What investors really want to hear when they first meet you, is a good story. And any good story has three parts: The beginning, the middle and the end. Let's take a look at what each one of these parts needs to cover:
- The Beginning: Always start your story with your mission. Why does this company exist? What's its purpose? What will it stand for? Why did you found it?
- The Middle: Who are your customers? What do they value? What does their day
look like? What do they lose sleep over? How have their needs changed in the last 6-36 months?
- The End: What's your plan? How will you grow the business to become the
dominant force in the market? How will you beat the competition? What kind of revenue models will you use? And once you reach your initial milestones,
where will you go from there?
The best way to tell a story like this is to talk about real people from real companies. Instead of trying to imagine what these people could look like, go and meet some. Many potential customers don't mind being interviewed (after all, there's nothing people like to do more than to talk about themselves), and some potential customers wouldn't even mind being quoted saying that "if company x will develop this product, I'd buy it".
There's nothing investors like to hear more about than customers that are ready to buy your product before it's even developed.
So next time you pitch your business to investors, don't put them to sleep with endless technological details. Instead, tell them a story, and make sure it has an interesting beginning, a convincing middle and a happy end.
