There’s a lot of bad advice out there on how to pitch your startup.
Last year, I invested $1M+ and heard 200 companies pitch.
Every great pitch I've heard nails 5 ingredients.
In this thread, we'll go through each to help maximize your chances when fundraising
Let's dig in👇
1/ Every pitch should have 5 ingredients:
- Problem: Is this an issue
- Solution: Do you have the fix
- Market: Is this a big enough issue
- Business: Can you make money
- Team: Are you the people to do it
The best pitches nail all 5. Good ones hit 4. Subpar hit 3 or less.
2/ PROBLEM
The problem statement is an explanation of why a set of circumstances is painful for a set of users.
There’s one word in that sentence that is most important: painful.
If your problem is not painful enough, it's a vitamin.
0/ With 320 companies in the latest batch, it’s time YC seriously considers a YC ETF.
Why?
- The whole batch would get funded < 1 week
- Founders can personally de-risk and share in upside
- 1M+ new “outsiders” could get some skin in the game
Here’s how I would do it:
1/ First, let’s level set. What’s an ETF?
ETF = a collection of securities in a single vehicle.
Suppose you wanted to buy shares of all companies in the S&P 500.
Pre-ETF, you’d buy each individual stock.
An ETF let's you buy 1 stock (SPY) to get exposure to all 500.
0/ Over the last 5 years, I’ve had some lucky breaks and meaningful wins.
Growing a bootstrapped business by 8 figures in revenue is at the top of the list.
The “highlight reel” is pretty.
Reality was filled with failure, doubt and misstep.
Top things I wish I knew 👇
1/ Everything boils down to AMA
A: Ability - do you have the skills to pull it off?
M: Motivation - do you have the desire to pull it off?
A: Attitude - do you have the headspace to pull it off?
Strive for situations where each of these 3 are firing on all cylinders.