I’ve just attended my first technology conference as an investor and was thrilled to have met so many promising and passionate entrepreneurs talk about their business. However, now sitting at the other side of the table i’ve realized even the 100’s of elevator pitches I had done as an entrepreneur could do with a lot of polishing so here are my 2 cents on how to maximize an initial contact with an investor in a tech conference.
1) The opener: make a quick intro – your name and what you do. One of the easiest ways to tell an investor what you do is to use the X for Y method. i.e. “My name is Steven and i’m Co-founder for Qraved, we’re Dian Ping for Indonesia”. It does not have to be 100% the same but if it can get the 80% of what you do across that’s enough for the first meeting and you’ve used about 10 seconds of time.
2) The hook: now you need to make quick work of the opener to grab their attention somehow. Depending on your stage and what you are looking for you’ll have to adjust this to build some intrigue and curiosity for the investor. For example this could be growth, recent PR, investment lead – something you can make a point about. e.g. “We recently launched our new app which hit top3 on the app store and is being downloaded 10,000 times a day”. you’re down to 10 seconds left.
3) The Ask: now say why you are relevant to the investor, what you are looking for and lock in some kind of commitment – it helps a lot if you have done some research on the firm or if you have a mutual friend who has referred. For example, Khailee from 500 Startups told me that I should speak to you about our product – with your experience it would be great to get your feedback. Would you have time later today or can we meet next week? That’s it – 30 seconds and hopefully an investor meeting.
At conferences investors won’t always be easy to find/ access but one of the sure places is at the panels they undoubtedly be speaking on. As soon as it’s over don’t be afraid to head right up to the front and catch them – this is the perfect time to use the 30 second pitch.
All the best to everyone pitching today!