Not a big news flash that venture capitalists, being in the business of meeting with entrepreneurs, see lots and lots of pitches. No one (not even VC's!) can do this over and over again without getting a little jaded. Entrepreneurs need to realize this and consciously keep it in mind when developing and delivering their pitch.
Further to this point, it's no great original insight (see, e.g., my earlier blog post, and last Sunday's guest post by Charles Moldow on TechCrunch; there are also numerous other examples) to urge entrepreneurs to "get to the point" and be succinct when pitching venture capitalists.
To have a shot, you need to stand out from the crowd.
The best way to do this, obviously, is to have a great team & a great idea -- and present the startup idea crisply and cleanly (numerous tips on how to this here (and links referenced there)).
Less well discussed, however, is an important, corollary lesson.
Part of "creating the aha! early" is saying -- right off the bat -- what your startup "DOES", rather than what it "IS". Venture capitalists get pitched all the time with taglines that read something like this: "XTronics is an industry-leading, customer-centric, social media, ad targeting and delivery, fix breakfast and do the dishes platform for...blah, blah blah." Even if the venture capitalist understands what that means (which, given the way most of these long introductory sentences are constructed, is very difficult), it's a very weak, passive way to introduce one's startup.
Venture capitalists want to invest in companies that solve big problems. Therefore, tell the VC -- at the beginning of the presentation -- what problem your company 'solves'. Think about starting with: "XTronics helps customers do X [i.e., solve some problem that is important to the customer]....". It's a much more powerful intro, and will set you apart from the other startups the venture capitalist sees.
In addition, as Charles Moldow points out in his above-referenced post, it is a very good test to see whether you really understand the core value in your startup idea.
When raising venture capital, it's a test all entrepreneurs should take, and make sure they can pass.
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