You're listening to Business English Pod, the Business English podcast for professionals on the move.
Hello, and welcome back to Business English Pod.
My name's Edwin, and I'll be your host for today's lesson on preparing for a pitch to investors.
It's easy to look around at the economy today and applaud the tech companies that made it big.
But for every success, there are a hundred failures.
Anyone who's founded a startup or worked for one knows that new businesses face a lot of uncertainty and a world of challenges.
In this economy, the success of a startup depends on many factors.
If you can learn to navigate the challenges or to see them as opportunities, then you too might make it big.
One important factor in startup success is good mentorship.
There's a strong tradition of established business people helping young entrepreneurs find the path to success.
And one of the most important opportunities a mentor can help you with is preparing for your first pitch to potential investors.
If there's any time that you should learn to take advice, it's at this point.
A pitch to investors can make or break your company and good preparation, as any mentor will tell you, is key.
Working with a mentor depends on you being open to input.
That might mean accepting critical opinions and admitting your own weaknesses.
But if you can do this, then you'll be able to use your mentor to bounce ideas off and to ask directly for help with challenges.
In today's dialogue, we'll listen to a conversation between Quinn, a young entrepreneur, and Kira, his mentor.
Quinn is getting ready to pitch his online payment startup to a potential investor and we'll hear how he learns from his more experienced mentor.
As you listen to the dialogue, try to answer the following questions.
1.
What strong opinion about his pitch does Quinn have to accept?
2.
What weakness does Quinn admit to?
3.
What challenge does Quinn ask Kira for help with?
So, should we take a look at your deck for the pitch?
There's a lot at stake there.
Yes, I think overall I'm happy with the slides.
Maybe not so sure on how I've structured things.
So, I'd love to hear what you think.
Yeah, had a look.
Agree on the slide content.
But looking at the order of things, I'm not sure why you're starting with a product description.
You launch into what you do right off the bat.
But they have to know what we're pitching them.
Actually, no.
You have to start with why.
Give them the problem, then the solution.
Don't lead with the technical stuff.
Yeah, but... Okay, I see what you're saying.
I guess I do have a tendency to do that.
No biggie.
That's what I'm here for.
I want you to nail this thing.
And I think you can, if you're prepared.
Right.
So, what do you think about this?
I lead off with the story about my first company and how credit card fees were killing us.
On the micropayments,
Now you're talking.
You can bet every person in that room has been frustrated by the same thing.
Or most of them.
Yeah, everyone complains about it all the time.
And there you go.
You need to start with that.
Tell the story and get them hooked.
You know, before you get into all the technical stuff.
Right.
We've talked about storytelling before.
I know it's important, but it's a big weak spot for me.
Definitely something I need to get better at.
And you will.
No doubt about that.
Right.
So, before we wrap up, there was one other thing I felt could be beefed up.
Your ask.
The money?
I think the valuation is clearly justified.
The valuation is reasonable, but you haven't really explained what you're going to do with the money.
Besides generally scale up, you need to tie the money to an important value creation milestone.
Hmm.
Yeah, this is where I could really use some guidance.
I think I know what you mean, but costing out our growth is a huge challenge.
Could you maybe walk me through some of the models we could use?
For sure.
No problem.
And I have to say, this kind of issue connects back to what I was saying about hiring a CFO.
But for now, let's start by talking about some milestones, like expanding to the West Coast.
That's what you're thinking for the next 12 to 18 months, right?
Now let's go through the dialogue again and look at the language and techniques Quinn used in his conversation with Kira.
We begin, as they are looking at Quinn's pitch deck, which is a set of PowerPoint slides he will use during his presentation.
So, should we take a look at your deck for the pitch?
There's a lot at stake there.
Yes, I think overall I'm happy with the slides.
Maybe not so sure on how I've structured things.
So, I'd love to hear what you think.
Your slide deck is a critical piece of your pitch.
It has to give the right information in the right order and help persuade investors that you're worth their money.
Your mentor can help you improve your deck if you're open to their input.
As Quinn says, he's not sure how he's structured or organized his slides and he enthusiastically invites Kira's opinion.
If you're not open to a mentor's input, then the relationship will be challenging.
So let's practice some more ways of showing openness.
Yes, some feedback on this situation would be great.
By all means, let me know if you think this is good or not.
Sure, I'd be happy to do the pitch for you and see what you think.
If you have any input on this, I'd love to hear it.
What does Kira think of the slide deck?
Yeah, had a look.
Agree on the slide content.
But looking at the order of things, I'm not sure why you're starting with a product description.
You launch into what you do right off the bat.
Kira is questioning the way Quinn has structured his presentation.
She clearly doesn't think he should be describing his product right off the bat or at the very beginning.
How does Quinn react to Kira's input?
But they have to know what we're pitching them.
Actually, no.
You have to start with why.
Give them the problem, then the solution.
Don't lead with the technical stuff.
Yeah, but... Okay, I see what you're saying.
I guess I do have a tendency to do that.
Kira is not going easy on Quinn.
She's expressing her opinion clearly and directly.
Instead of lightly suggesting something, she's saying you have to and don't.
It might be difficult to accept tough opinions on your work, especially if you're an entrepreneur who's used to having control.
But your success as a startup depends on it.
Quinn finally says that he understands what Kira is saying and he agrees he has a tendency or habit of starting with technical information.
What are some other ways of accepting a strong opinion?
Let's run through a few more examples.
I guess I see what you're saying, and I'll work on that.
Okay, you've got a point there.
Looks like I have a lot of work to do in that area.
Yeah, you're right.
I'm going to have to do better.
Now that Quinn has shown he can take his mentor's input, what happens next?
No biggie.
That's what I'm here for.
I want you to nail this thing.
And I think you can, if you're prepared.
Right.
So, what do you think about this?
I lead off with the story about my first company and how credit card fees were killing us.
On the micropayments,
Because Quinn is open to input, Kira is committed to helping him.
As she says, she wants him to nail the pitch.
If you nail something, you get it exactly right.
Now, if you've got a good relationship with a committed mentor, then you can bounce your ideas off them.
Quinn talks about how he might reorganize his pitch.
He's suggesting leading off or starting with a story about challenges with other payment systems.
Your mentor is there to help you.
And if you have a good relationship and can bounce ideas off them, you'll improve your chances of success.
Let's run through more ways of bouncing ideas off someone.
So, what if we finished off with a quote from Steve Jobs?
Tell me what you think of this idea.
How about we hand out the samples right after the demo?
How does this sound?
I switch the order of the second and third parts.
What does Kira think of Quinn's idea for starting out with some storytelling?
Now you're talking.
You can bet every person in that room has been frustrated by the same thing.
Or most of them.
Yeah, everyone complains about it all the time.
And there you go.
You need to start with that.
Tell the story and get them hooked.
You know, before you get into all the technical stuff.
Right.
We've talked about storytelling before.
I know it's important, but it's a big weak spot for me.
Definitely something I need to get better at.
Kira is very supportive of Quinn's idea for changes to his pitch.
She uses the expression, now you're talking, to show that she likes what he's saying.
It's clear that Quinn and Kira have a good working relationship where they can be honest and open with each other.
Quinn can accept Kira's opinions and her criticism and admit his own weaknesses.
He openly says that storytelling is a weak spot or something he's not good at.
A lot of entrepreneurs make the mistake of thinking they can do it all or not, reflecting on their own abilities.
Admitting weakness is actually important for success, so let's practice some more examples of how to do it.
Well, design has never really been my strong point.
I must admit, managing people has always been a challenge for me.
Frankly speaking, I get really nervous before a big pitch.
Quinn has some good ideas for improving the organization of his presentation.
But Kira has more feedback on his pitch.
Let's listen.
And you will.
No doubt about that.
Right.
So, before we wrap up, there was one other thing I felt could be beefed up. your ask.
In a pitch, the ask is basically the part where you actually ask the investor for money.
And Kira thinks Quinn's ask needs to be improved or beefed up.
Let's find out exactly what she means and how Quinn reacts.
The money?
I think the valuation is clearly justified.
The valuation is reasonable, but you haven't really explained what you're going to do with the money.
Besides, generally scale up.
You need to tie the money to an important value creation milestone.
Hmm, yeah, this is where I could really use some guidance.
I think I know what you mean, but costing out our growth is a huge challenge.
Could you maybe walk me through some of the models we could use?
Kira believes that Quinn has to be more specific about why his company needs money.
She talks about value creation milestones, which are key points in a company's growth.
Quinn doesn't sound too sure about all this, but as we've seen, he knows when he needs help.
And because he has a good relationship with his mentor, he can confidently ask directly for help or guidance, as he says.
Quinn identifies costing for growth as a big challenge and asks Kira to walk him through or explain some ways of calculating these costs.
What are some other ways we can ask a mentor directly for help with challenges?
Let's try some more examples.
Do you think you could give me a hand with the design?
I'd love some advice on how to manage the team better.
I'm not sure if this makes sense, so could you read it over for me?
If you could work through this with me, I'd really appreciate it.
So, is Kira willing to help Quinn with some models for figuring out value creation milestones?
Let's find out.
For sure.
No problem.
And I have to say, This kind of issue connects back to what I was saying about hiring a CFO.
But for now, let's start by talking about some milestones, like expanding to the West Coast.
That's what you're thinking for the next 12 to 18 months, right?
Yes, Kira is certainly willing to help Quinn.
He's shown that he's open and he can admit his weaknesses.
So it's not a struggle to mentor him.
And because Quinn has this positive relationship with his mentor, he'll get good advice and improve his chance of a successful pitch.
Now let's practice some of the language we learned in today's lesson.
Imagine you are the founder of a small tech startup and you're having a conversation with your mentor about an upcoming pitch.
You'll hear a cue from the mentor, then I'll give you a suggestion for what you can say in response.
We'll guide you through each step in the practice and provide an example answer for each response.
Ready?
Let's give it a go.
All right, so let's look at your presentation together, shall we?
Start by agreeing and saying you'd love to know what she thinks about it.
Answer.
Sure thing.
I'd love to know what you think.
Well, for starters, I think you're using way too many colors.
Now, accept the opinion and say you're not that great at design.
Answer Yeah, I see what you mean.
The design is a bit of a mess.
That's alright.
There's still time to work on this.
Next, ask what she thinks about just using the three colors from your company logo.
Answer Okay, so what if we just use the three colors from our logo?
Yeah, that would work.
Now, another thing.
The text is pretty confusing.
Now say that to be honest, writing is not your greatest strength.
Answer Yeah, to be honest, writing isn't really my greatest strength.
Well, that can be worked on.
At least overall, the organization looks good.
Answer Thanks.
So, do you think you could help me with the wording?
Now let's practice some of the vocabulary we've covered in this lesson.
In a moment, you'll hear a series of sentences with a word replaced with a beep.
Repeat each sentence, including the missing word.
For example, if you hear... When giving a presentation, it can be good to...
You can say, When giving a presentation, it can be good to lead off with a story.
After each response, we'll provide the correct answer.
Let's begin.
I have a to get really nervous before making a pitch.
Answer.
I have a tendency to get really nervous before making a pitch.
Well, if nobody has any questions, then we can... This meeting up.
Answer.
Well, if nobody has any questions, then we can wrap this meeting up.
Answer.
Do you think you could walk me through the process again?
You really want them to get excited about the product right off the...
Answer.
You really want them to get excited about the product right off the bat.
We've also looked at admitting your weaknesses and asking directly for help with challenges.
Thanks for listening, and see you again soon.
