Over the last several years, I have spent a bit of time on the investor side of the table vs. the operator side.  I have more recently been directly involved in the deal review process as part of the Cascade Angels Fund and spend a fair amount of time talking to entrepreneurs as well as being a point of contact for them both before and after their presentations to our investors.

Not every presentation goes to the next step. Sharing that news is hard as I’ve been in that seat, felt the disappointment, and made the “they just don’t get it” argument often.  Mark Solon now of TechStars wrote Saying No Sucks in 2010 when he was with Highway 12 Ventures and I have found it super helpful to inform my approach.

The more I have done this and tried to provide direct, honest, and actionable feedback, I have begun to emphasize the point of this post.

When presenting to investors, build the investment case not the business case.

What I mean is, you spend day in and day out pitching the business to customers, prospects, press…anyone who will listen in an effort to make progress, get attention, get revenue.  That pitch is around the business and why doing business with you is the right thing.

You want them to buy from you.

The investment case, on the other hand, is similar in overall messaging but the specific points you need to communicate are a bit different.  You are working to convince the audience that it is an “investable business.” One that can scale, has good economics, is defensible/sustainable and is differentiated in some way.

You want them to buy into you.

There is no magic formula here as investors and entrepreneurs differ but I think this is an important point to think about how to make the most of the investor audiences that you work so hard to secure.

The inspiration for this post, like many I write, is an email I sent providing some feedback.  Here is what I shared:

It is sometimes tough to go from customer pitching to investor pitching (I learned this the hard way a while ago) where you are use to building the business case for a purchase with customers/prospects vs. the investment case for an investment from investors. Landscape is more important to investors than customers.  The overall message is similar but the core messaging points differ a bit – you are not trying to address/answer the question of “is it a business/why should you buy this product/service” you are working to build the case that it is an “investable business/you should buy in”

I have taken a bit of a hiatus from personal blogging over the last ~4 years.  I have done a fair amount of it via the Heinz Marketing blog and via Linkedin but have not had a dedicated and focused place to write and share.

Thus the creation of this blog and the start of “Venture Vice.”  My primary goal is to tell stories here hopefully through podcasts and copy.  I have worked with entrepreneurs for many years, been one myself, and continue to be blown away and intrigued by what it takes to start, grow, and scale a business.

Not the mechanics of spreadsheets and sales plans but the human side of the equation.  How did people, opportunity, and capital come together at a point in time to create something amazing.  What did it take to get there and how many times was it over…before it wasn’t?

Much more to come on all of that in the future.  I did decide to pull forward several years of personal blogging from my former Reply to All blog and have added those to the Venture Vice site.  I use writing and sharing as a way to learn and create and view it as a way to let my children (and their children) have a bit of insight and perspective into what was going on…and what I was thinking at various times in my life.

Onward!