How To PITCH
Your Startup To
Investors
This presentation represents Jeremey Donovan’s personal opinions and not those of Gartner Inc..
All company and product names mentioned herein are trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners.

1
Start with your core
value proposition

Forget hotels (2009)
The friendly
neighborhood way
to pay (2011)
Sync your files
online and across
computers (2009)
Travel like a human
Sell More With Square
Your stuff, anywhere
Positive
Customer-centric
Short
Action-oriented
Catchy
Benefits (not features)

2
Share the problem
you are solving

Hotels are
expensive and
impersonal
Credit card
merchant services
are complex to
setup and manage
Every device has its
own data
Expensive
Complex
Risky
Boring
Time-Consuming
Inconvenient

3
Link the problem to
disruptive macro
trends

Globally connected
youth culture
‘Solo-preneur’
revolution
Explosion of mobile
devices + limitless
storage & bandwidth
3D Printing
Energy

4
Show your solution

A web-based
platform where :
[Travelers can save
and immerse]
A smartphone &
sensor based
platform for
processing credit
card transactions
[Hosts can earn]
Not a feature, not a product, but a…
PLATFORM
A cloud-based
platform to protect,
access, and share
your files anywhere,
anytime

< < < Insert Demo Here >>>

5
Link your business
model to a massive
opportunity

10.9 billion trips/yr
x
0.10% share
x
$20 commission
=
> $200M/yr
$6T CC transactions
x
0.15% share
x
2.5% commission
=
> $200M/yr
1.2 billion PCs
x
0.20% share
x
$100 / yr
=
>$200M/yr
[Massive Market] x [Tiny Share] x [Reasonable Price]

6
Explain how you
acquire customers at
low cost

Events
Internet advertising
Partnerships
Mobile Retailers
Referral incentives
File Sharing
CraigsList
Build ‘virality’ into your product
Remember that product quality is marketing

7
Show traction with real
customers

>10M nights
booked
> $10B processed with
> 40K retailers
>200M users
Though less impactful than revenue from customers,
this is also the place to show traction
with investors, partners, advisors, etc.

8
Handle objections

What about
personal safety?
What about
government
regulations?
How do you handle
credit fraud?
How are you different
than a million other
competitors?
The best offense is a good defense
(but don’t break into jail)

9
Explain why you are
the right team

Passionate, welleducated millennials
initially funded
by Y Combinator
Jack Dorsey, cofounder of Twitter
Passionate, welleducated millennials
initially funded
by Y Combinator
Pedigree matters, but there is no perfect profile

And one last
thing…

10
Close with your ask

How much money?
+
What you are going to spend it on?
+
How you are going to repay it?

Connect with me
Blog: www.speakingsherpa.com
Twitter: @SpeakingSherpa
LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/jeremeydonovan