Just say Yes, And

Earlier, I wrote about how trust plays a huge factor for investor decisions (during the pitch).  So what makes investors trust you?  Promised you the specifics.  

There are several obvious ones.

And some not so obvious.

1. It helps if you’re a man.  Or at least confident (act like a man).
2. It’s also good to name drop.
3. It’s great to be (look) young.
4. It’s really great to laugh during the pitch.
5. It’s best to be calm.  (Not crazed, enthusiastic, or passionate)

6. And last but not least, it’s really really really the absolute best to be open to feedback.  

In other words, you need to look like someone who would listen to them when they have ideas or suggestions.  

We used the word “coachability” on the survey to the investors.  And the pitch raters judged how friendly entrepreneurs behaved when investors offered suggestions.  These matched up 100%.

And these were interchangeable with investor’s ratings of trust.  

In other words, investors want someone they think they can manage/mentor.  They want to see if they can work with the entrepreneur.  Not act like someone who knows it all.  I mean who would like that?  

This makes sense, I suppose.  I heard a big deal VC guy say at a venture conference years ago when I first became a venture investor, “I would never invest in a company with an entrepreneur I couldn’t go to dinner with.”  This struck me as bizarre at the time.  An investment means you’re dating?  

Now I get it. An investment by a VC into a company is the start of a marriage – to use an easy to follow metaphor. An early-stage investment, like a marriage, is not easy to get out of if things go badly.  It’s not like you can just sell your shares off and be done with it.  It’s like a Vegas marriage – easy to drive thru and get the papers – harder to end once the love is gone.    

So investors want to make sure they are investing in someone they can meet up with periodically (monthly or quarterly board meetings) and have a good (ingratiating, over dinner) relationship.  And they judge all of that during the pitch.  

As if pitching wasn’t stressful enough.  Now you’re having to see if the investors think you’re datable too.  

Which raises its own issues if you’re a woman…more on pitching to VCs as a woman in another post.   (And…why the wedding pic has 2 men…)

Stay tuned again!