We spoke to the winners to find out how they managed to create a successful pitch and inspire the investors.
Preparation for the pitch
For Tim Breker from Vytal, one of the Berlin winners, the key to a successful pitch is not to perfect every detail, but to find a balance between preparation and spontaneity. It is important to practise the core messages, but also to remain flexible and authentic in order to adapt to the situation and the audience, he says. This view is shared by Tim Kniepkamp from Suitcase, who keeps an eye on the audience and improvises depending on the situation. He found the Start2 Group’s preparation sessions particularly helpful in order to understand the exact “mood” of the event. Two to three dry runs in the office without a script gave him a feel for the length of the pitch.
Important elements of an investor pitch
For Rick Hodgson of Emrod, who presented a pre-revenue startup, the most important element of his pitch was to show a clear vision to convey the potential of the technology. As an early-stage deep tech company, Emrod needed to convince investors in this way. Tim (Vytal) adds that self-confidence and the type of presentation play a major role in a three-minute pitch. In terms of content, you shouldn’t tell everything, but arouse curiosity so that the investors want to find out more. In Vytal’s case, previous successes, partnerships and references made the difference.
Inspiration for the pitch
Everyone agrees that pitch decks from successful companies such as Airbnb and Doordash serve as the best source of inspiration for how to present your story effectively and convincingly. Fritz Lange from 3D Spark also gathered feedback from investors to understand their perspective and adapt his communication accordingly. Tim (Suitcase), who was on the podium in Munich, distinguishes between a reading deck and a pitch deck and has developed different slide layouts to be convincing depending on the situation.
Advice for pitch preparation
When it comes to preparing for a pitch, Rick (Emrod) advises emphasizing the strengths of your own startup and building your message on them. In the few minutes of a pitch, it is often not possible to comprehensively present all aspects of a startup. It is therefore helpful to identify what really resonates with the audience. For him, the measure of success is the number of investors who show interest after the pitch. Rick also recommends putting less text on the slides and making the pitch visually appealing. He practices his pitch ten to twenty times so that he can concentrate more on speaking and interacting with the audience.
Fritz (3D Spark), who as an engineer initially gave very technical presentations, has learned to tell the story as simply as possible so that it can also be understood by non-experts. A pitch is only the starting point for further discussions. You should therefore try to arouse the interest of investors and convey the value of your solution instead of explaining the product in detail.
About Cashwalk
The Start2 Group’s Cashwalk event has been taking place in Munich for almost 10 years now, as well as in changing locations such as Berlin and Darmstadt. Here, up to 30 selected seed and Series A startups have the opportunity to pitch to over 60 investors, build networks and find investment opportunities.
The event differs from other pitch events in that the participating investors are thoroughly vetted to ensure genuine investment interest. In addition, the number of investors is larger than that of the startups in order to increase the chance of an investment.
If you would like to pitch with your startup at the 21st edition of the Cashwalk on November 7th in Munich and raise your next investment round, then register here for free.
