Monday
06Jul2009
A VC would never get caught teaching this secret about pitching investors to entrepreneurs
Monday, July 6, 2009 at 11:02AM This post was inspired by an article written by my close friend, entrepreneurial force, and fine gentleman, Jimmy Vee of Jim and Travis from GravitationalMarketing.com. The article was in Jim and Travis' monthly newsletter-in-print that's part of their Newton Network monthly marketing membership and it was all about TV pitchmen and how they do what they do.
Almost every VC blog with tips about pitching investors that you read says the same thing over and over again. It's all about the slides and how you show your depth of knowledge about your product or service, blah, blah, blah...you can read that stuff all day. It's important, but I believe there is something more important to your effectiveness as a pitchman.
My most recent mentor was a very sophsiticated, very wealthy entrepreneur that helped me refine my pitching skills greatly. My first learning assignment from this mentor was to acquire and study videos of any and every pitch I could find by the infomercial master himself, Ron Popeil. For the uninitiated, Ron was the originator of the phrase, "It slices, it dices..."
So, admiring my mentor very much, I did as he said and it was amazing how much I learned. Sometimes I think entrepreneurs fail in their pitch because they don't understand the basics of human psychology. Every single person on this earth, no matter how analytical or sophsiticated they might be, all make decisions the exact same way: they make decisions emotionally and justify logically.
We all buy "the sizzle" whether it's a new car or a 30% equity stake in a startup company. Don't forget this when you're building your pitch. Of course you need the hard numbers, but more important is the building of the excitement about your product or service or hot industry that leads up to the hard stuff and makes it all that much easier to sell. You need to craft your pitch so that you ensure prospective investors' eyes open wide and they shift to the edge of their seats during your pitch. Make them WANT to invest and they surely will.
If you're an entrepreneur that intends to raise money now or in the future I highly recommend an unconventional resource: watch informercials made by the masters in their trade and pay close attention because all humans have the same basic psychology and you can leverage that knowledge in your pitches to increase your ability persuade investors.
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