How can you highlight your startup's social impact in a pitch?

WHOM you pitch to is as important as WHAT you pitch. So if social impact is something core to your strategy, you should: 1. First, assemble a board and (seek out to pitch primarily to) investors who can bring experience, influence and connections for BOTH the commercial AND social success. 2. Tailor your pitch to the specific area of social impact those individuals care the most about, to make it matter to THEM.

In my opinion there are 3 things that matters the most in a start-up: - The problem they are solving - How they are solving it and for whom are they solving it - What impact their solution has on the society Having a social impact adds the cherry on the cake as it reflects that you are a customer first start-up because you would focus on solving the problem rather than making bucks

In my experience, it is very important to highlight your social impact through each and every pitch that you give as an organization. 1. Highlighting your "Why" and connecting it with your vision and your mission is important. 2. Aligning this vision with the work you have done till now and how it helps those who were your target audience further increases the emphasis of your social impact. 3. How do you look forward to taking your impact to the next level? Share your future plans, emphasise on the impact you wish to create on society.

In the startup world, the phrase "Do well by doing good" has always resonated with me. Here's how I incorporate our social impact into pitches: I start with the 'why' of our business - the social problem we're addressing. I share stories that highlight the real-life implications of this problem and how our solution directly makes a difference. Next, I quantify our impact. Solid numbers always resonate with investors - it could be the number of lives improved, jobs created, or reduction in carbon footprint.

While dazzling investors with hockey stick growth projections, don't forget that at its core, your startup aims to make the world a better place. Though metrics and KPIs show progress, remember to speak from the heart about the human impact. Share anecdotes of people you’ve helped, because while investors want ROI, they’re still human. Remind them why you started down this road - to change lives. The returns aren’t just financial, they’re emotional, and they’re what fuels you to keep pushing forward.

Another great tool is Board of Innovation’s open source Social Impact Wheel. It will help gain perspective within the context of SDG impacts.

Instead of bullet pointing how your startup can have social impact, or even using frameworks or models, I believe in the power of storytelling. Why are you doing what you do? What is the problem? How has it impacted you in the past? How might it have impacted the investors who are reading your pitch? The more you can make something personal, the more someone will understand, and then the social impact becomes clear.

Storytelling and data are both powerful ways to highlight the problem you are addressing and your potential impact. You will need to adjust the balance based on your audience and what you want from them. Ideally, you can use a key data point or one main character to get your audience's attention and build on it. It should be just enough to make them care and pay attention and take the next step. Finding this balance comes with understanding and empathizing with your audience and practicing.

Before thinking of the story, it’s good to see the big picture to gain a broader understanding and then dive into the data surrounding each of the impact areas. This will help to align the story and create and connect threads that can speak to the short and long term.

When it comes to communicating the social impact, storytelling and numbers are not an either/or, but a both/and: good storytelling - punctuated by concrete hard data - gets the heart to want what it wants, and the brain to go along with it.

For high impact, you can communicate your social impact in your pitch, in your introduction and conclusion! That's when your audience's attention is at its peak.

First, take a systems approach and map the ecosystem relationships and impacts. Then, use the map as a starting point to further refine and showcase the company’s business model. Board of Innovation’s open source Business Model Kit is a great tool to showcase the business model in a manner that anyone can understand.

The best social impact driven startups do not need “balancing” between social good and commercial impact: because to them, delivering social good (usually by serving the under-served) IS the best way to drive exponential commercial success.

Most public companies have published goals for sustainability so if you can help them to meet some of these goals, it will certainly help but it won't be the reason they invest. The business model and revenue traction will be the priority. As a new venture, your goal, irrespective of others, should be to build a reputable and socially responsible company.

I honestly do not believe that trying to have a specific social impact is helpful for a startup. Founding and building a successful business is HARD. As a founder your main responsibility is to yourself and 5 key groups of people, your partners, family, investors, employees and customers. Your job is to make the business a success for these people, anything that distracts from that goal is unhelpful. It IS important to make sure that what you do is legal and that it does not inadvertently or directly harm others. If you succeed in growing your business and make the world a better place for yourself, your partners, your family, your investors, your employees and your customers that is a massive social impact, and one to be proud of.

The most critical component of the call to action is WHY NOW. By the time you get to CTA, you’ve already (hopefully) explained the WHAT, WHY, and the HOW very well. Now you need to illustrate to your board/investors the opportunity cost (aka FOMO) for not choosing your company or idea, RIGHT NOW.

At the end of a pitch, I recommend to repeat your solution and why it's an opportunity for your audience whether it's an investor or client. Then, finish with a call to action (with a present tense verb, no conditional), something you and your audience can do together.