Forty was the number of times Daniel van Binsbergen pitched to聽investors when he was looking for 拢850,000 to grow his tech business.
To get to that stage he had got in touch with contacts to drum up聽interest, asked for introductions to entrepreneurs and looked to existing investors to connect him with their investor friends.
This was from July to October 2015, not the ideal time, he says, as most people were in holiday mode: 鈥淚t was like herding cats,鈥 he says.
In the end he gained money from 13 different investors for Lexoo, his London-based comparison website that connects businesses with lawyers.
The platform invites businesses to post a legal job online, which lawyers can then bid on and users choose the fixed fee quote they are happy with.
Pitching so many times meant van Binsbergen, originally from the Netherlands, was able to refine his style, changing the content of slides to answer questions that had been raised in previous pitches.
鈥淵ou become more confident because at some point every single question that could be asked has been asked of you,鈥 he says.
鈥淚n any other aspect of business you鈥檙e not told 鈥榥o鈥 that often. I personally needed to get used to that to keep my energy up 鈥 and quite often they never actually said no, I had to deduce it.鈥
The costly nature of tech businesses can mean gaining outside investment is essential to get a venture off the ground or grow an enterprise.
So how can entrepreneurs ensure they have the best chances of walking away with the cash?
How to get in front of investors
Find out where venture capitalists hang out, says John Newton, chief technology officer and founder of content management platform Alfresco, which has a base in Slough and headquarters in California.
鈥淚f you go to a VC website you can see where some of the partners are presenting,鈥 he says.
鈥淐heck out what they鈥檙e talking about and what their interests are and, if there鈥檚 an opportunity, you could approach them to say you鈥檙e working on an idea without necessarily pitching to them.鈥
As van Binsbergen says, existing contacts are important and LinkedIn has made it easier for entrepreneurs to access those who can help them.
The planning process should involve looking at the panel鈥檚 interests and investment priorities.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 invest in a business that doesn鈥檛 match the criteria set by investors, but sometimes a management team will criticise us for that,鈥 says Doug Stellman, fund manager at Manchester-based venture capital firm EV Group.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not good to get into an argument at your first meeting with a potential investor and doesn鈥檛 look good when we鈥檙e trying to assess an individual鈥檚 emotional intelligence.鈥
Before you pitch
It鈥檚 no surprise that preparation is high on the to-do list 鈥 after all, this could be the pitch that changes your life.
Simon Swan, founder and chief executive of Manchester-based Hiring Hub, an online recruitment marketplace, raised 拢250,000 two years after setting up his business and, later, a further 拢465,000.
Currently working on another round of funding, he says planning is important.
鈥淭he round we鈥檙e working on now we鈥檝e been talking to them for 12 months in advance with conversational coffees,鈥 he says.
鈥淲e鈥檝e gone to these meetings with no intention to get money, just to update them on the business and how it鈥檚 growing.鈥
Before the pitch, know your market size and potential growth.
鈥淢ake sure you鈥檝e gone out and found people who you think are the potential clients and ask if they would be interested,鈥 says Simon Chadwick, director of Hub Strategic Communications in Altrincham, Cheshire.
鈥淚t鈥檚 getting some validation of your assumption so you can prove what a great opportunity this is.鈥
Chadwick has seen both sides, having raised money for a tech business in 2000 and as chief technology officer of a tech investments business in New York later.
Suggesting the investor visits your headquarters can also be useful.
Titus Sharpe, chief executive and co-founder of digital marketing and tech company MVF, in London, built up his company from scratch but sold a 40 per cent stake in 2005.
鈥淚 would definitely recommend a site visit,鈥 he says.
鈥淎t MVF one of our big selling points is our world-class teams so it鈥檚 important that anyone investing comes to our offices and sees them first-hand and gets a feel for our company culture.鈥
Investor Richard Law, chief executive at Chester-headquartered identity intelligence specialist GB Group, agrees.
鈥淚 like to go to their place and speak to some of the people as well and have more than just the leadership team in the meeting,鈥 he says.
When he invested in car finance group Zuto four years ago, a site visit was beneficial.
鈥淎s soon as I walked into their building there was an immediate buzz because of the enthusiasm and passion of the people,鈥 Law adds.
How should you dress?
Views differ, especially because the nature of a tech business means you may not necessarily live in a suit.
鈥淒ress as you would normally, I typically wear an open-neck shirt or a t-shirt and hoodie,鈥 says George Burgess, who founded exam revision app Gojimo in 2009 while at university.
Now based in London, the business has backing from some of Europe鈥檚 top investors, including JamJar Investments, the consumer venture fund started by the founders of Innocent drinks.
鈥淒efinitely be yourself,鈥 adds MVF鈥檚 Sharpe.
鈥淣o one in tech really wears a full tie and suit so it would seem odd if me and the co-founders turned up to pitch like that 卢鈥 and I鈥檓 sure we would come across as uncomfortable, too.鈥
Others suggest researching how your potential investors are likely to look and mirroring their dress code.
鈥淵ou want to be well-presented in an office environment and it might not look great if you look like you鈥檝e been working on a building site 鈥 although if there are a group of you wearing hoodies with your logo on then you can explain it,鈥 says Hub鈥檚 Chadwick.
鈥淵ou only get one opportunity to make an impression so it鈥檚 about trying to find the middle ground.鈥
How long should a pitch last?
This depends on your audience. Gareth Williams, founder and managing director of Bristol-based Yellow Dog, has different versions of his pitch lasting one minute, 90 seconds, three minutes and five minutes.
Since it launched in January 2015, he has raised 拢1.2m for his business, a platform that harnesses under-used computer power and makes it available to 3D artists and animators.
鈥淲henever there was an opportunity to pitch, I pitched,鈥 says Williams.
Chadwick says around 10-15 minutes is about right for any tech pitch.
鈥淭ry to imagine you鈥檙e having a conversation with them and the fewer words on a slide presentation the better 鈥 if you can find an image that gets your message across then that speaks a thousand words,鈥 he says.
If you鈥檙e not confident at pitching, find someone within the business who can engage people, Chadwick says. Your 鈥渨arm-up鈥 person can then lead on to you.
Gojimo鈥檚 Burgess recommends ten to 15 slides, but adds these should be self-explanatory.
鈥淚t’s important the pitch deck is quite clear and gives a good overview 鈥 bear in mind it will probably be emailed beforehand and possibly shared internally or even externally, so the deck should be clear even without someone speaking over it,鈥 he says.
How technical should you be?
Not at all seems to be the stock answer. 鈥淭he way I do it is by starting with something intriguing, a hook that makes people want more,鈥 says YellowDog鈥檚 Williams.
Investor Law suggests imagining you鈥檙e pitching to a relative.
鈥淕oogle technology is amazingly complicated but, put simply, it shares the knowledge of the world with everyone in the world,鈥 he says.
鈥淚f an investor鈥檚 mind is trying to process lots of complicated explanations they鈥檙e not really able to form a very clear view of value.鈥
Adam Gillett, senior business development manager at crowdfunding site Crowdcube, suggests starting by talking about the problem you鈥檙e solving.
鈥淵ou need to give the value proposition because anything too technical can be alienating,鈥 he says.
What should you include?
Have evidence of traction in the market, sales, customer feedback, awards and press coverage 鈥 鈥渢hey鈥檙e all useful things in your arsenal鈥, says Williams.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a story that you鈥檙e trying to build so you need to say this funding will help us do x, y and z.鈥
Swan says you should give the 鈥渉eadlines of the opportunity鈥, but writing this should not be rushed.
鈥淪ix months before you need it you should think about putting that document together,鈥 he says.
Effective analysis of similar businesses is also important.
鈥淥ne of my bugbears is that I continually find that companies think too narrowly in terms of who their competitors are,鈥 says EV鈥檚 Stellman.
He suggests your pitch should cover four areas: technology, market, management team and financial broadcast/business model.
A credible exit strategy can also be important, even if the business is early stage, Gillett says. This shows investors you are thinking about the future and indicates when they can get a return.
Though proof of customers or sales is important, it is possible to gain investment without. John Newton鈥檚 Alfresco raised 拢4.5m in its first round of bidding with just a product but no customers.
鈥淚t鈥檚 highly unusual to pitch for an A round when you don鈥檛 have customers but we had a track record,鈥 Newton says.
What else should you know?
鈥淎sk questions throughout 鈥 don鈥檛 leave it until the end,鈥 says Newton.
He advises looking at body language to gauge how it鈥檚 going, while an investor taking lots of notes and drilling into your business model is usually a good sign.
The process is as much about you interviewing them as they are you, says YellowDog鈥檚 Williams: 鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to be tied together for at least three years so it鈥檚 very much about sussing each other out,鈥 he says.
You need to be prepared to answer all manner of questions, so be prepared. Williams鈥 worst pitch was to a PE club in Bristol.
鈥淚 was tired, not on game and my answers were terrible,鈥 he says.
鈥淚 just had an off-day, but because I鈥檇 met them a few months earlier I was able to redo it and it went fine, and we got the investment.鈥
While being too technical in your initial pitch is a no-no, it may be that an investor asks for a technical explanation later on, and you should be prepared to provide one.
Be nice
Crowdcube鈥檚 Gillett says any pitch is just as much about the people as it is the product.
鈥淪ometimes an investor can ask a spiky question and because an entrepreneur loves their business they might give a spiky answer,鈥 he says.
鈥淭he best way to deal with this is to be upbeat and give a positive answer back rather than a negative knee-jerk reaction.鈥
This is especially important when crowdfunding, he says, as written questions and answers are seen by everyone who visits your page.
Law agrees, recalling a start-up that pitched to him.
鈥淭he managing director reacted very badly to being asked questions 鈥 he got very abrupt and shouty 鈥 and he ended the presentation by saying he wasn鈥檛 sure I was right for his business because I didn鈥檛 understand the model,鈥 he says.
鈥淔our weeks later he rang me up and said he really wanted me to invest.鈥
MVF鈥檚 Sharpe suggests treating the pitch like a conversation.
鈥淧eople are buying into you as a founder as much as the company you are building so it鈥檚 important they feel like they are seeing the real you, and not just watching you reading from a script.
“Keep your delivery natural and make it more of a two-way discussion than a broadcast about your business.鈥
Although coming across as personable is a good thing, Newton advises caution after delivering his 鈥渨orst ever鈥 pitch to Welshman venture capitalist Michael Moritz, of Sequoia Capital, whose investments include Yahoo and Google.
鈥淚 had lived in Britain and I thought I鈥檇 build some rapport with him by talking about things in England and shared experiences,鈥 says US-born Newton.
鈥淗e wasn鈥檛 having any of it though and he moved his finger as if to say 鈥榤ove it on鈥 鈥 it was just awful.鈥
Despite this, Moritz became an investor in Newton鈥檚 previous business, Documentum, a content management platform.
What you should expect afterwards
Chadwick suggests closing your meeting by asking what you should expect next.
鈥淚t might be that your initial presentation was to somebody of medium rank and you might need to go back to speak to somebody more senior,鈥 he says.
鈥淢ake sure you clearly understand the next step and get email addresses.鈥
When you next hear from them it鈥檚 a good idea to ask for feedback.
鈥淚 iterate my deck after every single pitch, updating it based on the previous meeting, to better answer questions or make specific points clearer,鈥 Burgess says.
鈥淢y pitching style hasn鈥檛 changed but importantly I better understand what investors want to know.鈥
The process can take from as little as a few months and EV鈥檚 Stellman has known some to take up to 18 months.
鈥淚t鈥檚 worth saying that raising money is all-consuming, it takes over and is at the front of your mind all the time,鈥 says Swan, who says that during any funding bid he focuses solely on the process while his co-founder runs the business.
Hub鈥檚 Chadwick agrees you need to put the legwork in.
鈥淚 raised money in 2008 that required me to commute from Manchester to New York on a weekly basis for three months,鈥 he says.
鈥淲hile this is going on you鈥檝e still got products to develop and sales to make.鈥