What are the best ways to prepare for your startup's pitch?

Do your own research. Understand who they are, what they have done and what they want. Who you are talking to and their background is important to best delivery the message. Are they an industry expert? Don't talk about the problem or the market, keep focus in the solution and the features. Are you talking to a very formal investor? Don't do jokes. Create personas and try to anticipate things.

Whether it's an investor or a potential customer, you need to tailor your pitch to them. It's not what you say, it's what they hear.

The best way to prepare for your startup's pitch... Practice & Pivot your StartUp's "Log Line" with Associates Friends & Family until You Get it Right first time every time in one take getting Their Nods of Approval... Then move on to your StartUp's Pitch Deck...

First of all understand the problem or need and offer solution. Do your research, explore widely other simmillar solutions. Find your strong, also your weak points and correct them. Never underestimate your audience. They might be well informed, educated or even experts in your field. Still, stick to the rule keep it simple. User friendly solutions are of greatest value. They make the difference. Make a test and pitch in front of your friends, family, colleagues - potential customers, and listen to their comments. You might hear something very useful to change your approach or even give up, what might be not so bad. You can start over again and make your pitch even greater. Listen to your guts, and you will find really the right answer.

Do not assume your audience is familiar with your terminology, complexities, and concepts. Keep your pitch as simple as possible while enlightening when needed. This helps all to understand the problem you’re solving and hence, the value you’re creating.

A story is everything. A story is a place where your audience will travel with you and see what you see, hear what you hear, smell what you smell, feel what you feel. The feeling you could transfer to your audience is the key to your success. Emotions drive us all. Take care! No fear allowed !

The first question I always ask is "What problem are you trying to solve?" If you can't answer the question, that's the end of the pitch. If you refer me to a page on the slide deck, that's the end of the pitch. If your answer talks about a solution, that's the end of pitch. If you can't describe your customer's pain better than your customer, how good can your solution be?

To first craft your story, I think it's important to truly understand why you and why now. This will make things much clearer for you, and it will be easy to write the storytelling of your pitch. Then you focus on why your solution is important: How you differentiate yourself? What are the users using now? Why they need you? How much they need you? These questions will be the foundation of everything you need to say.

Practice makes better but please make it conversational - do not read words off of a slide. It's OK to be nervous but play the professor - you're here because you found an amazing opportunity and you need to teach us about it.

Train dozens of times. Then record a video of you practicing, repeat this a few times and analyze the video recordings. How is my intonation, firm and direct or soft and vague? Am I talking more about my solution, which is more important or am I focusing more on the market, which is objective data? How is my verbal language, are my hands keeping up with my rhythm or am I throwing it all over the place? At what point can they ask questions, how will I resume after answering them?

Question yourself: What they might ask about the solution, competition, market, team? What is missing from my pitch? Create a big Q&A list from the start, with everything they might ask and really understand the answers. Divide the Q&A by topics and keep evolving it. Add more questions as you practice yourself and with the feedbacks you got.

Create several pitches and adapt as needed. Will it be like a conversation or a formal pitch presentation? Only have 10 minutes? Create a version focused on efficiency and direct to the point. If you have 30min, speak more about your solution and how it differentiates itself. Will I pitch to people who don't know my industry? Speak more about pains and the market. If you're pitching to industry experts, go straight to the solution and differentiators. Create a less written content version for in-person pitch and use the deck more as support for your speech. If you are sending it by email, take the opportunity to write more content and make it clear and understandable. Use these examples to explore possibilities.

The unsung hero is resilience. Beyond the polished slides and rehearsed lines, acknowledge that not every pitch will unfold seamlessly. The unforeseen happens. It's not about perfection but adaptability. Embrace the unexpected questions or technical glitches. This resilience not only reflects well on you as a founder but also demonstrates your capacity to navigate the unpredictable startup journey. It’s not just about the script; it’s about the ability to dance when the rhythm changes, leaving a lasting impression of composure and confidence. Ultimately, investors want to work with strong founders who can go the distance.

Dream BIG! Find a mentor. Learn from any of your failures, which are only very valuable steps in building your skills, know-how and passion to succeed. Trust in yourself that you can change someone's life with your product or service. Make as many as possible tests when creating a pitch and follow some rules of great pitching. Explore various pitches and compare your with them. Visit some great events where you can hear numerous people pitching. Very good exercise is to create an elevator pitch, only 60 sec long. If you can say all in such a short time, you are on your way to win. Be passionate about your pitch, manifest your confidence and positive energy. Play in team. Only team behind great idea will make it live.