What to do before and after pitching to an investor

Photo credit: lightpoet / 123RF Stock Photo.

There are many articles on the internet explaining what should go into your pitch deck and how to pitch. However, through my role as a community manager, I’ve still encountered situations in which founders were clueless and unprepared before and after pitching.

Having coordinated the online pitch segment on Tech in Asia and the speed dating sessions at our meetups, I’d like to share some of my tips for new founders looking to pitch to investors.

Before the pitch

Research

Research is important when pitching to investors. Most founders fail to do this—they use the same pitch for every investor they come across. Finding out who you’re pitching to and why they’re the best investors for you is key.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

• Does the investor understand and is interested in my startup’s specific vertical?
• What can the investor bring to the table other than funding (i.e. mentorship, contacts, etc.)?
• Do I have statistics and an MVP to show them?

You can avoid many mistakes and save time just by doing research.

Before even reaching out to the investor, you could also find out if there are similar startups in their portfolio, reach out to them to ask for tips, and determine if the investor is a good fit for you. Any advice you get will better prepare you for the pitch, so never underestimate the investor’s “about us” page.

There are also many resources online like interviews or write-ups about the investors that can help. Here’s a resource list of venture capital firms in Singapore, for example.

Reaching out

If you have contacts and friends who can help connect you with some investors, that’s awesome. But for those who don’t, here are a few avenues to reach out:

• The “contact us” section of their website
• Pitching sessions at events
• LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.
• Networking sessions
• Networking websites and apps

When meeting investors face to face, don’t immediately pitch to them unless the setting is conducive and they are willing to hear you out. I’ve seen investors at certain events get ambushed and bombarded by founders many times. While this is a normal thing to do at networking events, it is less so at parties or celebrations.

After