a strong understanding of market dynamics and competitors. We reiterate the importance of clarity and focus during your pitch. While storytelling can captivate, remember that investors ultimately evaluate you on substance. Your pitch is a chance to showcase not just the opportunity but your readiness to seize it.