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You’ve put in your all to kickstart your startup and now you’re after investors who can share in the vision you have for your business. A great pitch goes a long way in securing investments and the way you present can make or break your chances. If you’ve been to one of Flat6Labs Bahrain’s Demo Days, then you’ve probably seen that we do know a thing or two about giving an exemplary pitch. Here are some of our tips to pitching your way to securing investments for your startup:

  1. Have a solid deck: A good pitch deck is essential to any successful pitch. It is crucial to have a set of slides that outline your business model, revenue model, competition, business strengths and market potential. While slide designs aren’t going to be a deciding factor for potential investors, you still need to put in some effort to have a clean-cut design with any useful visuals that fit in with your brand.
  2. Get to the point: It’s good to have abundant information and research to use but prioritize the main aspects you need to communicate and cut back on anything repetitive and non-essential. Be clear, eloquent, concise, and get to the point!
  3. Know your stuff: It goes without saying but we’ll say it anyway; when you talk, you should actually know what you’re talking about. You obviously need to have an arsenal of numbers ready to give potential investors but be careful about overexaggerating your figures. More often than not, VCs and investors can see through the smoke and even call you out for it. Another important thing to note is when making claims about how much your business is on its way to being worth; share the vision for it and your key steps to reaching it. It’s easy to claim that you’ll be worth $5,000,000 in 5 years time, and maybe you just might be, but with a bold claim like that you’ll definitely need to put your money where your mouth is.
  4. Be confident but not un-open to criticism: Everyone tells you about the importance of confidence when speaking. And yes, it definitely plays a significant role in a successful pitch, because after all if you’re not confident about your product/service then how can you expect investors to confidently put their money into it! But there’s a fine line between confidence and not being able to take constructive criticism. Potential investors will ask tough questions, grill you, scrutinize your business model, etc. and it’s all part of the process. You need to be able to handle the stress and answer their questions well when they ask the hard stuff.
  5. Practice, Practice, and Practice: There’s one sure way to get better at doing something; and that’s of course to practice, practice again, and then practice some more. Practice your pitch in front of others and get yourself used to speaking in front of a crowd. It’s normal to get a bit jittery or anxious, as long as you find a way to maintain your composure and perform your pitch. As cliché as it sounds, practice certainly does make perfect!

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