Some Mistakes Entrepreneurs Should Avoid While Pitching

Entrepreneurs pitch to investors in order to raise fund from the early stage of start up. Pitching is very important aspect of your startup journey, especially when you seek funding. Many entrepreneurs are inexperienced or terrible while pitching. 

Here's a list of some common mistakes an entrepreneur makes while seeking angel or venture financing :

• Investors receive hundreds if not thousands of mails. They don't have the time sifting through them all to find that diamond in the rough. They routinely discard or don't even read such mails. What they'll pay more attention to is a referral by someone in their network. A lawyer, an entrepreneur from one of their portfolio companies or a fellow venture capitalist.
• Don't sound desperate, when you pitch to an investor. If you come off as though this investment is the only way for your business to move forward, it seems needy and is unattractive to many investors, and can set you up to be taken advantage of. You'll end up giving away more equity then you should.
• Do your homework first before pitching your company to the investor. Some investors are only interested in biotech. Or mobile apps. Or clean tech. Or internet and digital media. So, know be clear about their areas of interest.
• Your business plan shouldn't be 50-page long. It becomes really boring for the investors and they don't have that much time to reviewand decide whether your company is worth taking a meeting or following up. Make a 2-3 page executive summary, crisp and short.
• Telling the investors that you don't have any competition will sound as if you are unrealistic or naive. There is always a competition in the market, direct or indirect. Your analysis of your competitors will show the investor the understanding you have of the market.
• You put in a hurdle of your and your companies way by asking the investor to sign a NDA (non-disclosure agreement). If you have something so confidential, don't share!
• Your conversation is likely to end very quickly, if you present unrealistic valuation. You say you want a $100 milion valuation when you've started the business just three weeks ago, it's utterly unacceptable. It's best not to discuss valuation in the fisrt meeting.
• Avoid phrases such as “All we need is 1% of the market”, “This product will market itself”. It sounds too cliché because it's unlikey you will get 1% of market and no product markets itself.
• List the number of articles and publications that mentions the buzz about your company. Highlight your team's experience and credentials. The investor will want to know that the team has the right set of skills to grow the buisiness.
• Expect to get interrupted during presentation. Anticipate difficult question, it's a good sign that the investor is engaged. Don't evade or tell that you will get back to the question later. It leaves a bad impression on the investor.
• Not keeping a back-up data is one of the trap entrepreneurs fall into. Don't merely rely on assumptions to reinforce your statement.
• As nervous as you might be, try to calm down and speak from the heart. Speaking more slowly not only allows the listeners to register what you're saying, but it also makes you sound more confident and knowledgeable.

Not all of these mistakes are fatal. And as you practice and make more presentations to advisers and investors, you will learn what they care about and what doesn't resonate with them.

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