5 warning signs in your pitch that will tick investors off

The simplest improvements require the least effort and provide maximum returns. Pitching belongs to that class of high leverage activities. The real heavy lifting is in making sure that you build a product and find customers for it.

I hope that folks reading this post follow some simple feedback and guidelines to improve the odds of your startup becoming investor-friendly and getting funded in due course.

01. Abstract introductions: Every investor is excited to hear from many young, committed folks trying to change the world through their service or product. Nothing kills that faster than founders that are abstract with what they are doing or their results.

A case in point is a recent startup pitch that went - We are a tech-powered influencer marketing startup. We’re launching our new product to enable mass-scale Social Commerce capabilities for brands with thousands of influencers to drive sales.

Abstraction prevents understanding. Combine this with the fact that most startups will have a deficit of credibility and concreteness and you are setting yourself up for failure.

An easier approach would be to simplify what you do, add numbers and show traction all in the first paragraph. I would probably re-word the above pitch to; "We at Salesly help brands sell more using a marketplace of influencers. With 300 influencers signed up already and an average of 2 influencers signing up daily, every one of our customer brands is reporting an average of 26% sales increase in month 02 of engagement."

Notice the surplus of concrete numbers and the difference it makes to our perception of confidence in what you are doing?

02. Asking for an NDA: Two words - Hell no. If your idea requires an NDA to read, I'm not interested because then I will end up signing 700+ NDAs a year. Additionally, if the concept is so weak that all it requires is for me to listen to it to start copying it, you better start looking for other ideas that have slightly more protection in place. Like you know, great execution, exclusive distribution, or some other moat.

03. Company not formed: Rookie error. Where are you going to put my money into? What will I get in return in terms of ownership? How will customers and vendors interact with you commercially? Not having a company is OK if you are toying with an idea but not OK if you are seeking serious investment.

Purely from a preference standpoint, private limited companies are easier for investors to invest in, rather than partnerships. The change from one to the other takes barely a fortnight, so effect this before you do anything else

04. No full-time founders: Anecdotal stories of ideas being funded over a coffee aside, entrepreneurship is a full-time business. Hedging a job against a startup is for folks that lack conviction and commitment.

Money really is a partner that helps you with velocity and permanence. It's available to be deployed at a moment's notice, from your bank account 24/7. The least that investors are expecting is that founders work full time if their money is going to.

05.A technology company missing tech chops: I've seen this happen more often than not, so am hazarding a guess as to why this is so. The primary founder is a domain expert who knows what problem has to be solved and is using technology to make the solution more effective and/or efficient. Their technology skills are less than stellar so they don't know how to hire technology talent. They end up outsourcing the work to a third party (there's an app for that mentality).

Every company will become a technology company in the future. Take some time to understand how technology works and how you can recruit a co-founder with complementary skills

Part of the heavy lifting that the founder has to do is to get together a founding team. Outsourcing this task won't work.

A request - currently I am writing these posts based on personal interactions and experiences. If you would rather I address some other topics or issues that don't have structured knowledge around them in the angel-startup space, would be happy to listen to your feedback and alter the content accordingly.

Please do stay safe and healthy.