12 Things Your Start-Up Should Have To Showcase To Investors That It Is Investment-Worthy

Don’t pitch. Attract. Make those investors come to you instead.

These are the 12 points I accidentally did when I sold my start-up a couple of years ago. Seriously, launching a startup with a groundbreaking idea is exciting, but the journey to securing investment can be bumpy. I know, I was there. Rejection from investors can be discouraging, but there are specific steps we can take to pivot and improve our startup’s appeal. Usually, the rejections will trigger start-up founders like us to work on these five things immediately in order to adjust the approach for the next group of investors we are going to pitch.

1. Do research thoroughly about the investors. Make sure we’re targeting the right group of investors and that our pitch is tailored to their interests and industries.
2. Polish our pitch. Practice our pitch until we can deliver it confidently, concisely and fast.
3. Get feedback. Ask friends, family, and other entrepreneurs to give us feedback on our pitch.
4. Network. Attend a number of strategic industry events and meetups to meet potential investors we are aiming for.
5. Be persistent. Don’t give up after the first few rejections. Keep pitching and eventually, we’ll find an investor who believes in our vision.

While these five things are important, they lack depth when it comes to giving the ultimate reason why the investors must come and invest in our start-up. If we prioritise these five things, it would mean that we will continue to hunt for potential investors, ‘begging’ them to consider investing in us. This is okay but the result won’t be that quick or perhaps nothing will happen. Really.

Instead, these 12 elements might help provide the right bullet when you meet the next investor. The very reason why the investors rejected your pitch was that perhaps they couldn’t see why they must invest in your start-up.

Solve real problem

The start-up should begin with solving real problems. I’ve spoken with a number of startup founders before, and I’ve heard them pitch their ideas to me as well…