Ok, let’s paint a picture: You are sitting in the audience of your favorite conference–hmmm, I don’t know… we’ll call it TechConneXt–thinking about how to pitch your hot, new product. You just watched prolific venture capitalist Monique Woodard get off stage, and your eyes are gunning for her, ready to hunt her down and tell her about your next new creation. She starts to walk to her car, she hasn’t eaten lunch, has a one o’clock appointment, and is ready to haul out of there. As you approach her, you see that she is making her move toward the exit.
What on earth do you do?
You decide to go for it. Just as you do, someone else swoops in before you. Dang it! They talk, and talk, and talk, and you see that she is anxiously trying to wiggle away. Finally, the other person’s done, and she’s now in the parking lot–it’s just her, you, and the pavement. It’s your time.
Before you go in for the kill, click the play button below and watch what happens when I tried to pitch to her. Listen very closely to her feedback.
Now, it’s your turn!
The most important thing you should know about pitching a VC is that you don’t have a lot of time. There are also tons of people who are trying to get your VC’s attention.
Well, what if I ask for a business card? Well, what if they never get in touch?
So, what do you do? You, go for it.
Be concise. Get to the problem right away, and tell them how you are already solving it. Leave them with large metrics that will peek their interest. Have you had 100,000 downloads? Do you have $10,000 monthly recurring revenue that is consistently growing month-over-month? Whatever it is, make it quick. If they are interested, they will more than likely give you a contact to follow up with.
So, let’s try it. Start the timer on your clock, and give yourself 60 seconds. See if you can get everything you need to say in, without running out of time. Run it at least five times. This way, the next time you are out and run into a venture capitalist, you’re ready to take your shot.Â