- Kavanders & Co.
Fundraising 1.0 - How to get started?
Want some hints on how to present your #businesscase and prepare a killer #investorpitch? You better, as you need to be prepared to make your pitch fly before jumping into investors' shark tank!
Conceptualizing your business idea requires a lot of time, and most likely, quite a few attempts to get it right. You need to find the right partners, and finally, attract the right investor to raise the capital you need to grow your business and take your solution to the market. Spoiler alert - you will most likely not end up doing what you first thought you would.
Raising money can be the way to go if you don't plan to grow your business organically, but finding a VC is not the only option for funding your business. There are grants, competitions, and business loans, too, meaning that you don't always need to give away equity. But we will get back to this a bit later.
So, how will I get there? Or more precisely, how can I raise funds?
Many roads lead to Rome (and with Rome, we mean money), but the starting point to attract the right investors for your company is creating a killer pitch deck. One that perfectly captures the essence of your idea and makes the investor engaged and wanting to hear more. Your deck needs to do this in 3 minutes and 44 seconds, as according to Forbes, this is how long an investor will look at your deck the first time around.
You will also need an elevator pitch, a 20 - 30 second summary of the problem you are solving, how you do it, and what you want to achieve. As the name hints, it should never be longer than an elevator ride. This quick introduction is used to pitch your idea in a casual setting, such as a networking event or when first calling up an investor.
First, what is an investor pitch deck?
A pitch deck is more extensive than an elevator pitch and supported by a visual presentation with all the essential information to convince your audience and provides your potential investors with a summarized overview of your business plan and strategy.
Your pitch deck is critical to attracting an investor as well as successfully closing a deal with them. The pitch deck is likely the first substantive information an investor (or anyone else) will hear about your idea. The ability to formulate your business's unique power and potential in a few slides is what will convince potential investors.
Perfect your pitch: What do you need to include in your pitch deck to make it as convincing as possible?
We are getting there. The essential elements are the following, and we will cover these in more detail in our next posts.
The problem you are solving - make sure it is one that someone is willing to pay to eliminate
Your solution - make sure it fits the situation (duh, you say? Yeah, we thought so, too, but...)
Business model - how will you make money?
Underlying technology (if this applies) - keep it simple and tell it to me like I am five years old
Go-to-market (GTM) - my biggest worry as an investor, you want to nail this one!
Competition and your USP - make sure you know them
Team - flaunt your superheroes
Projections and milestones - paint me a picture
Status and timeline - impress me
Ask and use of funds - what will you do with my money?
Summary and call to action - what do you want me to remember and now do?
To summarize, while an elevator pitch is a simple 20 to 30 seconds summary of your business plan, a pitch deck is more extensive. A pitch deck dives deeper into your business, mission, vision, how you will solve the problems your target audience is facing, and build a solid business out of it.
All nice and good, but how to get started? You are in luck as that is the next topic of our next post, so stay tuned!
Should you already have your deck but want an expert to have a look at it, our service CheckMyDeck™ is for you!
About CheckMyDeck™️
With CheckMyDeck™️, an expert will review your #pitchdeck, give you feedback, and even spar with you.
We will give you a professional outside-in view; a structured feedback report on what and how to improve your pitch. We spar and coach you on strategy, Go-to-Market, storyline, business model, investment case, and more.
As the icing on the cake, if your case is solid, we will arrange an actual pitch for you with potential investors. We want to make sure you nail your pitch! Pre-register on our site to learn more. Together, we will make sure that you nail it.
About Kavanders & Co.
Kavanders GmbH, branded as Kavanders & Co., is headquartered in Switzerland and provides services and content in communications and marketing, business development, and strategy through a core team combined with an international network of partners. With a mission of making positive impact businesses successful, the offering supports small and medium-sized companies to evolve, as well as entrepreneurs and those aspiring to become such to get off the launchpad.