Setting VC Meetings: The Neccesary Tools

Building an elevator pitch and executive summary are vital to securing an appointment with any investor. A detailed explanation of either tool is beyond the scope of this blog entry. However, Bill Reichart of Garage Technology Ventures has written a good paper on executive summaries that can be found here and I've helped SVASE organize an event about writing elevator pitches that will take place on February 10^th.

The elevator pitch is a 60 second introduction to your business that is used to peak someone’s curiosity. In 60 seconds a good elevator pitch tells an investor what you do for the company (but not your bio, which is important but can wait), what problem you solve, what market validation you have, how much capital you are seeking and at what stage of investment. This is gives the investor enough information to start asking questions and may lead to a request for your executive summary. The executive summary is typically a 1 page document that includes more detail on the problem, solution, market, competition, team, business model, milestones and financial projections.