The Seven Ways

You Can Stand

Out To Potential
Investors

By Brett J. Fox
www.brettjfox.com
The odds of you raising money
from any one investor are 100:1
against you raising money.
That means you have to stand out from all the
other companies potential investors meet with if
you're going to raise money. This guide is based
on my experience raising over $100 million in
venture capital and private equity, and my
experience helping the CEOs I work with raise
rounds between $50,000 and $25 million. I hope
you like it.
Way #1 To Standout

Great CEOs get to the point.

You have such a short time to hook your audience, maybe seven
seconds or less. In that seven seconds, a great CEO is able to tell
investors everything they need to know, so they can get excited about
investing in their company.
That sounds like a magic trick, doesn’t it? But it’s not. A great CEO will
explain what their company does, why they are better than the
competition, and how big the opportunity is in seven seconds or less.
Now the CEO has investors hooked.
Way #2 To Standout

Great CEOs command the room.

I’m not saying you need to be Steve Jobs. And I’m not saying you need
to be some extroverted version of yourself that you’re not. I am saying
that great CEOs (introverts and extroverts) because of their knowledge
and communication skills command an investor’s attention.
Way #3 To Standout

Great CEOs know their numbers

and then some
I was speaking with a CEO yesterday about his company. He was
preparing to raise his next round of funding.
I asked “Larry” how much money he wanted to raise. Larry said, “I’m not
sure. Maybe $3M to $7M.”
Larry’s not a great CEO, yet. Knowing exactly how much money you need
to raise is part of being a great CEO.
In fact, let me go one step further. You should know how much money
you’ll need not just for this round of funding, but how much you’ll need
for the life of the company.
Yeah, I know that this is your best estimate based on your knowledge
today. That’s okay. Investors understand you don’t have a crystal ball.
Here are some more numbers you should know:

What is your monthly revenue?

What is your estimated revenue for the year?
What is your break even revenue?
What is your current burn rate?
When will you hit cash ow break even?
Way #4 To Stand Out

Great CEOs have a back up slide

deck
Let’s say you’re having a great pitch with a prospective investor. Then
the investor asks you a question that isn’t answered in your pitch.
You don’t know the answer, so you say, “I’ll have to get back to you.” Did
you hear that sound? It’s the sound of momentum leaving the room.
It’s so much better if you’re prepared for all the contingencies. And one
of the best ways to do this is with a backup slide deck.
A back up slide deck is for information that goes beyond your normal
pitch. A back slide deck is also for information that doesn’t t in your
deck.
Start preparing your backup deck today. You’ll naturally start adding
information to your backup slides as you interact more with investors.
Way #5 To Stand Out

Great CEOs are clear

communicators
There are a lot of things that make you a great CEO. When it comes to
pitching, it’s your ability to a clear communicator.
Great CEOs don’t ramble. Great CEOs don’t hide from the facts. Great
CEOs communicate clearly about their company.
For example, great CEOs explain clearly how they are different than their
competition. Not only that, great CEOs know their competitors inside
and out.
They aren’t afraid to say who the competition are and what’s good about
them. That’s why great CEOs command the room (Rule #2 above).
Way #6 To Stand Out

Great CEOs are fanatical about

their companies
Even if the CEO is an introvert, you can see it when you meet a great
CEO. The “it” that I’m talking about is fanaticism about their companies.
You can’t fake fanaticism. You are either a fanatic about your company
or you aren’t. But I have a question for you if you aren’t fanatical about
your company.
How can you expect anyone you hire to be fanatical if you aren’t? The
answer is you can’t expect to hire fanatics if you’re not fanatical about
your company.
Fanaticism is the secret ingredient that gives you and your team the
ability to get through the tough times. And there will be tough time
ahead.
Way #7 To Stand Out

Great CEOs rehearse; and it shows

There’s nothing worse than watching a CEO that’s given a one hour time
period to pitch run out of time. There’s just no excuse for that. Ever.
Great CEOs never run out of time because great CEOs rehearse their
pitch over and over again. Let’s say you have a one hour meeting with an
investor, but the investor only has 30 minutes. What will you do?
A great CEO already knows how to handle this event. The slide deck is
seamlessly reduced to t the new constraint without feeling rushed.
The reason the CEO doesn’t feel rushed is due to all the practice. If
you’re just starting out, rehearse and, literally, use a stopwatch to time
your presentation.
And while you’re at it, have your executive team rehearse their bios if
they are going to come with you to meet investors. Keep their bios to
one minute or less and keep yours to two minutes or less. Oh, one more
thing. Great CEOs never bring someone to pitch that isn’t going to add
value.