9 things that give investors the ick (and how to avoid them)

Here’s how not to blow your chances when pitching for funding. 

Investors receive pitch requests every day. Cutting through the noise can be a difficult thing to do. But what you don’t want to do is land in front of them and be turned away or ghosted. 

There are many reasons why this can occur but most of the time it comes down to these 9 things listed below. We asked our community of thousands of investors what strongly gives them the ick when being pitched to.

P.S. For the non-millenial/Gen-Z person reading this post, “ick” means being turned off. 

Over-promising 

There’s no guarantee that your startup will succeed so don’t make promises on the turnout. You can however, discuss the potential opportunity, wins and validation so far. Basically the things within your control.

When you say you have no competition

Having competition can actually be a good thing because it’s another source of validation. It tells the investor that there’s a market looking for a product or service like yours. There’s 7 billion people on the planet, at least 2 people have had the same startup idea. 

Acronym soup 

This is when you turn everything into an acronym. BCR > Business corp representative or Banana cake recipe? Keep it simple, speak in English (or your native language wherever you’re from). 

When there’s no proof of concept 

Don’t pitch without proof. You can develop proof by creating a MVP (minimum-viable-product) and collecting some data and feedback from your customers. Otherwise, your idea will be based on assumptions, not facts. Investing in startups is classified as ‘high-risk’ so it’s important you give your investors as much confidence as possible to split with their hard earned cash. 

When there’s no expert in your core team i.e. no unfair advantage

In this case, you need to do a SWOT analysis on your startup and yourself (or co-founders). Identify skill gaps and take action to fill in those gaps by upskilling, outsourcing or hiring. 

Being unclear with your message

Learn the art of selling and story telling. Make people fall in love with the vision. Be very clear about what you do. If you’re not clear on your own messaging, how can anybody else understand?

When the problem is not backed by a number

It’s not enough to say, “this is a big issue” - how many other businesses, or people, or ‘things’ are being impacted by the problem? Bring stats and facts to the table. 

Not knowing your numbers

Don’t be that guy on Dragons’ Den that goes red when asked about his numbers. It’s not a good look mate. 

Valuing your business too high or too low 

This can worry investors because they will wonder how much you really know about your market. You can use the Seedrs Startup Valuation calculator to get an understanding of how much your startup might be worth > https://bit.ly/3tbgsB8

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These are not all the reasons you may never hear back from an investor. Sometimes they’re just busy and sometimes it’s just not the right time. But by taking notes and sharing these 9 ick-worthy points, you’ll be helping yourself and fellow founders get further in the fundraising process.

To access funding opportunities and grow your startup, visit our website here > https://bit.ly/3M6JOcD