How to Get People to Invest in You

Raising capital is hard.

I've been there and done the fundraising bit from both sides – as an investor and an entrepreneur – having raised billions in equity and debt.one of the key roles for a founder - so how do you make sure your pitch does what it needs to - get investors on your side?

What I describe below are 5 of the techniques my clients find particularly useful when it comes to influencing people to invest. Watch the videos for more on each point.

1. What you need to do in the first few minutes of your pitch and the power of storytelling

If you can’t get an investor emotionally interested in what you are doing, they will not invest in your company. Founders who focus solely on the facts or data, on the mechanical details or functions of the product or service and ignore the story behind it and why it matters, do so at their peril. If you can ignite an emotional connection in the first few minutes, the investor is much more likely to spend the rest of the pitch looking for evidence to justify their initial excitement. 

Watch video: The first few minutes

2. Get to know your audience - why it's so important - and how to do it right.

You are trying to look at things through the eyes of the people you are trying to influence. To fully consider other people’s perspectives, to figure out what might touch them, what’s on their mind so that you can meet them there – go into their world rather than ask them to leave their world to come into yours. 

You want to figure out what motivates the investor – often it’s a combination of impact, power and money. Your research into investment firms and individual investors will help you determine what is likely to be their priorities and motivators. You want to find out what criteria they usually use to assess the opportunity, what they care about. 

Watch video: Know your audience

3. Build your credibility - and the two questions investors will be asking about YOU.

People follow people not organisations. Investors will be asking of you: 

• Will you help me be successful? 
• Are you someone worth taking a bet on? 

Before I invest in an entrepreneur I aim to find out what the gap is between when they are on show – front of stage – and how they act when no one is looking. I want to see their true self in pyjamas (not literally!) i.e. in the unguarded moments. And if the gap is too big - i.e. they don’t have sufficient credibility - I don’t invest.

Credibility is central to anyone following or backing you. 

Watch video: Build credibility

4. Build rapport through 'matching' - what is it and how to do it.

You can match people in a number of different ways. If someone likes to speak slowly, match their speed of speech. You can match their breathing, their expressiveness or lack of it.

Matching leads to you getting in sync and a lower heart rate for both of you. It makes lots of different things easier. If you sense that I’m like you – that we match – then you are more likely to want to work with me.

Watch video: Build rapport through 'matching'

5. Create Scarcity - why FOMO is so importand and how to use it to your advantage.

In Robert Cialdini’s classic book on Influence, scarcity is one of the six principles of influence. People are more motivated by the fear of losing something than by the thought of gaining something of equal value. When you convince someone of its scarcity, you will increase its immediate value in their eyes.

FOMO is a real thing in investing and it influences how an investor thinks about an opportunity. That fear of missing out on the big winner puts you, the entrepreneur, in a strong position, creating more demand for your round than you have room for. 

Watch video: Create Scarcity

Summary

Mastering Influence Is Key To Entrepreneurial Success. Getting people to invest in you is all about influencing them - and if you can do so in the right (and ethical) way, and you’ll reap the rewards.

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I support Founders and Entrepreneurs to become thriving CEOs.

I help you close the gap between what do you now and what you are capable of doing, sharing my knowledge gained from 20 years+ of working alongside entrepreneurs.

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To find out about working with me to reach your full potential, email me on [email protected] or message me here on Linkedin to book a free chemistry call.