DealHorizon - the faster, easier way to create and share business plans

Most VC partners are successful, talented people.  And in a majority of cases those talents fall within three categories:

1. Visual - emphasis on pattern creation or visual design skills
2. Verbal - emphasis on the ability to tell a story or explain a problem/soution
3. Financial - ability to communicate the value of a venture or approach using numbers/models. 

We've all seen the classic mistakes a bunch of times - slides that overflow with text, diagrams that are so dense people find them inpenetrable, financials that fail to use even basic accounting formats. 

But more common is the presentation that fails to engage a majority of the audience - because it reflects the entrepreneur's favorite mode of communication, rather than the core requirement - which is to reach everyone in the audience.

Unfortunately, many times, entrepreneurs forget that their audience is made up of people who favor one of these mediums over another.  Often, they fail to "mix it up" in a way that guarantees involvement of people via the channels that they prefer to respond to. 

You'll notice this if you pay attention in the meetings.  Some of the people in your meeting will literally not look up until you get to the numbers.  Some will not display any interest until you start showing pictures, video, or conducting a demonstration.  And some will turn off your idea if you fail to clearly and passionately verbalize your money-making venture - for some people, an inability to clearly articulate the idea will leave them cold - because they made their money on the back of an ability to clearly sell/articulate the product or service that made them successful.    

I know a lot of people who are just in love with words - the more, the better.  They can't wait to write more words on the subject of their business, and will insist on cramming just one more 8 point font sized bullet point on the page.  I've seen diagrams that were literally gorgeous-looking but failed to communicate one iota of the value of the deal.

Most commonly, we've all seen hideous examples of hockey sticks in which the basic assumptions are: lots of people will buy, and keep buying.

It doesn't take much to use all three forms of communicate to present a coherent story in the right order.  Ensuring that your slides are well-formatted and well designed will enable visually-oriented people to make it through your text and feel less pain.  Including well thought-out assumptions and footnotes, and use of the proper financial terms throughout will make it easier for your financially-oriented audience members to applaud as well.

Not good with text and/or story-telling?  Be honest with us and explain that up-front, and tell us you'll be reliant on the diagrams and financials to tell the story for you - and invite your audience to ask questions.  You'll be amazed at how well your audience members will fill in the gaps if you allow them - and at the quality of the descriptions that will come your way. 

Tip: Write them down - and use them in the next meeting. 

Remember, most of the people in your audience became successful because they are exceptional pattern-matchers in one or more of these three areas: visual design, verbal story-telling, or financial modelling.  Engage the maximum number of synapses across your entire audience, and you'll have a better pitch meeting.