Preparing your 5 minute pitch for VMS Demo
Day
(R. Lubynsky, K. Huber and S. Willis)
The
objective of Demo Day is to tell enough of your story to get people interested
and curious enough to begin a conversation and then invite you to give them a
full pitch.
Remember –
you will only have 5 minutes to present at VMS Demo Day. Ultimately, your slide
deck for presenting at Demo Day will have probably between 6 and 10 slides. The
number of slides you will actually use depends on many factors – including what
your product is, your trajectory and your personal style.
This will
not be a full-blown investor pitch.
However, we believe you should start by drafting that full investor
pitch. Then you can begin refining this into a much shorter 5 minute pitch,
usually by capturing key concepts from the full deck. As you work through the pitch scrubs
sessions, you will further improve the presentation and it is useful to have
the original content to pull some pieces from if needed. This will help ensure
that your short pitch is consistent with your full pitch. Another reason for
beginning with the full deck is that after Demo Day, you will be much better
prepared to actually make a pitch to any connections you make at the event or
otherwise.
Please note that due to recent changes in SEC rules that you cannot make an explicit "ask" for money at these kinds of event without running afoul of new regulations. That means no ASK slide or suggestions of potential returns to investors.
Please note that due to recent changes in SEC rules that you cannot make an explicit "ask" for money at these kinds of event without running afoul of new regulations. That means no ASK slide or suggestions of potential returns to investors.
We have
prepared a good outline that captures the core content of a pitch from several
popular sources. We believe that this is
a good starting point to use. However, if you have found some other proven
template that resonates with you, that’s fine.
Action Plan:
1. Start by assembling
the information and material as suggested by the VMS Pitch Deck Outline. Then place it into slide form.
2. Once you
have a complete full slide deck you can begin distilling this down into the
5-minute deck you will need for Demo Day.
As you only have 5 minutes, the objective is to tell enough of your
story to convince people you are exciting and that they should talk to you.
3. Your Demo
Day pitch deck will likely have 6-10 slides. It should be compelling, crisp and
concise. It should convince the audience
that you:
Have
a clear vision of a business
Know
what you will be selling and know whom you will be selling to
Understand
why they will want it
Have
identified how you will make money
You
know what you need to do to execute
You
have evidence of traction and are ready for funding
You
know how an investment will be used to increase your value
4. How you tell your story to communicate these
elements is up to you. The exact content and sequence of the 5 minute pitch may
vary somewhat by each venture presenting.
For example, a medical device pitch may focus on different elements than
a consumer mobile app. But typically most ventures will include some content
from all of the slides (except no need for the financial projections from Slide
9).
5. You will get more focused and specific
feedback and guidance specific to your venture story at the Pitch Scrub
sessions.
6. Practice,
practice, practice. In addition to the
pitch scrub sessions, you should take every opportunity possible to
practice. Do it in front of a mirror, to
friends, to family.
7. Remember, after all the pitches have been completed,
you will have a tabletop in the exhibit area where you can provide hands-on
demonstrations and answer questions.
From
previous years we know that the Pitch Scrub evenings will be highly
transformative. The intensive on the
spot advice and iteration really works.
This will prepare you not only for Demo Day but for many other
situations where you need to give an exciting short introduction to your
venture.
Please reach
out to either / both of us if you have questions about the pitch content or any
logistics.
