You’re about to get on a Zoom with an investor. On this call, there’s one thing you must not do: just show up and talk. Many founders “show up and throw up.” They come onto the call and give a long, unfocused monologue.

They quickly lose their audience. And they don’t get a check.

You’re making a presentation, and that presentation needs structure. Here’s how to do it right…

Know What’s Important

Long before the call, you have to know the most important things to cover. They’re not hard to remember — I call them the Big 3.

The Big 3 are Vision, Team and Traction.

What’s the vision for your startup? Who’s on the team, and why are they the perfect people to take on this problem? What traction do you have to show you’re addressing the problem successfully?

There are 100 other things you could talk about that don’t matter. Advisors, complex market size models, etc.

Don’t bother. We need to be tight and focused.

Rehearse Your Presentation

Practice your presentation over and over. Keep doing it until it’s smooth, natural and easy.

Figure out how long the presentation takes. That’s important, because you want to leave lots of time for questions.

Your co-founder is a great person to rehearse with. Have them play the role of the investor.

Deck and Demo

Using a deck will help you stay on track. Don’t read the slides to the investor. Just use them as a guide.

Include a brief product demo. Focus on showing the value the product gives the customer.

Dan Siroker, founder of Limitless (formerly Rewind), did a beautiful job of using a deck and demo together to raise money. He pulled in $12 million at a $350 million valuation with his pitch, which I reviewed here.

Leave Lots of Time for Questions

Your presentation should take up the first third of the meeting. Leave the rest for questions.

When you’re done presenting, don’t ask, “Any questions?” It’s too easy for the investor to say “no.”.

Instead, ask, “What questions do you have?”

Make sure your responses are precise. If they ask for a number, give them a number, not a story.

Avoid long, meandering responses. It should take you about as long to answer a question as it took the investor to ask it.

Some investors, like me, prefer to skip the presentation altogether and just do Q&A. That’s fine too!

Just like you rehearsed your presentation, you should rehearse for Q&A. Have your co-founder play the role of the investor. The harder the questions, the better!

Wrap-Up

Fundraising is sales. And in most early stage startups, the CEO is the chief fundraiser and chief salesman.

The investor meeting is a great opportunity for me to evaluate the founders’ sales skills.

If he gives a long, meandering presentation, I’m picturing sales meetings going badly. But if his presentation is crisp and focused, I’m gaining confidence by the minute.

Fundraising is a skill and you can learn it. It just takes focused practice.

Know what you need to cover. Rehearse over and over. This is the way to raise millions.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

More on tech:

Why It’s Easier to Raise $3 Million Than $300,000

The Big 3: Vision, Team and Traction

The Perfect Pitch

Save Money on Stuff I Use:

Fundrise

This platform lets me diversify my real estate investments so I’m not too exposed to any one market. I’ve invested since 2018 with great returns.

More on Fundrise in this post.

If you decide to invest in Fundrise, you can use this link to get $100 in free bonus shares!

Misfits Market

I’ve used Misfits for years, and it never disappoints! Every fruit and vegetable is organic, super fresh, and packed with flavor!

I wrote a detailed review of Misfits here.

Use this link to sign up and you’ll save $15 on your first order.