you and really excited. And I am happy to have these slides and also have some insight, real live insight, I did six investor calls with entrepreneurs over the past day and a half. So even have some up to date information to be able to help. But we recognize that even if in the midst of COVID, we still all need to raise money. And the good thing is, is that I think investors have adopted and pivot very quickly. And I would say relatively, nimbly to how to best use virtual pitching, whether it's zoom or hopping or something else, to make sure that we're still here to be able to meet the needs of entrepreneurs. As Jordan mentioned, I have one role, which is or one goal, I should say, which is help as many entrepreneurs raise money and be successful, and many roles. And so I'm going to be presenting this, both from an investment perspective based on me hearing lots of pitches lately, but also as co founder of Ureeka, as we are currently in our next race and have been doing lots of zoom calls ourselves with investors and kind of sharing some of our key key takeaways and what successes. So there's a few areas that I want to cover today. One I want to just delete is introduction about myself, I want to talk about what I think has changed in the pitching environment. Talk about some very concrete things around your presentation, and that style, and then talk about what's how some of the content that is expected as changes and then offer you a prep checklist. So they have something to take away from all of this. So hopefully this becomes helpful to you. The first thing is to talk about the new environment. You know, the beauty of zoom, in some cases that I think many of us are working harder, and probably spending more time on video. But what has done for investors has given them more time and focus. You know, they don't have a line full of people out the door for the next presentations. But I would say many of them have learned to better pace their time and read and be prepared before people show up and really be dialed in and zoomed in when you're making a presentation and then creating time afterwards to really talk about it. And so I would say you're finding more time than just three minute or five minute pitches, but really a conversation. And so the first thing I would say is you want to be prepared to go deep into the operations of a business, I would say the upside is that Gone are the days of the three five minute pitch and you keep your fingers crossed and you pray that the investors are going to ask you a bunch of questions, when indeed as I would recommend sending an overview or brief in advance of your call. So there's some kind of one page or a fact sheet or some background that at least gives a high level structure to what your business is. And so therefore, when you're going through your deck during that meeting, which could be anywhere between 3545 or 60 minutes, you have a chance to really go deep then in some cases, you are pre emptive in your presentation and being able to answer their questions. And recognizing that whatever time you have a lot of I recommend 1/3 of that time should be spent on presentation. And two thirds should be spent on questions and a chance for them to really hear from you. And really get a sense that you are the appropriate leader or a part of a leadership team to lead this company. But what's important to know is that venture capitals or at least myself, and particularly when I see anyone's financials, I probably discount them about 20% right off the bat. And I'm not so much looking at the numbers, but I'm looking to really understand what are your strategies, what is the infrastructure, who is the team that's going to drive you to that performance, and to really want to go deep into the day to day and the execution and the strategies and the leadership team. So that's really important for the box number one here. The second is that again, because you have more time a deck is a guide, not the entire story. So please do not put everything in the deck and do not try to put everything on one slide. But really use it as a guide to help you have a conversation. I think being conversational in tone less stoic, less formal in that presentation is really important and so everything should not be crammed in the deck but really high lights to then allow you to fill in the gaps and really create a smooth and well paced story for your investors. And then the other thing is, you know, consider whether or not you want to do a pitch and or a demo, or both. What I would say is the demo was that even in the world of zoom, and all these others and happen wherever else, technology is still highly imperfect. So if you want to do a demo, make sure that you have practice it several times over. And in some cases, what we have done is we have balanced at Ureeka, between doing live demos, but also sharing recorded demos, as well. And so kind of putting them on Play and walking them through so that I can focus on telling the story, I can make sure that there's no flaws in the demo. And then obviously giving them a chance to play around with the technology themselves thereafter. But I think those are some important things to think about in this new environment that again, go on to the days of quick pitches and zooming through. But now is the time to really have a conversation and deeply engage the investor in your story in your vision, and really understanding what the product or service is. Some of the things that again, as we talk about how you're showing up in this world of pitching, I would say one is that it's conversational in nature, but still formality and tone. So you want to be respectful, you want to avoid jargon, you want to make sure it's clear what you're talking about. But it's really conversational in nature, it is much more of a two way conversation that we've probably seen before. I think again, pace yourself be really clear in advance how much time you have. And again, split it up 1/3 presenting two thirds being prepared to ask questions and really have that conversation. So pace yourself, you know, don't rush through, if you only have 30 minutes is probably not the best time to do a demo, you might want to follow up with a recorded demo or make an offer to do a demo afterwards. But really just make sure you're clear on how much time you have. The other thing is focus on a few key things, you know, what investors really care about? And particularly speaking from the entrepreneur side is not just the money we're making, but how do we make it? And what are the things that we have learned post COVID that allow us to have confidence in what our projections are, the beauty about financials is that they're nothing but a set of projections. And so you want to make sure and really build confidence in the investors mind that you understand how to get those two projections, more than likely all of us at some point in time are going to fall short on those projections. So the investor wants to make sure that you have a really good handle on what is the strategy? How can you pivot quickly, how can you recover? Those are going to be really important things. I would say I know myself my whole new wardrobe, since we've gotten to COVID, which is black t shirts every day, in part because at least they're clean. They look good, it's pretty standard is by uniform. Now, I'm not going to say that you have to wear a T shirt or you or you have to wear a suit. But dress professionally. You know, if you have a logo t shirt, that's great or put on a collared shirt. But all I would say is don't show up in your PJs. And if you have peaches in the bottom that please don't stand up. I had that happen with an entrepreneur, they was like wait, I'll be right back. And I was like, Oh, cute, cute. It was like a little Looney Tunes PJ's, and it lended for good conversation. But we took made a joke out of it. But you know, you just don't want to make those kinds of errors. The other thing obviously, is depending on what your home life is, if you got dogs, if you got neighbors, if you got roommates, just let them know, like this is a time I really need to be dialed in and focus. And the final thing is, you know, again, I would argue we're probably all working way harder now than we have before. And so make sure you pace yourself, not just in your presentation. But in preparing for it. If you have a presentation at one o'clock, for example, getting prepared for this, I made sure I 20 minutes in advance, just to take some water walk around clear my mind not be focused on the last phone call I had and not trying to think about the rest of things I have to do today. So you really want to take time to dial in. If that means standing and taking the call great. If that means walking around your house or outside or doing a little jog in place, whatever it is, you want to come to this as energized as possible. Because what's going to really resonate is your passion, not just reading a bunch of bullets off of a slide. And then when it comes to some of the content in terms of what that conversation lead to, these are some of the things that we find. Investors are asking us and I'm asking entrepreneurs, one is COVID has thrown us all for a loop now, believe it or not, it's been a year. And so really want to understand, and I would say probably 20 to 30% of the conversation is gonna matter what have you learned? Because we're not sure what the future is going to hold? We have no idea what the world's gonna look like if we're fully vaccinated or near being vaccinated. And so you really want to talk about not just the immediate steps you've made, but what you've learned. What did you do that worked? What did you do and you completely fell on your face? That's extremely important so that we as investors can get a sense that you have learned something, that you've tested some things and you have some level of clarity about 80 85% clarity and where you want to move forward in light of COVID. But you want to be also transparent. What did you learn what worked, what didn't work, it's going to be important that you're able to demonstrate that there's an element of reflection in your leadership style, because again, stuffs gonna go wrong and investors want to know that you're going to be transparent about what went wrong. Be you're going to be reflecting about what's wrong, and most important, you're gonna have a solution on how to fix it. So again, being able to demonstrate that skill set and that leadership ability is going to be extremely important. As a finance major, I consistently, this is my phrase, know your numbers, and not just Well, we're going to have a net profit of 1.2 million, that's a 35% increase, but no the inputs, know how you get there know how they can change, if you begin to pull levers, I always say that a company should think about the three to five key levers that it has to pull on a regular basis to generate growth and scale. Some of that could be customer acquisition. Some of that could be infrastructure, some of that could be team, some of that could be your marketing plan, whatever it is, and really know that when I pull each of those levers, if I pull the marketing lever and put more in Facebook ads, or ID or Twitter, what does that do to my infrastructure? What does that do to my team? And so it's knowing your numbers, but not in a static sense, knowing that based on strategies, how do they change? How do they fluctuate? What do they look like before COVID? What it look like post COVID? And more importantly, what are you projecting or predicting for the next six to 18 months? And why? What are you the assumptions, you're making both a bunch of customer and about the market opportunity. And then market opportunity really leads me to something that hasn't changed with her word COVID? Or not? Which is, what is your competitive advantage? And how do you sustain it? You know, we see all the stats that a lot of businesses have closed during COVID. But we also know with any recession, it is a boom time for entrepreneurs is a lot new companies coming on board, there's a lot of new players entering. And so you want to make sure that you're on top of it. And it's not just that slide of like, Here I am, here's my competitors, look at all the x's that I have, look at all the x's they don't have. But it's really understanding not just how you're different, but how you're going to sustain that competitive advantage over time. Is it your long term value to customers? Is it your marketing strategy? Is it your some kind of patented process? Is it the ability that you're solving a friction point faster? Whatever it is, but really be able to talk about how that gets sustained? How much that cost to sustain? And what is that ultimately doing to your margins at the end of the story. So that's extremely important. And then probably less what you had free COVID but really now is understanding your customer acquisition strategy. We are all home, we are all bombarded by all kinds of things on our phones and our desktops. And so where investors are really drilling down and we Ureeka really refined This is what is our social media strategy? How are the channels working? What are the channels working best? What are the economics of use of those channels? How is our pricing changed at Ureeka? We decided that when COVID hit, we wouldn't charge anybody? Well, that was a big hit. And luckily, our initial investors were all on board. But as we're now going out and talking to other investors, they want to know, okay, that year free was great. When are you going to start making even more money? And what does that look like? And being mindful and balancing that we all have the fiduciary responsibility to create a successful, profitable, scalable company, but we can't do that at the expense of our customers who many are suffering and struggling right now? So being mindful of what you did before COVID? And your pricing strategy? What are some of the changes you've made? Are you making some discounts? Are you ramping up? Have you even changed your your financial model? That's going to be really important. And then conversion has always been important. But understanding what has changed in that time duration? What is changing that cost? What are you learning around the tipping point for conversion, and then obviously, really understanding customer service and support. One of the things I think regardless of what industry you're in, is because people are home, they have a lot more time to be critical. And so making sure that customer service and support is not just responding to the bad things, but really figuring out how can you engage your customers in your ongoing growth strategy? How do you get positive feedbacks? How do you create referral programs? How do you support your customers and actually helping you generate more revenue and more traction in the market? And then of course, also, how do you have customer service and support to be able to manage your ideally, increase in sales? Your job as a CEO, and as a founder is not to always manage all the little things? And so how are you really creating a scalable infrastructure, so that you as a CEO can focus on revenue generation, you can focus on sales, you can focus on customer acquisition. And that's something that oftentimes we don't talk about, when you're raising money, we clearly care about the historical nature of what you accomplished. But we're much more focused on that use of funds and not just what percentage goes to marketing and what percentage goes to staff. But really, what are the strategies that these people are going to be employing who develop them? How will they be monitored? How will they pivot? And the last thing I'll say is and who else is on that team. If you're out here raising money, I would say even more so now you have investors who are stepping up and wanting to have board seats and wanting to be involved in not just in advisory are non voting positions. And so being thoughtful in not just pitching to as many people as possible, but really identifying who are the best people that you want to have on your team and on your cap table to really help drive this home. And so we think about how to get ready. I think one is being reflected, which I've talked about before, and really take the time to say what are the top two to four things I want to get across to this investor, then that brings me to something that's really important, not all VCs are the same. Therefore, your presentation should not be the same. You should have a unique deck for every single venture capitalist that you talk to, because all of them are different. All of them have different priorities and focus in is up to you to do your homework in advance. So it's not one size fits all, because that's not the case. So really be reflective, not only in what you're going to talk about and what your priorities are, we reflective and do your homework to figure out are the priorities that you want to share align with what that investor actually cares about. So that's a big step. And I would say, again, you know, you have more time prepare, I think we all hopefully have better control of our schedules. So you're not running up and down Sand Hill Road meeting, after meeting, but create the space in between to really be zoned in tuned in to that initial investor and what their focus is. The second thing, which I think still stands, hopefully is be honest, this is a time where I will say investors are much more understanding, because I think none of us are walking around with the perfect pivot COVID plan. I think we're learning from each other. And so be honest about what worked, be honest about what didn't work. Be honest around what was the impetus for your underlying assumptions? And how did you know you went wrong? Because the reality is, we're all gonna make mistakes, once we raise money, the critical thing is, are we able to demonstrate and build faith and confidence in the investors that we have a mechanism by which we're checking in, we have a mechanism where we're transparent, and what's working, what's not working, we have a systemic process, whether it's with staff, or with partners or with our boards, to say this didn't work, I sure can welcome some help, and how to really course correct this and make this right. I've said this before, but this is really about conversation and content. I know there's still tons of pitch competitions happening all over. But I would say when you get to a point of having a one on one conversation, you or your team, with an investor, this is really around less about let me run to the deck. But let me really give some depth and context on why you think your company deserves this investment and why you are the best company be part of their portfolio. And with that said, I would say that, you know, again, the allocation of time is 1/3. conversation, two thirds, q&a, but also making sure that you're taking notes. You know, these conversations are a learning opportunity for both sides. And so it should be conversational in tone, less pitching, but conversations not that you're pushing and driving your own agenda, but you're listening to the investor and taking notes on what you could be doing better. And where you can improve. Rest, assure the investor community is extremely, extremely small. We all know each other, we all compare notes, certainly zoom are all showing up at different events. And so you want to be consistent. And you want to make sure that you're always working to improve your pitches as you move forward. Depending on the sector that you're in, it's always helpful of sending that brief first, so that there are some grounding and context about the company, using the investor conversation to really bring home and bring some depth and texture to what you're doing. And then being able to have a follow up and sharing some case studies, either the case studies or in customers that demonstrate your marketing strategies, your customer acquisition strategies, maybe case studies on your own postmortem reflections on what you did when COVID happened and what worked and what didn't work. But something there's just again, goes to demonstrate your leadership skills and the strategies you have to really go and grow this company. And then obviously, in addition to following up with the deck, giving any other data requested. And certainly before you end the call recapping what are the next steps, the last thing you want to do is get off of a zoom call and say I think that went well. But I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do next. And so really make sure that you have time at the end to not just say thank you, but have clarity on what happens. What is their process? What do you need to do? When do you need to check in again, when will you expect to hear from them? What else do they need? Make sure you understand not just the next steps like right after this meeting, but what is the process for them to get to a Yes, so that you can balance your time because at any point in time, when people are raising it, entrepreneurs can be talking to anywhere between seven to 12 investors maybe even more. And so again, you want to take note, you want to have your own grid and your own internal systems to track and make sure that you're following up and delivering. And then I think the biggest thing, before I add some more tips is focus on business momentum. You know, it's COVID and we've all had a heck of a time and at some point in time, I'm sure We've all struggled. And there's nothing wrong with that you want to be honest about that, but focused on what are the two to three things that you've learned that you really feel good about. And that is going to really drive the momentum to carry it forward for the rest of 2021. And then continue to build momentum for the subsequent two to three years. And so you want to make sure that you end on a high note you want to talk about and reflect on what you've learned, what worked, what didn't work, you want to talk about where you're going, and what are the strategy you're seeking money for. And then you really want to end on a high note that if I get this investment, this is where I want to go, or even without the investment, this is where I'm headed. And this is why would make you'd be a great partner. So those things are going to be really important. So other tips that I want to share, that are really now based on conversation I've just had for the past couple of days is that, you know, one presenting is a full body experience. So I'm sitting down now, but sometimes I like to get up, I like to stand up, it helps me feel engage. And so make sure that it doesn't feel like you're reading them some bedtime story, but that you're actively engaged, and you're excited, and you're passionate. The other thing is we talked about the deck and we talked about a demo. In your deck, though, use diagrams, you know, we all have shorthanded in our minds as an entrepreneur, everything is extremely close to clear on how it works. But make sure that you use visuals where you can, I know I didn't do a good job of that, because I wanted to leave you with some talking points. But don't just make them text heavy. Show them how your internal systems work, show them how a sales channel works, show them how your team has a feedback loop around customer service, it just really makes the story pop. And again, remember, once you've finished pitching, this deck is probably going to be seen by at least three to five other people and your soundtrack won't be there. So you want to make sure that when the VCs are taking notes, that there's not going to just be relying on what's on the slide in printed text, but they can actually see what's happening in the country and have some of your systems come to life and some of your strategies come to life. So that's also extremely important. The other piece I would say is, you know, all statements at some point in time should have some numbers, right. venture capitalists and other types of investors are looking to make decisions based on quantitative outputs and outcomes. And so for you to say I expect to increase my sales over the next six months. Well, that's cool, but rather say expect to increase my sales by 35%, over the next six months by doing these three things. And really making a tactical, tactical, intangible is going to be extremely important. And I have seen a lot of pitches lately is is there lots of competitions coming up. And people just tell me all about their ambitions, but they're non quantitative in nature. And what you have to remember is that as an investor, this is a competitive process. And it's less about you, it's just I have to decide with the limited funds I have, who are the people that I want in my portfolio, because I have to return this money to my LPs. And so I want to bet on people who are accurate, and specific in terms of what they're delivering. And so the more that you can be concrete in your numbers and what you're going to deliver, whether it's financial numbers, or growth numbers or staffing numbers, that's going to be really important to make sure that you are indeed specific, I cannot emphasize enough take notes. Because again, this is a learning process. If you're lucky, you're probably going to have at least two to three conversation with the investors. And the last thing you want to do is show up and have them asking you the same exact questions as before, and you mind demonstrating that you listened, you know, part of an investor, your job is not just what are you going to do with the money, but how are they going to interact with you. And that's at a whole portfolio management phase. And so your ability to take notes and show up at subsequent meetings well prepared and being reflective on what was shared to you, and demonstrating that you are coachable. And that you take feedback is going to be extremely important. So I cannot overemphasize enough. taking those notes. In many cases, you know, if you're the founder, or you have a co founder, you know, technology can be a little quirky. But I would say if you've got a strong team bring the strongest with you show that you have people with you. And this is not a solo journey, because it just helps to build confidence. And it helps to show that you can move as fast as you said, you can because you have a team around you. And that team can include your staff, that team can include your advisors, it could include existing board members. But the most important thing is that you get to invite them, make sure they show up well make sure they are reflective, they are honest, they know what they're talking about. They're excited, they're enthusiastic, they're helping to build momentum. But feel free to bring other people if you think they're going to bring positive value to your overall presentation. The other thing I would say is reminding you that show up early, you know we're all running in between. So take that break, take that time before and show up, you know, 1015 minutes early, just to make sure that you're set, that you're not playing around with any tech issues. You've got the right background, if you care about room Raider, you're good that your slides work, but try everything out as soon as possible. Just so that you have a smooth process. You're not caught up in tech glitches which we all can make sure you stay unmuted and all those kinds of things. And the final thing that I would say Is have fun. I know that's hard. It's extremely, extremely nerve wracking to go ask for money. And so whether it's you're asking from your parents, from your friends, and certainly from a bunch of strangers, but have fun. At the end of the day, you are an entrepreneur, you started this company, because you had a passion, you had a belief, you were really excited you believed in what you're doing, and let that show through. Don't panic, this is your chance to shine. Sure, you may get some negative feedback, you may get some criticism, you probably get lots of hard questions. But it's not in the vein of trying to knock you down. It's in the vein of really trying to understand the business. So I encourage you to take a swig of water, water only. Take a deep breath and enjoy, enjoy the ride. Because what investors do look for is your personality and your persistence. And you want that to come across on screen. So don't show up stoic. Don't pretend like you're Fred Flintstone living in the Stone Age, have fun, be engaged, be conversational, and hopefully, you'll get the financial results that you need. So I hope these tips have been helpful. And I'm even more excited to take questions and get some real life examples, if I can be helpful