​Getting out of the Bullpen - Pitching your Ideas (Post 1 of 3)

 
You’ve got a great business idea, put together a team, created a business plan and are furiously working. Bootstrapping has worked so far, but now you're at the point where you need capital to expand on your idea. That's a new ballgame, so to speak, and it involves...
 
Pitching to investors
 
To gain the needed cash, you’ll have to convince investors your idea is extraordinary and worth risking their time and money.  A key tool you'll need is a pitch deck.
 
So what do you need to build a pitch deck?  What is the best way to get started?
 

​Like any presentation, begin by thinking of your audience -- Investors. Your job is to convince them that you, and your idea, will potentially give them a good return on their money.
 
The basic areas you'll want to cover in your pitch are: Market, Team, and Technology.
 
Market  - Who will buy and why:
What is the problem you’re solving and how big is the market? What segment of this market can you reach, and what is your go-to-market strategy?
How is your solution better than alternatives currently available? What facts or research support this?
 
Founder / Team – Who are you and your team:
What unique background, education, experiences and talents show you are qualified and driven to succeed.
 
Technology - How your unique and competitive idea will work:
Do you have a business model that can generate an ROI?
Is it sustainable?
Do you have defensible Intellectual property or other barriers to entry?
What are your goals and plan to get there?
 
 
Once you have the essentials of your pitch deck pulled together,  it’s helpful to think about the logical order of the presentation and what to include on each slide.
 
We'll give you more information on the slides in the next post: “Eight slides for a perfect pitch”.
 
 Thanks for reading -- have a good week!

Nancy