Three investors offer advice on pitching in today’s environment
The three are Techstars Chief Executive Officer Maëlle Gavet; Shmuel Chafets, General Partner at Target Global; and General Catalyst Partner Juliet Bailin.
It never hurts to be reminded of the elements of a good pitch to investors, and that has become even more important as the angel and venture capital world is getting tighter.
To get some advice, PitchBook talked with three institutional investors – Techstars Chief Executive Officer Maëlle Gavet; Shmuel Chafets, General Partner at Target Global; and General Catalyst Partner Juliet Bailin.
“You should think about it (the first meeting with the investor) a little bit like a date,” Gavet said. “You have to make a good first impression. Will it be enough to get married? No. But if you make a really bad first impression, it’s gonna be hard to get back on track.”
“You need to focus on the fundamentals,” Chafets said. “Back in 2021, investors were very focused on growth metrics, and of course, today that’s shifted to profitability. You need to adjust your business to what the market is now and think about unit economics and burn and all the things that didn’t matter two or three years ago but do today.”
Finally, Bailin offered this advice: “It’s far better for a founder to point out a potential yellow flag or unresolved problem about their business than for me to mention it first. I’m less concerned about problems that founders bring up because I know that it’s at the top of their minds.”
The full article can be found here.
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