I recently sat through a 20 min presentation from a tech company that needed to raise £50,000 for their first funding round. When they finished I asked myself, “How do they plan to make money?” I thought I missed something so I kept quiet. Then I noticed the investors looking at each other. One of them asked, “How do you guys plan to make money?” Their answer was as poor as the presentation they gave.
Immediately after them was a start-up presenting a gaming platform that needed £150,000. He started by showing the number of users of the platform and how he was already converting them to paying clients. Before he finished, I could tell he had all the funding he needed. All the investors were clamouring to fund him!
The difference? Tech Startups Make the Business Plans Too Complex!
If you are a tech start-up, be clear about these 5 things:
- What are you selling? – Your product/service
- Who are you selling it to? – Your market
- How much is it? – Your price
- How much does it cost to make? – Your costs
- How much profit will you make?
Keep it simple and present it jargon-free. Investors just need to know whether your business can make money or not!