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https://youtu.be/17XZGUX_9iM

YC Partner Kevin Hale goes over how to package up your idea and communicate it to an investor. He shares his tips on how to craft your pitch in a clear and concise way that effectively grabs your audience's attention.

Summary:

• The best way to help investors evaluate your idea is to be CLEAR and CONCISE

• Don't be afraid that a short pitch is simplifying your company too much— Investors know that all companies are complex and have more functions than the pitch suggests

• Suggest to review this first—

1. How to evaluate startup ideas

• You don't need to present all your advantages, etc to the investor; A good investor will be able to do their own homework and figure it out for themselves

• Presenting your idea clearly is SUPER impt; It's your ONLY JOB— A clear idea is the foundation for growth (b/c will help ideas grow organically via word of mouth)

  • Don't try to sell your idea to them; YC will take your idea, imagine it for what it could be, and then will sell it back to you

• Investor thought process:

  • Do I understand the idea?
  • Am I excited by the idea?
  • Do I like the team?

How to make things easier to understand:

• See Kevin Hale's article on how to make a pitch deck —> this framework can be applied to many different things
  • Make it legible
    • ex: Legible Pitch Deck— even old ppl in the back of the room with bad eyesight can read
    • Legible ideas can be understood by people who know nothing about your business (can be random ppl, but would even include potential cofounders, users, investors, employees, and shareholders)— Should be conversational, without jargon, no preamble, and reproducible (ie Another person can think about the idea in my head)
      • ex: Your mom should be able to understand it!
      • Somebody should be able to understand:
        • What are you making?
        • What is the problem?
        • Who is the customer?
    • AVOID Ambiguity, Complexity, Mystery (ex: jargon), Ignorable (ex: marketing/mba jargon, buzzwords)
  • Make it simple
    • How concise you can make your pitch shows 1) how deeply you've thought about your idea, 2) how efficient you are (which means you're probably more efficient with your time, problem-solving strategies, etc)
  • Make it obvious

Examples: