The Truth Is That VCs Want To Meet Entrepreneurs They Don’t Already Know

Here is an excerpt from an article I published on LinkedIn:

Here are the three things you need to do:

#1) Have your elevator pitch ready. Be prepared to deliver the following information succinctly in about one minute:

a) What do you do?
b) How are you faster, better and/or cheaper than your closest competitor?
c) How much traction do you have?
d) How much domain expertise do you or your management team have?

#2) Do your homework on the VCs that are speaking at the event – for example, are they funding in your space? If you pitch your enterprise SaaS deal to a VC that only focuses on consumer Internet, it’s not a good fit. Having said that, if your deal sounds HOT, s/he may encourage you to email your one-page summary anyway, in order to pass it on to the GP in their firm that focuses on enterprise SaaS deals.

Another example: have they invested in a competitor or a company you want to partner with? If they invested in a competitor, you won’t want to waste your time. But, if they have invested in a company that you want partner with, that VC will probably be interested in hearing you out.

#3) Show up. There is that famous Woody Allen quote, “80% of success is showing up.” Show up at the events where you can meet your target investors.

Then, when you get to the event, don’t be shy! Remember, the VCs want to meet high quality, passionate and innovative entrepreneurs like you. Go up to the front of the room and meet and greet your target investor(s). Give them your pitch, watch and listen for the "buying signal", exchange business cards, ask if you can send your executive summary to them, and then follow through that same night and follow up.

To read the entire article, go to https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140811192107-17664-the-truth-is-that-vcs-want-to-meet-entrepreneurs-they-don-t-already-know/.

Happy fundraising!