When you meet an angel investor for the first time, you want to make a good impression. As described in  ’12 things you should do for your first investor meeting’ your goal of this meeting is not to raise an investment, it’s to get a second meeting.

‘It rarely happens that you close a deal with an investor during the first meeting. Usually it takes a few meetings to discuss everything the investor wants to know. Therefore, the goal of your first meeting is to get that next meeting.’

What to present to an angel investor

Since we started the Pitch Skills blog, we’ve been asked this question numerous times, that’s why we decided to write an article about it.

So what to present to an angel investor when you have your first meeting?

That’s a good question. There is a difference between what to present to an angel investor and what to bring to an angel investor. Let’s summarize it:

 

What to present to an angel investor:

#1 Your Pitch Deck

Wat to bring to an angel investor:

#2 Your financials

#3 Your business plan

#4 The resumes of your team members

So now you know which 4 documents you should bring to an angel investor and which documents you should present to an angel investor. Let’s get into the details.

 

Is your startup ready to pitch?

#1 The pitch deck

When you meet an angel investor for the first time, it’s all about getting to know each other and explaining what you’re doing. Your ordinary first angel investor meeting consists out of 3 phases.

  1. Getting to know each other (who are you, what’s your background)
  2. Presenting the pitch deck
  3. Questions and answers about the pitch deck

So when you’re done talking about who you are and why you’re here, it’s time to pull up the pitch deck. You can present the pitch deck on your laptop, tablet or on paper.

Presenting your pitch deck shouldn’t take too long, depending on how many slides  your pitch deck has. However, a standard pitch deck presentation ranges anywhere between 10-15 minutes.

 

How do you create a pitch deck

In The 40 Best Startup Pitch Decks Of 2017 And What We Learned From Them, we described what you can learn from the best pitch decks out there. To get a better understanding of what great pitch decks looks like, you should definitely check out that article.

– The name of your company, and what do you do?
– The Problem
– The solution
– Milestones
– Business model
– Market
– Competition
– Financials
– Team
– Investment

To give you a feeling of what a great pitch deck looks like, here are the 10 slides which should most definitely be in your pitch deck.

Don’t have a pitch deck yet? We can help you to create one.

#2 The financials

The financials are an important part of your business. Although it might be difficult, investors like to see forecasts of your financial data.

How much revenue are you generating this year? And the year after that? How much are you spending on salaries, sales and marketing?

Do some basic research on startup financials and create your own. Although a lot of informal investors don’t care too much about the financial forecasts, you surely should have them prepared in case they ask you about it.

 

#3 The business plan

The business plan is one of the most important documents of your company. It includes a detailed description about what your company does, where you want to be in 5 years and how you’re going to accomplish that.

Just like the financials, you don’t have to present your business plan. However, there will be investors who will ask to see it and when the time comes you need to be prepared.

 

#4 Resumes of your team members

Once you start meeting angel investors you’ll notice there are several types on angel investors. Some of them are heavily interested in your financial forecasts, others in your technology and others in your team.

In case you happen to be talking to an angel investor who cares a lot about your team, it’s good to have their resumes prepared. This way the angel investor can quickly analyze the strengths (and weaknesses) of your team. As a side bonus, having the resumes prepared makes you look well prepared.

Conclusion

When you meet with an angel investor, you usually only present your pitch deck. However, many investors will either ask for your business plan, your financials or your team members. By having these documents prepared and ready, you’ll score bonus points with your first investor meeting.

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