Difficulty: Moderately challenging
Things You’ll Need:
- Joke Books
- Coffees
- Antacids
- Aspirins
- Boxing Gloves
Step1
Conduct your own due diligence on the venture firm prior to the meeting. Find out about its focus, philosophy, successes and strengths. Firms differ in all of these areas, and you want to make sure you find the right one for you.
Step2
Interview the venture firm. Prepare a set of questions you want to ask during your meeting. The best venture firms view their relationships as true partnerships, and that is what an entrepreneur should expect as well.
Step3
Focus your presentation more on the specifics of what you are going to accomplish with the capital requested, and less on high-level market statistics. Try to keep your presentation to 1 hour.
Step4
Leave time for questions and answers afterward.
Step5
Be aware of the time available, and cover the important points within that period. Maintain control of the presentation's flow and do not stray from the topic at hand. However, be prepared to digress from your presentation if requested by the venture firm. Be ready to jump back into your presentation after you've addressed the firm's questions.
Step6
Have important documents - such as your company's 12-month operating plan, your cash flow projections, a customer reference list (if applicable), and a current capitalization chart (who currently owns what) - available for review. You may want to provide handouts to your audience so that they can follow along while you discuss this information.
Comments
Anonymous said
on 8/8/2006 When presenting, look respectful and smart. Also, be calm and composed; this will give a good image.
Anonymous said
on 11/22/2005 Ask yourself if you are clearly addressing the following . . . What is the problem you are solving? Market need? Presentations that address the pain of the market or industry will ultimately succeed. Presentations of technology will fail.
Anonymous said
on 11/22/2005 Practice your presentation over and over again before anyone who'll listen to you and even those who won't - the dog, the cat, the mirror!