Miguel Arias provides tips for pitching a startup to venture capitalists (VCs) in 3 sentences or less: The document outlines the key elements of an effective VC pitch, including an elevator pitch, product demo, market size analysis, financial projections, and team qualifications. It also provides examples of dos and don'ts, and shares Miguel's experience pitching his company, IMASTE, which develops virtual events platforms.

1. How to pitch a
VC?
Miguel Arias
March 25th, 2011
@mike_arias

2. erasmus services

4. university job fairs

6. Key elements
Elevator pitch - 60 sec quick pitch
The money shot - Demo
Size Matters - Market
Nice Number$ - Customers&revenue
SuperHeroes & Rockstars

7. An example
http://www.emprendedorestv.com/canal/52/entrepreneurs

8. Be a VC
for 1 day

9. Pitching
time

10. Real case
study

11. Virtual events get real
Miguel Arias
CTO - Founder
marias@imaste-ips.com / Do not distribute this information

12. Company
purpose &
Elevator pitch

13. marias@imaste-ips.com / Do not distribute this information

14. Painkiller
what is the problem we try
to solve?

15. The problem - painkiller
Make it obvious
Who has it?
Why is your solution:
Making customers Happy
Does it better, different

16. Show that you have a
real product or a
tangible prototype

17. Virtual fairs platform DEMO
marias@imaste-ips.com / Do not distribute this information

18. Do you have a
great team &
tested structure?

19. People that get
VCs HOT:
Techie geeks
Entrepreneurs with exits
Sales guys with customers

20. IMASTE fact sheet
Founders Key employees
Founded in 2004 Madrid based
Total Headcount 30
Alberto Perez
Senior Frontend Engineer
Aitor Zabala
COO Daniel Olmos
Angel Palomino Video - 3D Responsible
Chief Architect
Miguel Arias
CTO Elena Díaz
Ivan Benito Operations Manager
Senior Backend Engineer
Miguel Fernández
Biz Dev Responsible David Mota Patricia Peña
UX Responsible PR Manager
Investors & Funding Technology
1.0 MM$ Bootstrapped resources Adobe Flex, AS3, Java
0,15 MM$ Debt finance Hybrid HTML & Flash providing real time interaction
SaaS delivery model - Cloud based
0,45 MM$ Convertible loan
Series A @ ENISA No plugins - Enhanced performance
Potentially raising 2 MM$ Series B @ BAngels marias@imaste-ips.com / Do not distribute this information

21. How are you going to
make money?
Is it already
working?

22. Business model
Describe top 1-3 sources of revenue
Are you BtoB, BtoC?
Which are your cost drivers?

23. IMASTE numbers Physical events Virtual events
6
Revenue
-- MM$ 2010
4,5
US$ 4,5M
3 US$ 0,8M
Profitable status US$ 2,8M
1,5
US$ 0,9M US$ 1,2M
US$ 2,5M
Business Model US$ 1,4M US$ 1,2M US$ 1,2M US$ 1,2M
0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
20.000 $ avge platform prize
Activity
30 % of virtual event total cost
10 days of event´s duration 90.000 attendees per event
850.000 monthly aggregated users
Development 45 exhibitors per event
8 major releases
IMASTEBOX 2.0 launched Dec 2010
280 total active customers
marias@imaste-ips.com / Do not distribute this information

24. Some don´ts
Be too optimistic Divide sales projections/10
Show many tables & graphs
Make the model too complex

25. Are you
ambitious?
How global
is your project?

26. International presence
Milestones
125 successful events in more than 20 countries
Multi english, french, spanish, german, portuguese, czech, hungarian,
language polish, swedish, finish, croatian versions available
marias@imaste-ips.com / Do not distribute this information

27. Market share & diversification
Milestones
2.300
70 25%
200 40%
1.725
5%
35%
1.150
30% 2011
1.750
65%
575
Job Fairs
Trade shows
Corporate events
2011 IMASTE
EUROPE
2010
US & ASIA
marias@imaste-ips.com / Do not distribute this information

28. Marketmy time?
is this worth
size,

29. Market size
Bigger is better
Someone else reported it (Forrester, Gartner, mom)
You have some great calculations based on:
Usage metrics & revenue per user
Show astonishing growing TRENDS

30. How credible are you?
Who are your
customers &
partners?

31. Partners & Customers
Partners Customers 1.000 US$MM
1000
GLOBAL EUROPE
750
500
250 200 US$MM
150 US$MM
70 US$MM
5 US$MM 15 US$MM
0
2010 2011 2014
“IMASTE’s platform is battle-tested for scale...”
Jennifer Belissent
Tech partners
“Virtual Conf & trade show market $18,6 Billion
in 2010-2015”
and many more...
marias@imaste-ips.com / Do not distribute this information

32. Competition
why do you think you can
do better!

33. Competitive advantage
Approach
Physical event specialists - Agency approach
Technologically advanced platform
Leaders in Europe (no timezone gap)
Customer service & support - Customisation
Solid partners & customer references
Awards
Red Herring Global 100 Awards finalist Spanish young entrepreneur 2010 finalist
Red Herring Europe 100 Awards finalist European seal of e-excellence Platinum
marias@imaste-ips.com / Do not distribute this information

34. Some don´ts
Tell you have NO competition
Forget a relevant competitor
Be unclear about your advantage

35. Nice, but what do you need
my money for,
& what is your vision?

36. Where we are going
Strategy
Europe & South America focus
Sector & vertical diversification
Web portals partnerships
Convention centre partnerships
Technology
Networking & meeting tools
API integration of third parties
Enhanced real time interaction
Needs
Fully focused R&D team
Increase production capabilities
Agressive sales strategy & PR
marias@imaste-ips.com / Do not distribute this information

37. Money, milestones
Present product roadmap
Have different scenarios
Show how you can scale!!

38. Contact
Miguel Arias
CTO - Co-founder
marias@imaste-ips.com
+34 91 5360503
twitter: mike_arias
Web presence
http://www.imaste-ips.com
http://blog.imaste-ips.com
twitter: imasteips
DEMO sites
http://demo.imaste-ips.com
http://newdemo.imaste-ips.com
marias@imaste-ips.com / Do not distribute this information

39. Other ask for,
they could
info
be prepared!

40. IMASTE virtual fair proposal
TECHNOLOGY
marias@imaste-ips.com / Do not distribute this information

41. VCs like unfair
advantages
Big market lead
Experienced team
Superior technology

42. Server
Client
marias@imaste-ips.com / Do not distribute this information

43. DISTRIBUTION MODEL
MARKETING PLAN
marias@imaste-ips.com / Do not distribute this information

44. Marketing plan
Choose only a few
distribution channels:
PR, Email, SEO/SEM, Blogs, Viral,
Radio/TV, Biz Dev, Partners,
Widget/Apps, Contests...

45. Marketing plan
3 things to measure!
Generated volume
Cost per user
Conversion rates

46. Conception - Development of the business model
3D development - Web design - Database and Interface programming
Content and language adaptation - Data structure adaptation
Technical support - Technical assessment and consulting
Evolution of the platform
Partner
Sales
Promotion among seekers
Web traffic generation -Media Promotion - Communication
Logistics - Customer service
Online Event management
Backoffice support to manage the fair´s contents
marias@imaste-ips.com / Do not distribute this information

47. TEAM STRUCTURE
marias@imaste-ips.com / Do not distribute this information

48. Managing team Ext & Int
communication
Operations Sales Product & Technology
Virtual & Physical event Customer care Partnerships Interaction
Country Managers R&D Developer
Logistics service & Alliances Team
Team Team
Financing and accounting control
General administration
Free - lances
marias@imaste-ips.com / Do not distribute this information

49. Pitching tips

50. Pitching tips
No expert jargon - KISS
Have fun!!! - Be passionate
Practice & practice!!!
Demo will fail - Have a backup (video!)
Expect to be interrupted

51. Pitching tips
Know who you are talking to
Public sector - Focus on employment
F,F&Fs - Focus on trust generation
VCs - Focus on Risk assesment & growth
What money do you want?

52. The script is NOT
your slides
The script is the
FACE of your
audience

53. There are It is all
no magic about
pitching common
recipes sense

54. Believe me,
It´s worth it!!

55. More resources
• Dave McClure:
– Startup Metrics for Pirates (AARRR!)
– ZapMeals Sample Pitch Presentation
– Master of 500 Hats Blog: “Greatest Hats” (top blog posts)
• Steve Blank: 4 Steps to Epiphany, Customer Development Methodology
• Eric Ries: StartupLessonsLearned
• Sean Ellis: Startup-Marketing.com
• Andrew Chen: AndrewChenBlog.com
• Brad Feld, Jason Mendelson: AskTheVC.com
• Aydin Senkut: Felicis Ventures blog
• Mark Suster: Both Sides of the Table
• VentureHacks.com
• StartupCompanyLawyer.com