Getting into the investor's mind

The Internet is full with layouts of investor pitches, they all go something like this:

• What's the pain
• What's the solution
• What's the revenue model
• What's the edge over the competition
• Who's the team
• What's the traction of the company

Your pitch should address all these issues, but think about your potential investor's mind when deciding about the structure. You might have to deviate from the text book approach.

Investors are constantly evaluating critical questions. And when they (think they) have answered them, they move on to the next one. Questions are not always in the order of your pitch deck.

• "That guy looks 12!" "Oh, he is 28 and already climbed Mount Everest"
• "They are doing what exactly?" "Ah, something to do with mobile payments"
• "Isn't that a Groupon me-too?"
• "That would take 5 years to develop!"
• "Great idea, but where are the dollars?"

If there is an obvious elephant in the room, you might as well address it early on in the pitch. Your audience will be calmer and more open to digest the other important points you want to make.

Far more important than sticking to the text book pitch structure.

Far more important than spending time repeating the obvious (i.e., stats on how big Facebook has become).