How to Pitch Your Company to Investors Presented by Community Capital New York Hudson River Ventures Orange County Business Accelerator July 30, 2014

The Road to Getting Investors For Your Business o Find the investors that will be interested in your business o Figure out how to get appointments o Create the Winning Pitch o Know What You Need and Keep that Clear as You Negotiate

Angel or Venture Capital? o Angel Capital o Wealthy Individuals Investing their Own Individually Earned Funds o Want to Invest in Early Stage (Start-Up) o Expect 20-25% ROI o Can serve as Advisors o Usually Invest $25K - $100K o Venture Capital o Corporate Entities using funds from other investors o Want Business to be Underway – Needing Money to Scale – Must Have Revenue o Expect High ROI o Focus on Specific Industries – Biotech o $500K – to an average of $6 Million o Lots of Due Diligence and oversight (Plant someone in your Business)

Find them!!!!! o Figure out what you need and be realistic – You get one shot o Look in the network of people you know and who they know o Talk to people who have done this before – either gotten money or invested o Get introduced – VERY VALUABLE o Try to research VC’s who invested in your specific industry o If Angel – think local o When turned down, ask why and who else they might suggest o Persevere

How to Get Appointments o Introductions are the Best Way o Search all Social Networks (Online and Offline ones) o Identify the Firms and then search to see if you know anyone inside the firm (LinkedIn and Beyond) o Warm up a cold Introduction o Avoid coming across like a salesperson o No carpet bombing o Keep at it

You’re Ready for the Pitch It All Has to Start With : “We are here today seeking X amount of capital to grow (launch) “the name of the business”. Get your expectation right out in front – and own it!!

Format of Your Pitch o What does your business do? o What problem are you addressing/solving? o How would our community/city/world benefit if your product/service is successful? o Describe your Market (show that this is a large attractive market with lots of opportunity) o Size and trends Time Limit – Up to 1 minute

o Describe the competitive advantage: o Why is your product better o How does it compare to the next best product o Description the business o Sales over the last few years (if applicable) o Margin and Profit o Forecast for the next three years o Management and Key Advisors o Who is on the team o Each team members’ specific titles/role/experience and why this team can make this business grow/thrive o Are you looking for management talent and advisors? Specifically? Time Limit – up to 2 minutes Format of Your Pitch

o Describe the challenge and opportunity o With $100K ($200K, $6 million) we would be able to grow the business by x amount or % o Include what you are going to do with the money o The opportunity: An investor putting $100K ($200K,$ 6 million) in to the business now could get a return of x% over the next three years o Summarize o Why should people invest their $$$ and time in your business? o Restate 3 facts you want the investors to remember o We are growing at x% a year o We are sold in Walmart, Petco, Target o We serve the senior population which is growing at 20% each year o Questions Time Limit – 1 minute Format of Your Pitch

o Start off strong o Be Interesting and Authentic – Use Plain Language o Know your audience o Keep it Conversational o Tell – Don’t Sell o Be excited about everything you say Keep in Mind

TO YOUR SUCCESS!!