11 Tips for Starting a Conversation With a Potential Investor – Powderkeg (2024)

Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC)is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launchedBusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

I landed a short meeting with a potential investor thanks to a warm introduction. Where do I start the conversation?

1. Get to Know Them

Before diving into the details of your business, start with some lighter conversation topics, perhaps by bringing up the person who made the introduction. And let the conversation naturally flow to business talk. The meeting shouldn’t just be about money — it’s important to make sure you get along on a personal level as well.

–Diana Goodwin,AquaMobile Swim School

2. Be Clear and Concise

Look, we’re all incredibly busy — imagine having people pulling you in every direction to invest in their next great idea. It has to be exhausting. One way to separate yourself from the pack is to be clear, concise and effective in how you communicate your company and product. If you can’t explain your company in 30 seconds, it’s either too complex or you don’t understand it well enough.

–Zachary Burkes,Gatekeeper Innovation Inc.

3. Start With Background

The first step is getting to know each other. Find out as much about the investor’s background as possible and provide them with your background. Keep in mind that an investment doesn’t happen in a single meeting. Finding common ground can create mutual trust, create a basis for an ongoing relationship and ultimately lead to an investment.

–Mark Cenicola,BannerView.com

4. Sell Your Method, Not Your Product

Tell the investor how big the market is and how much money they are going to make from investing in your company that is inevitably going to succeed. Far to many founders start with demonstrating the product and talking about functionality without selling the problem and the business case first. If there is no problem or business case, it doesn’t matter how great your product is.

–Murray Newlands,Due.com

5. Ask Questions to Build Trust

You’re either raising or you’re not raising. And unless you’re having five investor meetings a day for weeks on end, you’re probably not raising. In this case you should use the meeting as an opportunity to build the relationship without indicating that you want money. Ask the investorsquestions to qualify them. Building trust in a genuine way is priceless, so take advantage of the not-raising mindset.

–Joseph Walla,HelloSign

6. Discuss the Person Who Made the Introduction

You should start the conversation by talking about how you know the person who made the introduction, including why the person thought you and the investor should meet. You want to demonstrate that you’ve done your homework by displaying knowledge of the investor’s past projects. The next step is to present your pitch. Investors are busy, so don’t waste time.

– Jason La,Merchant Service Group, LLC

7. Find Out What Caught Their Eye

Investors hear about thousands of ideaseach year and sit through hundreds of pitches; they’ve seen it all. The fact thatyou’ve landed an in-person meeting means that you aredoing something new or have a unique approach. Find out what that is. I’d open the meetingwith, “Before we get started, can I ask what specifically caught your eye?” That becomes your hook for future meetings.

–David Ciccarelli,Voices.com

8. Ask Questions About Past Investments

It is so important to understand what the potential investor is looking to invest in. Ask them questions about their past investments that have done really well. Find a way to compare yourself and your ideas with them. Take this as a launching point and have your deck ready with information that you know they will want to talk about.

–Jayna Cooke,EVENTup

9. Build Rapport

Start by building rapport. They’re already warm to you so let them get to know who you are and what you’re about outside of your company. Investors want to know your character and a big part of that is what you stand for outside the business arena. They’re looking to reduce risk. Knowing the reason you’ll fight so hard for your business and your big “why” signals to them how serious you are.

–Joshua Lee,StandOut Authority

10. Find Common Ground

Find some common ground and keep the conversation lighthearted before diving into business. After you have established a personal connection, the investor is more apt to help you. This help could come in the form of honest feedback, connections, added time or maybe even funding.

–Christopher Kelly,Convene

11. Be Prepared

Because investors have limited time, you need to be prepared with a pitch that explains your business or idea in 30 seconds. You need to show the value you will deliver to the market and how the investor will get his money back. Remember that the meeting is not about you; it’s about the investor and what can you offer them.

–Alfredo Atanacio,Uassist.ME

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