Ok, so you’ve done your pitch deck – revised it ad infinitum, based on the feedback you’ve gotten from everyone you know and his or her fourth cousin twice removed. Now you’ve secured a few investor meetings, via Zoom. Where’s that investor pitch meeting template when you need one?

Brian Cohen spoke at our virtual investor breakfast recently and imparted some pearls of advice to help you with that one, some of which we’ll share with you today, with a few additions of our own, along with points other investor friends and previous Investor breakfast speakers of ours have made in the pas.

First, meetings these days are done via Zoom. Show your face. At least at the outset of the meeting. Not a photo, nyour initials, not your LinkedIn photo, which is no doubt a selfie and doesn’t look all that great anyway – the real you – and the other team members who may also be on the call. Why? Investor(s) want to get to know you and yours, and much is conveyed via your visage and facial expressions. Do you smile? At least occasionally? Investors – and Brian referred primarily to angels – after all, he was Chairman of the New York Angels for a decade before co-founding New York Venture Partner – and has invested in literally hundreds of companies over the years – have to like you. This is a partnership and a potentially a long one, so they want to see you – if only on a video call. For now, at least.

“Go for the heart,” Cohen suggested. “Tell a story – a real story. Be clear and make sure that what you say is supportable, not BS. If you’re not believable, people tune out. A good way to start is by saying, ‘I believe…’”

If your project is somewhat esoteric, “play the professor,” he advised. “Step back and say, ‘this is a tough point to understand. Let me explain it to you.’ Especially if you know it’s difficult – help them get through it.”

What do angels/investors listen for? According to Cohen, not to what you’re doing, but why you’re doing it and how you’re going to execute.

“In the first five minutes, make it believable” he advised. “You have to show that you’re capable and have a strong focus on your ability to execute. If not, the investor will tune right out.”

Another investor friend of ours warned that investors listen not only to what you’re saying, but what you’re not saying. They may ask you a direct question about their concern(s) – if you’re lucky. Or they may have simply dismissed you without saying a word: they may feel that you can’t be trusted and game over for you. If they do ask a direct question and you don’t have the answer immediately, be honest: you’re allowed to say, “let me get back to you on that.” And do. Don’t fake it. There may be someone on the investment team who knows your space as well as if not better than you. Which is more likely to get you a follow on meeting: leaving them with white space (for now), or red flags?

“Never use the word ‘passion,’” Brian warned, “unless this is a social good investment – then it’s ok. ‘Passion’ blinds you from running a great company.  Passion goes just so far. ‘Determination’ is better.

Also be aware of the difference between money and smart money. Smart money is not only someone who can bankroll you for a time/help to get you to the next level: it’s someone who can also help open doors and/or make key introductions or suggestions.

Things that can harm you and things that can help you, according to our guest:

“Things that can kill you – bad salesman, not enough money, founders don’t admit their inabilities – those are all fatal flaws. In which case, stop what you’re doing and do something else.

“Things that can propel you, that will make your company grow spectacularly and can make up for a lot: don’t just do stuff – do the stuff to help mitigate disaster and lead to fast growth.

You’ve also heard ad nauseam that investors focus on the team. According to Cohen, it’s about ‘teammanship’ – can this team work together and grow this into a big company?

Hmmm – seems that there may be an ‘eye’ in team after all, considering that investors are listening – and watching…

Big exits are what investors are all about. As one of our investor guests said at one of our previous events, “we’re not looking for 10x returns – we want 100x. We look companies who focus on big markets.”

Because not all investments work out, so they’re looking for that golden goose (we’re over unicorns by now, no?) who’ll make up for the rest of the gaggle that didn’t quite add to their nest egg.

Bottom line: investors are not about investing – again, they’re about exits, as Brian reminded us. Angels/investors don’t invest or take meetings because they have nothing better to do with their time. They’re in it to have fun and to make money. Most of them don’t, Cohen pointed out (make money, that is), and even if they do, they won’t see a return on their investment for 8-10 years.

So, remember:  getting the meeting isn’t enough. You have to take charge of the meeting, demonstrate to the investor(s) that you have the play (that addresses a very sizeable market), the team and the drive to get them to an exit. Also keep in mind that you’re one of possibly hundreds of companies/teams pitching to them, so if you can’t demonstrate that you’re got the goods to get them to the exit, well, then they’ll be more than happy to show you to the door.

Onward and forward.