Guide to Pitching

Tech Startups

Tips, Tricks & Recommendations

for Perfecting Your Pitch Created by NBT
Outline Introduction

We are at the dawn of the 4th Industrial Revolution:

IoT, blockchain, machine learning and AI technologies
are set to fundamentally disrupt industries. Startup-
driven innovation is at the center of this revolution.

Introduction 3 The ecosystem is enabled through partnerships,

with startups eager to shape the next big thing, and
Sharpen Your Axe 4 corporations nervous to lose power or seek to stay
ahead of the pack. This synergy places startups at
Crafting A Convincing Pitch 6
the center of some intriguing business opportunities.
The Importance of Pitch Deck Design and Style 12
With a growing number of innovators in the
Practice Makes Perfect 16 ecosystem, the IoT industry is set to reach $11
trillion by 2025. This playing field forces startups
You Represent Your Company 19
to compete for the attention of corporate partners
Past the First Hurdle 24 and investors alike, in the hopes of bringing the next
disruptive product to market.
Your Cheat Sheet to Success 28
In the constant struggle to stand out, founders
have difficulties communicating their ideas and
representing their brands. In response, we sought
input from our founders here at Next Big Thing AG
in order to offer valuable recommendations.

3
 Sharpen Your Axe

Remember the quote by 16th President of the

United States, Abraham Lincoln:

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will

spend the first four sharpening the axe.”

Preparation is at least half the work. The same

holds true for pitching; preparation and doing your
homework is at least half the work. With that in
mind, we kick off this Guide covering a number of
early points to keep in mind before pitching your
tech startup or idea.

Have a great idea?

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree
and I will spend the first four Check out our program
sharpening the axe.” for entrepreneurs

4 5
 Crafting a
Creating a clear, concise and convincing pitch that’s
understandable to your audience is the key. Based
on our experience, we’ve noted that most hardware

Convincing Pitch and IoT startup founders have difficulties expressing,

or even fail to highlight the problem they address
and how their product is a viable solution. Note,
Peter Coughter’s comment in The Art of the Pitch:

“When we are selling our ideas, the audience must

first buy us.”

Hardware products are often technical and

complicated; crafting a clear problem statement and
positioning your product as novel solution can help.
If your product is not entirely “new”, highlighting
your competitive advantage or USP is important.

On the following pages are some underlying

questions to think about when you create a pitch.

Insider Tip : Investors love authenticity. ‘Catch their

interest early’ should be your motto, even if that
requires being blunt. You can do so by making your
“When we are selling our ideas, the
company’s vision and mission personal and relatable.
audience must first buy us.” This results in a better pitch.

6 7
Crafting a Convincing Pitch

Is your business Does the pitch What previous What problem are What is the market Who are the
model or product balance all the funding rounds you solving? acceptance of your founders? What is
clear to people points you are did you have? product? their background?
without a technical trying to make? The answer is your
background? Is it convincing? Mention the size of unique solution. This Do you need to create Audiences appreciate
funding round, the is the center to a a novel market for your the full story about how
Make sure the problem This depends on the ticket size, founders successful pitch. Present product/service or is it a you (the founders) got
statement and business audience, but try to equity and/or previous your solution as clearly different product among to the development of
opportunity is simply cover all aspects to your investors equity, cash as possible, and always other solutions in the their product. Your story
stated to be understood product and avoid focus runway and burn rate. relate back to how market? Addressing the is also your product’s
by everyone, including on the technical side your product actually market acceptance of story.
non-technical people of it. The best pitches resolves the problem. your solution will also
(pitch your business to we have seen are not Think of the “Sell me this feed into your SWOT
your grandparents as a only technical and pen” question during analysis.
trial). they appeal to human interviews.
emotion.

8 9
Crafting a Convincing Pitch

What is the Do you have data Are you prepared to Who are your Why are you Were any
market size? to support of your support claims you competitors? pitching? What milestones
story? made? Who are your are you seeking to achieved?
This requires some potential partners? achieve? Who is
market research and “Above all else show Any assertions you your audience? List your past successes,
analysis. Show what the data.” Saya E. R. make on your target Who you are competing major milestones, letter
place your product takes Tufte in The Visual customers, financial with or can collaborate Be clear on what you of intents (LOI’s) and
in a market and how it Display of Quantitative projects, marketing with is important, as it are looking for when roadmap for the future.
can disrupt; investors Information. Spend strategy need adequate shows that you are able pitching at specific
are always attracted to time to analyze the support. Being able to realistically position events: investors and
products with disruptive market, competition and to backup your claims yourself on the real- funding? prospective
potential. Be as specific problem. Note: graphics reinforces credibility. world market. A SWOT clients? media
about your product as often say more than analysis can help to exposure?
possible. For example, numbers. paint a clear picture of
while a startup in smart your standing among
home can claim the size the competition.
of the whole industry as
its potential market size,
its actual product-based
market size is a small
slice of the bigger pie.

10 11
The Importance of
Pitch Deck Design
Sure, the written content of your pitch is king,

and Style but visual communication matters. Your goal is

to get your message across; if you struggle to
communicate visually, then it’s worthwhile getting
help on the stylistic elements of your pitch deck.

Rather than advocating “style over substance“,

we suggest ideas that will lead you to creating
a more visually compelling pitch deck.

Insider Tip: At all times, keep the quote of E.R. Tufte

in mind: “Design cannot rescue failed content.”

Looking to perfect your pitch?

“Design cannot rescue failed content.” Join our program for entrepreneurs

12 13
The Importance of Pitch Deck Design and Style

01 02
Your pitch deck
needs to be simple
yet functional.
Be consistent.

Choose a style and stick

to it: a limited color
03 04
Define the
personality of
your company.
Recall that a
pitch is a verbal
presentation.

The goal of your pitch palette, one font, one When choosing visual The pitch deck is only
deck is to simplify a style. Try to make your content ask yourself an element for visual
complex idea into a few pitch deck more visually the core question: does support. Work with
slides. Reducing where aligned with your that visual serve the statements instead of
possible allows you to branding ideal. idea? Does it fit with text blocks: state the
have an on-point pitch. the defined personality? challenge, the problem
Decide how you want and your solution in
to appear and not statements.
appear, from a branding
perspective: formal or
friendly, etc.

14 15
Practice Makes Perfect
Any professional athlete or musician could tell you
this, but practice is the key to successful pitching.
While Allen Iverson would not be keen on doing so,
pitching it is all about practice, practice, and more
practice. The Greek philosopher Aristotle recognized
the importance of practicing repeatedly in order
to succeed:

“For the things we have to learn before we can do

them, we learn by doing them”.

How to practice pitching is the question.

StartupNation proposes a number of techniques
such as practicing your pitch out loud, rehearsing
in a similar setting, using a mirror, recording your
speech, and practicing the entire speech straight
through. What we tell our founders though, is that
practicing at events is what truly makes you better!

As a founder, stay on the lookout for IoT pitching

events for more opportunities to exercise your pitch
skills. While you can practice by taking the elevator
several times a day just to talk with random people
(using the famous elevator pitch), attending events
is more beneficial as it helps you to improve your
“For the things we have to learn before we
public speaking and pitching skills to a willing
can do them, we learn by doing them”. audience.

16 17
Practice Makes Perfect

You Represent Your

Company
Generally, industry- and IoT-related events are
a great opportunity to expand and forge your
network, gain potential partners and share your
product with the world. Practicing your pitching
skills at such public events is also the perfect
opportunity to gain media exposure and “free”
publicity, that will potentially attract future clients.

As a founder, every opportunity to get exposure

for your product and company counts! Spreading
the word about your business in the industry you
operate in will boost your startup in time, and
contribute to an expanded network of new contacts,
potential co-founders, and mentors–apart from
investors and clients.

Insider Tip: When attending pitching events, learn

“Your brand is what people say about
from your peers. Take notes on best practices and
details when another founder pitches particularly well. you after you leave the room.” 

18 19
You Represent Your Company

01
How to define a brand at its core? What is a brand?
Here at Next Big Thing AG, our favorite definition
Be a great teammate and
comes from none other than Amazon founder and
supportive colleague.
CEO Jeff Bezos: “Your brand is what people say
about you after you leave the room.” 

02
While there is much more to branding (check out
The Quick and Dirty Guide to Building Your Startup
Brand) than what people say after one leaves the
Become an expert at something
room, venture capitals and investors do not just
that has real value.
invest in businesses, but in the founders
themselves, too.

03
A can’t-fail business proposition can be unique or
revolutionary, but ultimately the investors need to
trust the founders and not simply the business idea.
Be a broad visionary - a teacher, leader,
Put yourself in the perspective of an investor to
or simply put a farsighted “imagineer”.
answer those and read the checklist of our
CIO Martin Buhl.

04
Projecting yourself as an enthusiastic and confident
individual can boost chances of funding. As a
founder, you are the face of your startup. In order
Be a businessperson, obsessed
to define who you are as a founder and thus
with pragmatic outcomes.
a brand, consider how to balance these
four recommendations:

20 21
You Represent Your Company

The four points described above are based on a

great read by Tom Peters who wrote a timeless
article for Fast Company entitled “The Brand Called
You” (1995). There he explains what it takes to be
the CEO of “Me Inc.” and writes,
Looking to validate your idea?

Work on it with industry leaders in our

“It’s this simple: You are a brand. You are in
entrepreneur in residence program.
charge of your brand. There is no single path to

success. And there is no one right way to create

the brand called You. Except this: Start today.”

Learn more

Insider Tip: As a founder you are the face of your

startup. So branding yourself equals branding
your startup.

22 23
Past the First Hurdle
Congratulations! Once you successfully pitched your
company or idea to a partner or investor, you passed
the first hurdle. Even though you excelled at your
pitch, this does not imply that you will shake hands
and have a partner right away or get immediate
funding from an investor. However, once making it
past the first hurdle, keep in mind the following by
Armstrong Williams:

“Networking is an essential part of building wealth”

Remember: your pitch is just the foot in the door.

It’s time to network, exchange business cards and
reach out to investors, potential partners and press
contacts. For you to succeed in that process, we
compiled the following recommendations:

Insider Tip: It’s a people’s business: people prefer

warm intros over cold emails. Check your network and

“Networking is an essential part find out more about the person you want to talk to ie.
their background, focus areas, investment sweet spot,
of building wealth” common network, even hobbies!

24 25
Past the First Hurdle

01
Be proactive.

Always reach out to people of whom you got a

05
Ask for feedback.

Consider the questions and recommendations you

business card. Do not expect them to write to you. have received to restructure or redefine parts of
Think of the funnel: from 10 contacts you made, 4 your pitch in the future. If the feedback differs
might respond, of which 2 are potential partners. between segments, then consider presenting your

02
idea from various angles according to who your
Build a one-on-one rapport. audience is (technical vs. non-technical).

Should you have an in-person meeting with a newly

made contact, it is recommend to just bring your CEO
- this builds a closer relationship and ensures that
Reach the contact’s network.
06
If they were not interested in the proposal but still
you will not have competing visions. attentive, ask to be introduced to relevant people in

03
their network that might be interested.

07
Prepare yourself.
Keep the relationship alive.
When reaching out to contacts (especially investors)
be ready to answer more pointed questions about If they were interested but felt it was not currently
your company or idea. Being ready for these will give the time, ask them if they would be interested in
you the upper hand in discussions. receiving updates on some of your most important

04
advances (use this carefully as you don’t want the
Have documentation ready. relationship to deteriorate).

Provide additional content or material based on

questions your contact might have had. This will
prove to be valuable as you start looking for funding.

26 27
 Your Cheat Sheet
to Success
Your life’s story is also your product’s story.

As a founder, you are the face of your startup.

Go only as fast as you can learn.

Every opportunity to get exposure for your

product and company counts.

The ability to showcase or demonstrate your

product or prototype is always an X-factor.

Make sure your audience knows what you are doing.

Guide them through your pitch.

You can do prototyping through “theater” by

Based on this Guide and for your benefit, we demonstrating your product through words.
compiled a tool chest of lessons to keep in mind
when pitching your IoT startup in various settings. Credibility is king. It’s achievable through logical
These are guiding principles which we hope you can progression and coherent structure.
refer to as a basis to help you craft a successful
pitch, whether that be during an event or simply
when meeting someone who’s interested.

28 29
Next Big Thing AG is Europe’s premier startup incubator
for the Internet of Things and Services and Blockchain.

Find your fit in our 3-month Entrepreneur in Residence

program to validate your business case and launch
a venture. Your move!

Get started today

30