How do you properly present your company to investors?

Here are the key issues to follow (taken from www.investmentslides.com):

1. Company introduction: Venture Capital and Private Equity funds don't invest in

companies or technologies - they invest in people. That means you! Therefore the initial

section of the investment presentation must present to the prospective investors that you

and your team can execute the plan - present your experience and expertise and what

makes you a great team.

2. Mission statement: Start-up's should use one sentence to state their goal. Don't be

afraid to be bold - you are expected to, but keep it short and avoid generalized

statements. More mature companies, company presentations to private equity funds,

should include a short description of the company's business and positioning.

3. Pain and value proposition: whether it is a technological edge, a strong client base

or amazing manufacturing power - both start-ups and mature companies should state

their value proposition in a clear (preferably visual) manner. Very often (particularly in the

event of a startup) it is recommended to introduce the value proposition slide with a

preliminary slide describing the specific market failure you address.

4. The product/solution/service: investor presentations should include 2-3 slides

describing your specific offering. When presenting technological solutions, it is important

to consider the technical aptitude of the audience ahead of time - investment

presentation delivered to financial oriented audience should cover your relative

advantages, but shouldn't be too specific on technical subjects

5. The market and competition: describe your market and competitors honestly in 2-5

slides. Do not try to underplay your competition, investors see many venture capital

presentations and may have met with your competition… In mature companies,

investment presentations may contain references to the company's status in the form of a

Porter 5 forces model analysis.

6. Business Model: a venture capital presentation delivered by a start up company

needs to convince that the company has a solid business model that will empower actual

gains.

7. Case study/Client base: a VC presentation can be empowered by actual proof of

concept in a form of an actual client or (preferably in many cases) a canned demo. In an

investor presentation aimed at raising funds from private equity, a description of current

client base is important, as it is typically the major asset the company holds.

8. SWAT analysis (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats): this slide is

important in mature company's analysis. Nevertheless, it can also be useful in certain VC

presentation cases

9. Financials: the message delivered in this section changes from private equity and

venture capital presentation. In the case of a start-up, the company should prove that it

can gain significant cash flow from its activity. Mature companies need to provide further

information beyond future cash flow analysis, as this information is needed for the

company valuation. This additional information can include balance analysis, changes in

working capital etc.

10. Summary: provide one slide describing your offering. Remember to emphasize the

top key issues you want investors to remember from your venture capital presentation

For more info regarding investor presentation please link to www.investmentslides.com