Do your homework before pitching to any investor. This will ensure you are aware of and aligned with the prospective investors’ objectives as some investors may have certain criteria for the companies in which they invest. For example, the company may need to be in specific sectors (e.g., Climate Tech, EdTech or AI), geographical locations or at a specific financing stage. An easy starting place to see if you and an investor are aligned would be to research their portfolio companies, being the companies which that investor has invested in before.
Analyse and understand your market and competitive landscape prior to pitching. Every company will have competition, whether direct or indirect and an analysis of your company's competitors will show an investor that you have thought critically about your company's potential customers and their needs and the gap in the market for your company.
Know how much funding your company requires for this phase of its growth, how their investment would be used and what your company's proposed burn rate will do based on those plans. This information will allow an investor to see whether your pitch is reasonable given your company's capital requirements and a likely timeline as to when you will need to undertake the next round of financing.
All investments have an element of risk, so it is important to understand the challenges faced by your company (e.g., regulatory, political or technological) and be able to explain to an investor how you propose to mitigate any risks to their investment when asked.
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