So I was encouraged to read a venture capitalist Bryce Roberts, Partner @OATV, post on The Sad State of the Startup Pitch. Obviously many vcs & angels are subjected to the poor quality of a pitch day in day out & it obviously was wearing Bryce down. Some quotes from his article:
And yet in all of my 11 years as a VC, I’d argue we’re at the low watermark for startup pitches. It’s really bad and seems to just be getting worse.
Of the 3-5 new pitch meetings a day I take, most founders can’t be bothered to put any type of framework around the conversation (PPT slides, Exec Summary, anything), many consider “demoing the product” to be pulling up a browser and clicking around aimlessly while trying to describe what they’ve built, when asked what they’re are looking for in a new investor, most respond “speed, so we can get back to building the product”. I block out 30 min for these meetings, most can wrap up in 10.
Bryce Roberts
To finish here is another quote from Bryce:
If you half ass it with an investor, you’re likely half assing it elsewhere in your business.
Maybe this shouldn’t bother me so much. Perhaps I should simply embrace it as a fantastic filter. But, I can’t bear to see founders wasting their time and mine with with sloppy, half hearted pitches.
We can do better.
Bryce Roberts
Here’s a short video where I offer the biggest secret to the Perfect Pitch!
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