As Tanchel explains, you’ve generally got about a minute to do a video pitch, so your delivery needs to be extra sharp.
“You need to take all of those messages [you would convey in a normal pitch] and get the key ones across in the video pitch,” he says.
“Essentially, you need to show the scalability of your idea and make sure it’s very tight.”
Baxter says one of the worst things a pitcher can do is present “wishy-washy” numbers.
“If there are numbers on screen, the pitcher should have some good due diligence behind those numbers – where did they come from or what logic was used in their formation,” he says.
“Any stumbling or stammering on those numbers make me doubt how much they believe in them.”
“For most start-ups, valuation is completed subjective and is really determined by what the market will bear,” McCarthy says.
“Some entrepreneurs are so hung up on getting a blue-sky valuation that they waste months of everyone’s time, and their own, rather than taking something realistic and getting on with the task of building their business.”
“It’s bad for their reputation and usually ends in tears as investors will place increasing pressure on the entrepreneur when the blue sky doesn’t eventuate.”
“When the Groupon phenomenon swept Australia a couple of years back, every entrant immediately valued themselves at $10-20 million, despite having no revenue.”
“A third of those no longer exist and another third are now seeking valuations way under that to exit the market.”
Baxter agrees entrepreneurs need to be realistic about valuation.
“As much as we want to be, we are not Silicon Valley and the valuations for Aussie-based companies are yet to catch up,” he says.
“Coming out with a $10 million valuation on an idea might fly okay in San José but it goes nowhere here.”
“If you don’t know an answer to a question, to try and bluff your way through it is the worst possible thing you can do,” Tanchel says.
“It comes down to really knowing your industry really, really well and thinking [about any questions you could be asked] in advance. What are those questions likely to be?”
“You need to put yourself in the investors’ shoes, so advance preparation is critical. If you can’t answer a question, you’re pretty much dead in the water.”
“If you’re pitching for money and you don’t know where you’re going to spend the money, your chances are almost zero.”
“If you’re pitching to a seasoned investor, they know you have challenges and they’ve been through it many, many times,” Liubinskas says.
“It’s kind of like taking a test. If you freak out, they’ll know you’re not a great entrepreneur because it means you’re more likely to freak out when a 100 other things go wrong.”
