It might take months to practice and prepare for a business pitch that lasts only a few minutes, but those few minutes could prove to be the most valuable in the life of your startup idea. Whether you are pitching to venture capitalists in hopes of securing funding, or presenting your idea to potential customers and partners, relentless preparation, solid public speaking and clear communication will make for a presentation that is not easily overlooked.

Renowned Costa Rican Venture Capitalist Dale W. Wood says, “Ideation is necessary, but execution is far more important.” The concept of backing up a brilliant idea with hustle, hard work and a vision for the future can be applied both in a business plan and in a successful pitch. Wood has helped many entrepreneurs take their startups to the next level by providing both capital and mentorship, and he has only ever invested in those whose pitches prove they understand it takes much more than a groundbreaking idea to take a business to the top.

Wood has been active in the venture capital space for the last 22 years, and is currently in the processes of expanding his global investment firm Dale Ventures. Through the firm, Wood has financed several high-potential startups across the world including Instanda, Huma, Rayo Credit and TechMet, which recently secured a groundbreaking investment from the U.S. government.

At our request, Dale W. Wood has agreed to share insights into what makes an attention-grabbing pitch that is hard for venture capitalists and potential partners to ignore.

1.   Tell a story

“When you open your pitch, do so by narrating a real customer story. Explain how your product has addressed the challenges at hand by giving investors a real-life example of its success,” he said.

Wood strongly stresses that tech talk and buzzwords should be avoided at all costs – real people facing real challenges don’t rely on catchy phrases or cheap tricks to solve their problems. The story you tell should be realistic and to the point.

“People tend to forget the buzzwords but they remember is the story itself,” he added. ”So make sure that you have fascinating, case-study-based stories prepared well in advance to be shared.”

2.   Logically draft the essentials

Dale W. Wood says that he has heard multiple investment pitches that are so full of information, jargon and details that the essentials get lost. People do so because they think every aspect of their business plan has to be shared in one flat pitch but, in reality, this cluttered approach appears nervous, jittery, and fearful.

“I would always like the entrepreneurs to sit back and relax and realize a Shakespearean postulate, ‘Brevity is the soul of wit,’” Wood said. “They should plan the essential part of the pitch, what comes next in priority and with a flow of logic between different components. Cut short the long story to bare essentials, it appears more thoughtful and confident.”

Dale W. Wood Backed Startups Turning Out To Be The “Next Big Thing”

3.   Summarize, summarize, summarize

Wood expects an entrepreneur to be able to cut down his or her comprehensive business model to a single sentence.

He further explains, “A summarized business idea reveals to an investor how it can grow into an economically viable business. The best practice is to be able to communicate the model through a summary example.”

Take a fictitious brand called X-Car, for example, whose business model can be summed up as “A membership-based carpooling platform.” Another example is a hotel-room booking website, whose purpose can be to simply “compare and book hotels online at a small commission.”  

Wood stresses that an idea should be self-explanatory and able to be expressed in short bullet points, giving the investor a chance to see the market fit and ROI. It should answer the essential questions: what is the problem are you solving, who is your target audience and how will this orient in the market?  

4.   Talk about yourself

According to Wood, investors like to invest in people first and ideas second.

“Young entrepreneurs need not be afraid to talk about themselves or their achievements, particularly if those achievements demonstrate they have what it takes to build and scale up an idea,” he said. “Try to convince investors why they should trust you and why you are the right person to get behind. If you don’t show confidence, how do you expect the investors to show confidence in you?”

5. Emphasizing your growth potential

“You must make creative use of market metrics to emphasize how far you can reach. The key to any successful venture capital pitch is the product and market size,” Wood said.

An entrepreneur must break down his or her business idea through a short diagram that makes investors understand the domain and market segment.

“By using market metrics creatively, you can convince investors that you understand your customers, their problems and how to solve them, as well as the difference between your product and those that already exist,” he added.

If the concept is presented without clear recognition of its market —it will not impress the venture capital investor. Moreover, it will make the entrepreneur look as though they don’t know which market segment the business is targeting or how to scale up within the space.

6.   Be enthusiastic

Wood, a venture capital veteran, says it’s important to measure up the entrepreneur’s enthusiasm regarding the product. Faking passion is not possible. Energy levels should grow throughout a pitch and speakers must move out of their comfort zones without obscuring the common sense, honesty, perception and elegance that goes along with any form of successful public speaking.

7.   Anticipate follow-up questions

“If an idea really touches my chord, then I would go ahead and ask more follow-up questions. I would like to see entrepreneurs come prepared,” Wood says.

By practicing clear and concise answers to common follow-up questions, an entrepreneur can easily exhibit his or her attributes and talents.

Before coming in to pitch an idea, Wood encourages entrepreneurs to put themselves in the shoes of a potential investor. No one wants to stake their own livelihood in a poorly thought-out idea, frantic leader or market-unsure startup. Each entrepreneur should come prepared, speak with confidence and speak like someone they themselves would believe in.

“We deeply focus on building great relationships with the leadership of our investment companies, Dale W. Wood said. “The leverage of financial and operational expertise is secondary – we prioritize human relationships. And I am quite hopeful that it is the case across the VC spectrum.”

It’s been almost a whole year of working from home and adjusting to using video conferencing solutions to keep up with colleagues and clients, as well as family and friends. Whole teams within businesses have learnt to work effectively via digital means, but it doesn’t come without its challenges. 

Video call fatigue has become a real thing and it’s affected many of us, leaving us feeling exhausted. However, with remote working set to become the norm for many, it’s important to find ways of preventing video call fatigue and making sure you’re working at your best. Kinly explain more.

Why do we get video call fatigue?

Sitting in front of a computer screen all day is taxing, but once you throw in multiple video calls it can get much more tiring. Processing faces and voices through a screen can take its toll on your concentration and focus, and we miss a lot of non-verbal communication as we can only see from the shoulders up.

If you suffer with low quality or internet issues, it can make it much harder to read people’s expressions and have a coherent conversation. Our brains work harder to make up for the lack of information that we would normally receive in a typical face-to-face meeting, which can result in eye fatigue.

Working and meeting over a computer also means there is less opportunity to get up and stretch your legs, as everything is happening from one screen. In a typical workplace, you could get up to talk to a colleague or move to different rooms to meet.

What can you do about it?

Video calls are set to be the future of working, with many employees adopting a hybrid work pattern and not everyone being in the office at once. This means you’re likely to always meet at least one colleague via video conferencing at some point in the day. It’s important to take the necessary steps to tackle video call fatigue and ensure it’s not something you come to dread.

Try to vary your communication channels. Are video calls always necessary, or could you communicate via instant messaging, to prevent a meeting for the sake of it? If you were in a normal work environment, would you meet someone face-to-face every time you had something to say or ask? Depending on your preferences, consider either schedule your video calls in on the same day and give yourself a break for the rest of the week, or spread your calls out throughout the week.

Take regular breaks, which you should be doing anyway if you’re working at a computer. It’s good for your eyes and your mind to rest at regular intervals, whether it’s a quick tea break or a lunch time walk.

Consider what distractions you might have when on a video call. It’s all too easy to respond to an email or direct message, or have a little scroll on social media while you’re on a call via your computer. Focus and turn off any other notifications. Not only could this make the call more productive, but it could also make the call go a little faster, as you aren’t having to pause to respond to something else going on in the background.

If you are on camera during your calls, consider hiding your image on the screen. Looking at yourself so much through can be stressful and it could make you more aware and critical of yourself. You wouldn’t normally be staring at yourself all day in a normal work environment, so focus more on the other participants and don’t get too caught up in your own appearance.

There are many benefits of rent an iPad, especially if you want to use it for business purposes. First of all, iPad is considered as one of the most powerful and modern gadgets available in the market today. This makes it a must have in business settings. There are many different ways to make money with iPad and rent them at the same time. But before we discuss about that, we need to understand the importance of iPad in the first place.

Cost Effective

iPad rental also allows you to work on it at any convenient time. You do not have to buy a new one every time you need to work on it. So, this means you save a lot of money, which can be used to purchase more things for your business. Renting an iPad also means you don’t have to go through the hassles of owning it. Thus, it helps you save both time and money.

Productivity

iPad also has a huge supply of software and various other files, which you can easily download and use. These files can be used to run various programs in your business. By downloading iPad software, you will be able to access important information, which can help you run your business smoothly. This will ensure maximum productivity and success in your business.

Support

iPad has a big support community, where it is easy to find answers to almost any question you might have. There are many people who use this device successfully and recommend it to others. Many people also say that iPad is easy to use and does not require that much effort to learn. So, you do not need to spend money on buying software and learning how to use it. You can just download the app and start using it. But you do need to be careful about what programs you download, as there are some dangerous programs, which might harm your computer or cause many problems.

Presentable

iPad has been proven to be more useful than many other laptop gadgets. It can perform multiple tasks, which is why it is so popular with businessmen. It can help them communicate with their clients, make presentations, take pictures, store data, and edit videos. So, if you need to rent an iPad, this is the best possible way for you to own one, without shelling out too much money.

However, before you rent an iPad, you should know the pros and cons of doing so. Although iPad rental is relatively cheaper than buying one, it is still not as cheap as you think. You need to shell out some amount of money in order to rent it. Moreover, after you have bought the device, you cannot sell it anymore.

Related: https://oneworldrental.co.uk/

On the other hand, you can use it on a daily basis. This is more advantageous since you can keep updating your data, photos, and movies. Also, you do not have to shell out a lot when you rent an iPad. You can simply use it for a couple of days and continue using it in the meantime.

Portability

Another great thing about iPad is that you can use it almost anywhere you go. Yes, you can easily take it anywhere with you. All you have to do is connect it to Wi-Fi internet to make it work. In fact, it is even easy to carry. When you rent an iPad, you will not be spending a lot of cash since you can just tap its battery to turn it on and off.

User-Friendly Interface

Furthermore, iPad is very easy to use. Its user-friendly interface makes it so that even a person who has no knowledge on technology can easily operate it. So, aside from having fun with its colorful screen, you can also impress your visitors with the way you use it. And, if you decide to use it for business purposes, you can easily explain its features to your customers.

Brand Loyalty

For many companies, using iPad is a great way to keep in touch with their current customers. It is very easy to surf the internet with this gadget. Many business owners prefer to rent an iPad because this device not only increases their visibility to their current customers, but also helps them in creating a brand loyalty. iPad is a great tool in marketing and advertising your business.

Conclusion

Knowing all these benefits of rent an iPad might make you think that it is easy to rent an iPad. But, actually, it is not that hard. All you have to do is to find a reliable website where you can sign up and choose the type of rental that would suit you best. Once you have chosen, all you have to do is to wait for the delivery of the iPad so you can start using it right away.