No this post isn't devoted to a sitcom about comedy writers but is instead directed at entrepreneurs who are pitching their ideas to prospective investors, especially the professional kind.
As I've posted on before, the cleantech entrepreneurial team (or any team for that matter) will need to exemplify a balance of passion and pragmatism. One of the ways this can manifest itself early in the fund raising process is investor meetings.
Earlier this year I was talking to a group of executives from a company that had a small pilot plant for turning a waste stream into potentially profitable recycled products. Their pitch to me went something like this (10 minutes compressed into one paragraph):
"We've got this secret process that takes waste XXX and turns it into AAA, BBB, and CCC valuable products. We can show you our pilot plant. We know where there are acres and acres of XXX that people will be ecstatic to pay us handsomely to get rid of. We figure we can get $aaa, $bbb and $ccc for the output. It's a license to print money. Are you going to invest in us or not?"
This was so wrong in so many different ways, but let me try to break it down. First, the executives were confused about the role of the meeting. I was there as a prospective placement agent, to help them find investors, not acting an angel. Secondly, they were confused about the role of the investor meeting had this even been one.
When you are meeting with prospective investors it is important to be cognizant of the realistically achievable goals. Investment in a project or venture is not an impulse purchase. What is an achievable goal of an investor meeting? Curiosity.
Different investors will want to drill down on different parts of your plan. You will not and cannot know what all of those are in advance to cover in your PowerPoint. The only reasonable goal will be to tell a compelling story about your opportunity and ASK for questions. If you aren't getting any questions, you aren't getting any interest.
One of the main criteria I use in vetting prospective clients for fund raising is how will they perform in front of investors that I connect them with. I not only have an responsibility not to waste investors' time with bozos, but spending time on deals that will never get funded is just a waste of my time too.
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