– Tim Berry is the president and founder of Palo Alto Software. This post originally appeared on his blog, “Planning, Startups, Stories“. The views expressed are his own. –
Recently I caught Business Insider’s “Five VCs Explain What They REALLY Think About Your Pitches“. It’s a great post, gathering points together from discussions with several high-end venture capitalists. If you’re looking at venture capital, read it.
Part of what they said reminded me that angel investors and VCs have a lot in common. For example, these important points:
-
Keep it short
Avoid buzzwords
Answer questions quickly without getting defensive
Be a good storyteller
Know the people you’re pitching
Don’t forget the financial info
I’m pretty sure all of the investors in my local angel investor group would agree with every one of those. I particularly like the three about answering questions, telling stories, and not to forget the financial info. Those three are critical.
Some of the other points, however, remind me of the differences between VCs and angels. For example, the VCs say introductions matter:
