At Entrepreneur First we work with technologists to help them build their own startups. We often find they struggle when communicating what they do to investors. This deck is one of the training sessions we do with the Entrepreneur First cohort and is designed to help them learn the pyramid principle and basic personal impact.

1. Helping technologists communicate with
investors
August 2015
Joinef.com @alicebentinck

2. Communication is important*
*even more important than you think

3. If you want to get your
startup funded, you need to
nail comms.

4. Growth mindset* – with some
hard work and practice, you
can nail this easily
*read Carole Dweck

5. 1) What you say to investors
2) How you say it
We will work on this
bit with you in the run
up to demo day

6. 1) What you say to investors
2) How you say it
Structure
Personal
Impact

7. 1. You need
structure

8. How you currently
communicate

9. How you currently
communicate
“Here’s a tonne of detail about something that
happened and it made us think this thing that
was actually wrong, but it turned out to be
right and so we then changed our minds, but
actually the interesting this is what happened
next….”
“So once we had been through that process
we felt slightly more confident about a couple
of things.”
“Which means that X is true”

10. What’s wrong with this?
“Here’s a tonne of detail about something that
happened and it made us think X, but that was
actually wrong, but it turned out to be right
and so we then changed our minds, but
actually the interesting thing is what happened
next….”
“So once we had been through that process
we felt slightly more confident about a couple
of things.”
“Which means that X is true.”
“Why is this relevant? Is it because of X? Nope,
seems like it’s because of Y….Oh nope, wrong
again. What are they trying to tell me? Get to
the point!....SO WHAT?”
“So what???!?”
“Ah I see, why did they bombard me with all
that detail. What a waste of time!”
What the listener is thinking….You say….

11. Some principles
The listener wants to
understand…
…as quickly as possible...
…and direct the conversation
as they see fit

12. Some principles
The listener wants to understand…
+ What you are doing
+ Why you are worth talking to
+ What you want from them
…as quickly as possible...
+ “Is this startup worth my time?”
+ “Should I be concentrating, or can I think about lunch?”
…and direct the conversation as they see fit
+”Once I know what you’re doing, then I know what questions to ask”

13. The best way to do this is
using the Pyramid Principle
Top down, structured communication
Quickly delivers the answer
Allows the listener to direct the
conversation
Start here!

14. Data Data Data Data Data Data Data Data Support
An argument
Your key
arguments
A clear
statement
The point of the conversation
An argumentAn argument
Start here!
Build a pyramid before every
conversation

15. Start here!
An investor asks “so tell me about what
you’re doing?”
We are building EF - the top pre-seed
investor in Europe

16. An investor asks “so tell me about what
you’re doing?”
We are building EF - the top pre-seed
investor in Europe
We can attract the very
best technical talent
We build some of the
most exciting startups in
Europe
We have the best LPs of
any early stage fund

17. An investor asks “so tell me about what
you’re doing?”
We are building EF - the top pre-seed
investor in Europe
We can attract the very
best technical talent
We build some of the
most exciting startups in
Europe
We have the best LPs of
any early stage fund
1 in 3
Cambridge
Computer
Scientists
applied last
year
We get 1000
technical
applicants
each year from
top ranking
unis and
companies
We focus on
investing in
deep tech
startups
Our Alumni
have done
some of the
biggest seed
rounds in
Europe
Our LPs
include
Europe’s top
entrepreneurs
e.g., Alex
Chesterman
We are
working with
some of the
most forward
thinking
institutional
investors

18. Start here!
An investor asks “so tell me about what
you’re doing?”
We are building EF - the top pre-seed
investor in Europe
“So tell me about what you’re
building?”

19. An investor asks “so tell me about what
you’re doing?”
We are building EF - the top pre-seed
investor in Europe
We build some of the
most exciting startups in
Europe
“That’s a big claim, how are you the
top pre-seed investor?”

20. Start here!
An investor asks “so tell me about what
you’re doing?”
We are building EF - the top pre-seed
investor in Europe
We build some of the
most exciting startups in
Europe
We focus on
investing in
deep tech
startups
Our Alumni
have done
some of the
biggest seed
rounds in
Europe
“Why are those startups so exciting?”

21. Support
Your key
arguments
The point of the conversation
You set up the conversation – you already
know ALL the answers
“How/What/Why?”
“What’s your proof for
that?”

22. Start here!
Your go!
Here is another example for a startup
We are set to be the world’s most
lucrative and effective recruitment
platform
We use AI to find the best
candidates wherever they
maybe
As no humans are
involved in the process,
we have 95% margins
We are already the
recruiter of choice for
major retailers
Our patent
pending
algorithms
effectively
identify talent
We have 99%
selection
accuracy
compared to
experienced
recruiters
Typical
recruitment
costs $15k per
a person and
takes 15 man
hours
We have 5
major retailers
signed up to
the platform
We have
already had
2,000
candidates
selected
through the
platform
It takes 15
minutes with
our platform
and involves
no human
labour

23. You can use this in all parts of your life
In emails, in phone calls, in
checkins, pitching on stage,
pitching in a meeting, to help you
remember what to say, to
synthesise meaning from data…

24. Everything should be made as
simple as possible, but not
simpler
Einstein

25. Relevance – change the message
depending on who you’re
speaking to
Understanding – you want them
to understand you
Simplicity – only share details
when asked

26. 2. Personal impact

27. Listeners will trust your personal
impact over your content
I’M GOING TO
BUILD THE NEXT
FACEBOOK!!!!!
I have
consistently
out performed
my peers????
I am in the top
10 developers in
the world
I am a cat

28. Listeners will trust your personal
impact over your content
I’m going to build
the next
Facebook
I have
consistently
out performed
my peers
I am in the top
10 developers in
the world
I am a cat

29. What constitutes personal impact?

30. What constitutes personal impact?
a) Body language
b) Voice

31. Body language: be the bear
Increases
testosterone
and lowers
cortisol (the
stress
hormone)

32. Body language: be the bear
Arms out in a
U
Legs in a V

33. Be the bear
“Researchers have even found you can make
someone feel power just by posing them in a
dominant, expansive body position.
Like athletes, for example: Arms outstretch, back
arched.
Even blind athletes have been known, upon victory,
to strike the same pose. They didn't learn it by
seeing anyone do it. There's something
fundamental.”
Read more here

34. Be the bear
Let’s watch
Joe Root 1 min 50

35. Be the bear
Adjusting your gestures to the
size of your audience, read here

36. Voice
What makes up a voice with high personal impact?

37. Voice
What makes up a voice with high personal impact?
+ Pitch
+ Rhythm
+ Pace
+ Volume
+ Silence

38. Voice
Contrast is a powerful way to make
people listen
e.g., Use speed followed by pauses and slow
Use high pitch to emphasise something and to
contrast against your normal voice
vs

39. Voice
When there is inconsistency between
your words and your tone, listeners will
trust your tone
e.g.,
I AM NOT
STRESSED!
!!!

40. Practice makes perfect
Practice, practice, practice
Every time you speak you can practice this.

41. Helping technologists communicate with
investors
August 2015
Joinef.com @alicebentinck