Brian  Dixon  Brian@KaporCapital.com  

Kapor  Capital  is  an  investment  fund  based  in  Oakland,  CA  that  invests  in  seed  stage  informa@on  technology  companies  which  aspire  to  generate  economic  value  and  posi@ve  social  impact  that  align  with  the  over  arching  Kapor  Center  mission.      The  Kapor  Center  for  Social  Impact  relentlessly  pursues  crea@ve  strategies  that  will  leverage  informa@on  technology  for  posi@ve  social  impact.    We  primarily  work  with  underrepresented  communi@es,  focusing  on  closing  academic,  poli@cal,  health,  and  economic  gaps.  

Play  the  Mo+on  Graphic  

In  Person  

Warm  Introduc@on  

Angel  List  

Cold    Email  

Mastering  the  elevator  pitch    

•  Your  goal  should  be  to  grab  the  aLen@on  of  the  reader.  

•  Quickly  state  the  big  problem  that  your  company  seeks  to  address  

•  Explain  your  unique  solu@on  to  the  problem  •  Ask  for  their  business  card  and  two  possible  

things:    

1.  A  @me  to  meet  2.  An  introduc@on  to  someone  who  

would  be  interested  

•  When  wri@ng  a  cold  email  more  context  is  needed  so  the  investor  understands  who  you  are,  what  you  are  working  on,  and  why  you  are  contac@ng  them.    

Getting in the door

Practice •  In pairs make your elevator pitch •  30 seconds or less •  What’s the problem? What’s your

solution? •  Ask for follow up"

____[product/service name]___ WILL HELP ____[customer description]____ TO____ [the problem being solved]  _____[secret sauce]____

•  Ten  slides.    Ten  slides  is  the  ideal  number  of  slides  in  a  PowerPoint  because  a  normal  human  being  (which  includes  a  venture  capitalist)  cannot  comprehend  more  than  ten  concepts  in  a  mee@ng.  

 

 1.  Problem  2.  Your  solu@on  3.  Business  model  4.  Underlying  magic/technology  5.  Distribu@on  Plan  

•  Twenty  minutes.  You  should  be  able  to  present  your  slides  in  twenty  minutes.    You  may  be  alloLed  an  1  hour,  but  keep  in  mind  that  setup  @me,  ques@ons  from  the  venture  capitalist,  and  ques@ons  you  have  for  the  investor  all  need  to  be  taken  into  considera@on.  

•  Thirty-­‐point  font.    The  font  on  the  PowerPoint  should  not  go  below  thirty-­‐point  font.    Squeezing  excessive  amounts  of  text  on  the  slides  will  not  impress  the  VC  firm,  but  may  actually  make  them  doubt  whether  you  know  the  material  well  enough.  

6.  Compe@@on  7.  Team  8.  Trac@on  9.  Total  addressable  market  10.  Fundraising  and  milestones    

10/20/30 Rule

Business Model

•  How will you make money? Key revenues streams

•  Pricing •  ARPU – Average Revenue Per User •  Life-time value of a customer •  Monthly Burn Rate •  CAC – Customer Acquisition Cost

Underlying Magic/Tech

•  Patents •  Competitive Advantages •  Key Relationships/Partnerships •  Team Expertise

Distribution Plan

•  How you will reach the target customer, whether they are a paying or non-paying customer?

•  Marketing Channels

Competition

•  Make this visual •  Red Flag: No competition – too early •  Red Flag: Too much competition –

addressable market not big

Team

•  Core Team •  Pics •  Mini-bios in 1-3 bullet points

Traction

•  Current product lifecycle •  Major milestones achieved •  Report on business metrics •  NO VANITY METRICS

Total Addressable Market

Do not mistake general market for TAM Get Specific

Fundraising and Milestones

•  Show timelines •  Past fundraising history •  Be prepared to speak about the use of

the proceeds

Pitching VCs    

 

Confidence  (Not  arrogance)      

You  must  firmly  know  that  you  are  doing  a  great  thing  for  the  poten@al  investors.    You’re  not  asking  for  money.    Rather,  you’re  making  them  money.    You  must  believe  in  your  product,  but  be  open  to  construc+ve  feedback.    Story        

It  is  vitally  important  to  weave  a  story  through  your  deck.    The  story  should  be  of  who  you  are  and  how  your  idea  is  going  to  change  the  world.    Be  sure  to  help  familiarize  new  concepts  and  create  a  smooth  flow  from  start  to  end  of  your  deck.    Structure        

Follow  the  10/20/30  rule  discussed  previously  as  close  as  possible.    Keep  the  deck  itself  simple,  but  decks  will  get  circulated  prior  to  you  presen@ng  so  it  should  convey  the  whole  message.    So  NO  slides  with  an  image  and  no  explana+on.  

Itera+on    

Do  not  get  trapped  in  crea@ng  the  perfect  deck  on  version  one.    There  will  be  a  few  versions.    So  get  plenty  of  feedback  afer  you  create  the  first  draf,  but  rather  than  incorpora@ng  all  the  input  you  receive  look  for  common  problems  and  address  them.    Memorize  your  pitch    

Before  you  arrange  to  speak  to  any  investor  you  should  have  the  flow  of  your  presenta@on  memorized  and  be  able  to  take  ques@ons  in  your  stride.    Remember  whenever  a  ques@on  is  raised  to  return  back  to  the  relevant  slide.    Topics  you  must  include      

Refer  to  the  10/20/30  Rule  slide.  

Pitching VCs cont.

•  The biggest mistake an entrepreneur can make is misleading investors. Be sure to state accurate numbers and have the source links saved for all statistics.

• Do your homework. Venture capitalist will assume you spend day and night researching your specific industry. Be sure to know your competitors in your space.

•  It is equally as important to know what stage, sector and investment strategy of the investor or investment firm. Do research in understanding their “Sweet spot”

Things to avoid…

• When raising money there are many times you will be overwhelmed with things to do. This is not an excuse to let things fall behind. Be sure to follow up on emails and conversations. A helpful tip is to create a spreadsheet with all the investors and process your investor pipeline.

• As a founder, understand that many investors will say “No”. Investors will say one of three things in different forms:

1. Yes, we would like to make an investment 2. “No” means the investor does not want to invest in your

company. If you receive a “no” then move on and ask for feedback.

3. “Keep us updated” means we aren’t ready to invest but send meaningful updates in the future.

More things to avoid…

What actually matters? Ofen  people  spend  a  surprising  amount  of  @me  on  things  that  contribute  liLle  or  no  value  to  the  deck  from  an  investors’  perspec@ve.      5  main  quali@es  of  an  excep@onal  startup,  in  the  following  order:    

1.  Trac@on  2.  Team  3.  Product  4.  Social  Proof  5.  Pitch/Presenta@on  

 Investors  are  trying  to  find  the  excep@onal  outcomes,  so  they  are  trying  to  look  for  something  excep@onal  about  the  company.    Instead  of  trying  to  do  everything  listed  above  well,  do  at  least  one  thing  excep@onally.    **If  you  are  seeking  funding  from  Kapor  Capital  you  will  also  need  to  clearly  state  what  posi@ve  gap-­‐closing  social  impact  your  business  has.    

Defend yourself – Common Questions •  Why are you the person/team to do this? •  How long have you been fundraising this

round? •  Why did you choose the location of your

company? •  What are the micro economics of your

business model? i.e. units/revenue?

Resources

Lean  Launch  Pad  Course  on  Udacity  hNps://www.udacity.com/course/ep245  

Ques+ons?    

Jennifer  Argüello  Senior  Tech  Advisor  

@engijen