Make Your Financing Pitch Sizzle

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Remember: Your pitch needs to reduce the financier's fear of risk and increase their greed for gain. That's what it's all about.

2. Be Compelling

A compelling opportunity is the one that has the right deal, with the right price, at the right time, with the right product/service, and the right team. Compelling deals always get financed with favorable terms. To uncover your "compelling quotient," answer the following questions:

What, exactly, is compelling about your business (your products/services, team, unique approach, intellectual property, etc.)?

Does your product or service clearly define and address a painful problem (or, in some cases, a key social trend)?

Has your team had prior startup success so investors know they're betting on a proven pony?

Do you have high-profile advisory board members?

Have you already attracted customers, either paying ones or those who've signed on for a free trial?

Are your financial projections aggressive but realistic?

Are your target markets tangible and accessible?

Could your product or service lead to an expanded line of additional offerings?

Have you built solid strategic partnerships?

Do you have diverse and low-cost sales channels?

Does your product or service have the kind of sex appeal that will make everyone in your target market want it?

3. Be Complete

You must have a trusted third-party review your pitch to ensure it addresses the high-level issues a financier might have. "Friendly fire" feedback is essential before you pitch to the potentially less friendly financiers. Ask anyone who can help—your startup-savvy attorney, advisory board, mentors, friends who have expertise in the specific market you are addressing or in business overall—to punch holes in your pitch.

Give them a list of questions to answer, such as: What business do you think we're in? Is it interesting to you—why or why not? Were you to consider investing in it, what additional information would you need?

This is a time to lay bare any wobbly aspects of your pitch, when you've got time to fix them. If you charge ahead with an incomplete pitch, such as one that lacks financials, or a marketing or sales strategy, you'll look either unprofessional, fly-by-night, or both. Be complete—it will help you gain the trust of all you pitch to.

Pitch Critique Worksheet

Want to submit your financing pitch for me to critique? Complete the worksheet below and e-mail it to me. If you're selected, I'll critique your pitch in a future column.

Use this worksheet to ensure that your financing pitch is complete. Then, if you're interested in having me critique your pitch, e-mail me no more than three pages' worth of the following information. Be sure to include the term "Pitch Critique" in the e-mail's subject line.

By submitting this information you agree to have it disclosed in my BusinessWeek.com SmallBiz column.

1. Company Overview. A few sentences describing your company's purpose/goal.

2. Pain. A few sentences describing the specific market pain you will reduce/remove.

3. Solution. A few sentences describing what your solution is to the market pain, plus high-level description of how it works.

4. Company info. Location, when founded, number of employees, short bios of key team members on staff and board of directors/advisory board, if applicable.

5. Financial info. Funding history if any, total money sought, source of dollars sought: venture capital/angel investors/loans/grants/etc, anticipated use of funds, last year's revenue, three-year revenue forecast, monthly burn rate, projected cash flow positive date.

6. Product. Short paragraph explaining the status of your product: complete and in production, in early trials, etc.

7. Defensibility. A few short paragraphs describing how your intellectual property or market position will be protected from competitors, how you'll mitigate risk for financiers.

8. Competition. A few short paragraphs describing your current and future competitors.

9. Business model. A few short paragraphs describing how you'll make money and grow your business.

10. Key milestones. A timeline of the deals/achievements that are accelerating/will accelerate your company's growth. Be specific in describing the stage these deals/achievements are in currently.

Christine Comaford, CEO of business accelerator Mighty Ventures is the author of the best-selling book Rules for Renegades. She invites you to participate in her next Q&A call by registering at www.AskChristineNow.com. She writes her column on small business growth strategies every other week.