Being the CEO of a startup is a hard and complex job. You’re constant running the numbers, spending at least 75% of your personal time on your pet project.

Only 1% of startups attract funding. Figures that venture capitalists toss around do notlook much different – starting up a company is a tough racket. Of 10 startups funded, only three or four fail completely. Another three or four return the original investment, and one or two produce substantial returns. Obviously, knowing how to pitch (angel) investors and venture capital guys is key. According to the AngelList founders Naval Ravikant and Nabak Bivi, pitchingworks best, if startups have at least one of the following: Traction, showing growth in users or customers, social proof through a known committed investors or advisors, a beautiful product and – last but not least – a killer team, with deep domain experience, technical skills, startup experience or best of all, previous exits.

This lecture is all about pitching your project to investors and business partners. Various structural approaches to pitch decks, its key success factors as well as the dos and don’ts of pitching to top investors will be discussed.

To win over hard-to-impress investors, you will finally realize that traction and execution is the main difference maker. It’s all about communicating momentum through metrics and examples. There is also no one-solution-fits-all for investor pitches. According to Dave McClure, entrepreneurs should think problems first, then solutions. That helps to establish emotional context with the person listening. As a general rule of thumb, the more time you spend speaking, the less time they spend listening. This means organizing your information by priority.

Innovation, like creativity, requires discipline and is based on a discrete set of skills; consequently, it can be learned. It is not a personality or cultural trait. You might also realize that setting up a startup is a career and lifestyle option. Entrepreneurship does not hurt at all.

It's a very dynamic, practical, and hands-on type of course where you are given the opportunity to both practice what they've learned throughout the lecture - and even practice what you haven't yet learned. A great attitude, creativity, and a sense of thinking different are required for personal success in this skill Seminar.

Best (industry) practices as well as the lecturer’s own pitch decks will be shared in order to fully understand the importance of pitching the right message to the right investor.

This course utilizes a combination of interactive lectures, in-class discussions as well as case studies. Working in small groups will be stressed throughout the course, so you will be able to demonstrate effective problem-solving and creative-thinking skills in real startup contexts.

1. Contribution to class discussions (40%)
2. Comprehensive project pitch (40%): students will prepare parts of a project pitch and then present their findings in class (students will be asked form a group for this task - each group should consist of 4 to 5 poeple)
3. Creative assignment in-class (20%)

There are no prerequisite requirements for this lecture. You can go through some optional readings before class if interested.

There are no prerequisite requirements for this lecture. You can go through some optional readings before class if interested.

READINGS (optional)
Jason Cohen, 2010. 5 Lessons from 150 startup pitches:
http://blog.asmartbear.com/startup-lesson.html

Alleen Lee, 2011. Social Proof is the New Marketing:
http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/27/social-proof-why-people-like-to-follow-the-crowd/

Alan Gleeson, 2011. The importance of traction:
http://techcrunch.com/2011/01/06/guest-post-the-importance-of-traction/

Brent Bowers, 2008. Love Your Idea (Don't Want to Finance It):
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/10/business/smallbusiness/10hunt.html?_r=1

Asheesh Advani, 2005. How to Make the Kitchen Table Pitch:
http://www.entrepreneur.com/money/financing/startupfinancingcolumnistasheeshadvani/article75924.html

Mark Suster, 2009. Entrepreneur DNA:
http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/entrepreneur-dna/

Only CEMS MIM students are eligible to enroll to this seminar. Minimum 10, maximum 20 students. First come, first serve. There will be also a wait list (if needed). Full participation required for course creditation.

All relevant course material will be distributed in class.