At the beginning of the year, I was at a JVP event where Erel Margalit presented a group of startups that were gathered to pitch their ideas and companies to the NY tech community.
As he opened up the event, he went on stage and, in his very direct Erel way, said the following powerful intro: “You are going to see some companies today. Some have better products than others, some have more experienced founders than others. The ones you’ll remember are the ones that tell their story the right way.”
And so, one after another, the founders went on stage. And it was a horror show.
It was as if all of them followed a generic template on how to present their company.
Each founder took to the stage and introduced themselves like this: “Hi my name is … I am the founder of … and my company redefines …”
Or reimagines, or revolutionizes, or rethinks. The overuse and abuse of these words just made all the presentations sound the same.
At that point, the only thing you’re doing is recycling the message of the founder before you.
What if you were in the waiting room of a VC office knowing that the founder before you used the same words you are about to use? Will you go into the meeting using the exact same terms?
Cut the business buzzwords from your story
One of my biggest tips to founders who are trying to sell their vision and raise money is this: don’t talk to impress, just use everyday language.
By using lingo that everyone else is using, you position yourself below the attention threshold. You are not going above the noise.
Your story is one of a kind, you came up with it, no one thought of it before you. Say it your way, with your words.
Don’t fall into the big word impression trap.
Need a few more examples?
Don’t sell to investors, connect with them
These are a bit different but also a big no-no. Investors can sniff them out a mile away and will immediately label you as an inauthentic founder or template speaker.
Few companies came up and stated the following:
“We are disrupting a 100-year-old industry”
“We are the world’s #1 …”
Are you really?
If you’re in the stages of early seed-to-A fundraising, my recommendation is to avoid wow statements. One, they’re generic and, two, they’ll probably raise red flags. Instead, focus on creating a connection.
My advice is to always remember that your goal in an investor meeting is to connect, not to sell.
It sounds counterintuitive to many, but it’s a formula that has proven to work time after time after time.
Speak your vision, your truth, your story, and the rest will follow.