Wednesday, May 25, 2016

How to Pitch an Investor through Email



Pitching investors in person and online is a skill one can learn.  Here are some key steps in reaching out to potential investors through email to pitch your deal. 

Choose investor prospects carefully – don’t spam an entire list but rather use lists to research and identify qualified candidates.  Search for connections to those candidates and topics of interest.  Then devise strategies for how to reach out to them. 

Indicate why you are reaching out to them—show why that person and company could be interested in your deal. This could be based on a past investment, a network connection, or a group affiliation.  Answering the "why" will keep them reading. 

Show your connection to the reader – finding a common connection will greatly improve your chance of a response so it’s worth looking for someone who is in their network that can provide social proof that you are legitimate.

Show the problem you solve, the solution you offer and the market you target—do this in one or two sentences and not one or two pages of text.

Show indications of traction—show 3 to 5 examples of traction such as leads generated, sales closed, number of users in a beta program, etc.

Introduce yourself and show social proof – there’s a tendency to start the email with this information but showing your position in the community and credibility comes after you have established a topic relevance to the investor.

Close with a one sentence ask—make clear the next step such as a conference call, a meeting, advice, etc.

Also remember these following points:

Write in a conversational but business-style tone--not marketing-speak.

Keep it short and to the point avoiding long blocks of text.

Use numbers to make your pitch stronger as it shows specificity.

Remember to attach the executive summary or pitch deck.

Best regards,
Hall T.