The Traction Sandwich
Sean Percival, partner at 500 Startups working on the establishment of 500 Nordics, wrote an interesting tweet the other day:
"we teach the traction sandwich to our cos for deck design
1) Traction
2) Problem
3) Solution
4) Team
5) Repeat Traction
He then concluded in the following tweet:
“could also argue if there's no traction in the deck then there's probably no traction :)”
I believe this is a great setup when pitching to investors! If you have traction, that it's the first thing you should talk about. Traction means that people want what you are building - because you fulfill needs and create values. You have a great foundation for making money!
But what if you are in an early stage, and don’t have traction yet? Well, perhaps you shouldn’t pitch to investors at all?
At a STHLM Tech Meetup last year, were Patrik from my startup Lifee pitched live on stage, Sean said:
"“Present your traction. If you don’t have any, then you present your vision.”
If you don't have traction, then pitch your vision! A grandiose vision with a stellar team and a solid plan for execution may take you far. But traction will always be stronger in your pitch-deck!
More advices from Sean and the STHLM Tech Meetup:
"Keep it short and sharp, be energetic on stage and make sure to get your listeners full attention. How? Start off by presenting your traction: big partners, customers or sponsors are great to address. Saving things like that for the 12th slide will make the investors go “why the f didn’t you say so!?”. If you don’t have any traction, then (and only then) you focus on your vision."
"We can sniff desperation"
Read more advice from Sean and his friends here!
What is traction for a startup? Read more here.
Thanks Patrik Jutterstr?m for the tip, keep on pitching like a boss!
Sales Manager at Connectel AB
8 年Good article! I feel there are three main reasons why at least we pitch for investors before traction ( - before we need to) 1) Practise - you can study pitching techniques all day and present in front of your collegues and even get an external jury board in who will try to force you into their own little "perfect way a pitch should be"-box but that really goes out the window when you are live on a stage in front of hundreds of people trying to impress some guys and girls you've never met but heard whisperers about. It really is a totally new experience and you learn a lot every time you do it so when the time comes that you want to do it for real make sure it isn't your first time! 2) Attention - even if you don't have traction a good pitch will get you noticed and hopefully even remembered if only by logo and some brief "ah, you were that guy who had somethingsomething, was it an activity bracelet for kids?". Perhaps the investor isn't the right one, but to be on top of his or hers mind when they meet their friends and collegues - perhaps that is theway you'll find your first angel investor? 3) Marketing - even if you know there is no way the investors will buy what you are selling you probably have a crowd of some very interesting people in front of you - they could be partners, potential collegues or even customers. We used our latest pitch in London mostly for this - to get a first grip on the community in London and as a way to get noticed in a whole new town. Also, don't forget the market value of being a start-up that gets to pitch to some of the big players even at an early stage, that is a really good way to get noticed. One final bonus reason - the energy and vibe you get from pitching in front of a crowd and feeling that people actually really like what you have - it's amazing. A lot of start-up life is in the office where you need to be critical of everything that you do "do we even have anything for anyone?" - which is as it should be (to make a really good product you need to iterate!) but then you should also be able to get out of the office from time to time and show the world what you got, and if they like what they see - there is not many experiences that can beat that :)