4 Ques ons Venture Capital Investors Will Ask in Your Pitch (and How to Answer Them)

4 Questions Venture Capital Investors Will Ask in Your Pitch (and How to Answer Them)

By Kevin Forestell

PITCHING YOUR STARTUP to a venture capitalist (VC) investor can be intimidating. You're speaking to exceptionally smart, successful individuals in a competitive market. According to Statista, 2021 set a new record for venture capital investments in the U.S. at approximately $330 billion invested — nearly twice as much as the year before. You're competing against a crowd of clever founders and amazing ideas. How can you best prepare for success?

Consider the perspective of the VC. With such a wide range of investment opportunities and pitches, VCs typically have a set of criteria they look for to help themselves evaluate an opportunity. Think about what you would want to know as a prospective investor and build your pitch from there.

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Even startups with fantastic ideas can fumble the pitch before it even starts. Think of the following questions as you prepare your next pitch.

What problem does your startup solve for consumers?

Investors want to invest in innovative products or services with competitive, long-term potential. Successful pitches share solutions to real-world problems that have yet to be solved by other companies in the market.

Consider who absolutely needs to have or use your product. Are you pitching something that consumers can't do without? What makes your product different and better from others? Are you providing people with a compelling reason to change their current habits? If consumers are currently using a different product or service why will they switch to your idea instead? Think critically about the answers to these questions and include them clearly in your pitch. Answer the tough questions for investors before they even ask them.

Why is now the best time?

Investors will likely want to know why now is the best time to invest in you, from both a market perspective and the current stage of your startup.

Investors will need to see that your target market is currently substantial enough to generate a large return and be sure that you'll be able to capture a substantial piece of that market. Why will your idea work now and why hasn't it worked before? Showing that your business will target an existing market opportunity is crucial for gaining venture capitalists' attention.

In relation to timing within your organization, VCs will need to know what growth and revenue milestones you will hit and when you will hit them. They will also want to see proof that the business is a viable one, with traction in your core market.

Be prepared to provide this information in a

detailed and realistic timeline to investors.

What makes you the best leader for your idea?

Your story simply has to figure prominently in any successful pitch. At this stage, VCs are mostly investing in the people behind the idea. A strong, determined leader with a clear vision for their idea is imperative.

Include proof of your prior success in your pitch. In addition to a proven track record, VCs want to see confidence in your pitch. Prepare your pitch to showcase your best attributes, including your drive, passion and presence.

Transparency is crucial throughout the entire pitch process but especially now. It's okay to be vulnerable. No one entrepreneur is strong in every area — it's better to be honest about your weaknesses and your plan to hire strategically to help fill out those gaps.

Furthermore, demonstrate your coachability in your pitch. Be open to listening to the VCs advising you and your company — they are successful for a reason.

Do you have the team to execute your vision?

In addition to you as a leader, VCs need to see the executive team as a whole. Be ready to share that you not only have a unique idea, but the right team behind you to pull it off. Be ready to talk about your team's expertise and share a list of qualified, capable people who will play key roles in the company's development. If you don't yet have this team be prepared to share a thorough hiring plan. Furthermore, VCs want to see that your team is determined to get through the challenges ahead, with a shared vision for success.

It's also crucial to address the balance of your team. Do you have a marketing expert? Product guru? Sales leader? Address any existing imbalances in team expertise and be ready with a plan to fill those gaps. Demonstrate that you are a smart, strategic founder in the way you build out your core team. Remember that VCs aren't just investing in your business — they're investing in the people, too.

In the end, perhaps the best way to prepare for a pitch meeting is to step into the shoes of your prospective investor. Think about what you would want to know before investing in a company and answer those questions clearly in your pitch. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/431212 Image credit: diasporaltd.com

4 Critical Business Lessons I've Learned as a CEO

By Trevor Rappleye

WITH THE EVER-CHANGING economic climate, many people are getting into entrepreneurship, which makes sense, because there are several benefi ts to being a business owner. Running your own company can mean you get the best of both worlds: time and money. As your own boss, you'll get the freedom to schedule your workdays while also achieving fi nancial freedom. Not to mention, you get to create an impact and help others with your business — who wouldn't want that?

Nonetheless, being an entrepreneur is no easy feat, and the journey to becoming a successful business owner isn't always straight and smooth. Over the years, I have learned a few key things that have helped myself navigate being an entrepreneur. If you want to become a business owner someday and succeed in any business you start, here are some foundational tips and advice to set you up for success:

1. Carve out time to sell

As the pilot of your business, the sales — and ultimately, your business's performance — are entirely up to you. That said, you're not guaranteed a paycheck.

Many entrepreneurs struggle with prioritizing their time and assignments. Never underestimate the importance of blocking out time to sell like you would block out time for a client meeting. As a general rule of thumb, I recommend blocking out three hours to sell each day; no calls, no meetings, etc. All that to say, it's equally as important to ensure you have a strong, high-quality service to sell to begin with. If you're passionate about what you're selling, and you're committed to catering to your clients' needs, then selling won't be tedious — it will be fun.

2. Hire a strong team

Sometimes, fi rst-time entrepreneurs fall into the pattern of wanting to do everything themselves. This is a dangerous pattern to sink into. To save time for things like selling and meeting with clients or customers, I recommend hiring a staff person to do the everyday tasks and help get the business off the ground. Another key to success is hiring people you trust and allowing them to do their job freely.

Hiring your fi rst employee can be scary, but once you understand that mess-ups are sometimes inevitable, it'll allow you to take some work off your

4 Critical Business Lessons I've Learned as a CEO

plate and focus. Your team will never get better if you're constantly watching over their shoulders. Hiring a strong team is critical, because at the end of the day, you need strong employees to support you and bring in more business. Your employees should have the same mission and vision as you, and they should be committed to the success of the business.

3. Schedule time to learn

Regardless of your industry experience, make learning a lifetime priority. Similar to selling, I advise entrepreneurs to carve out time to learn.

While learning can look diff erent for everyone — attending conferences, reading books or listening to podcasts, for example — it's crucial to create a schedule that includes time to learn. By setting aside time to learn, you can take a step back and review what's working and not working within your business.

4. You have to spend money to make money

In many cases, money can help you expand — either via marketing, hiring more employees or attending leadership conferences, for example. Even if you don't have a team or marketing budget, I advise business owners to set aside some money for marketing.

Becoming your own boss is a truly rewarding experience. However, a large part of business ownership is trial and error, because after all, you don't know what you don't know. While there are several things you'll have to learn, applying these critical things to your business will increase your chances of success. I'm proud to say that my two companies were able to double their full-time teams, get out of debt, pivot and make it through Covid. We also doubled our video output and tripled our clients throughout 2020 and 2021.

My biggest and last piece of advice: You'll never be ready. You'll never be perfect. Just go, and start. Fall down, and then get back up 1,000 times over. The best things in life don't come easy — and neither does entrepreneurship. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/431661?

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