Learn to get the most value out of your Demo Day this year.
Most major accelerators offer an event called Demo Day, which is the culmination of their accelerator program. During this day, companies, mentors, investors, and alumni come together and watch 2–3 minute pitches from the accelerator’s latest batch. Startups then get the chance to network with investors who may be able to provide them with additional capital in the future. This article will cover a few tips on how you can make the most of your experience at Demo Day.
- Prepare in Advance
Your best chance at success at Demo Day is to practice your pitch a lot beforehand. Spend time every day practicing and refining your pitch, and film yourself pitching then rewatch it to help identify areas you can improve. By doing this you can ensure that your pitch is as good as it can be for investors to see, maximizing the chances investors reach out to you.
If you are delivering a demo (they are essentially a must now), keep it simple and show off your core feature. Keep the demo visual so that investors can easily follow along Your demo should last for no longer than 1 minute and a half and should not require further explanation.
Also take the time to build fundraising plans which you can share with your team to ensure that you are all on the same page. Your first plan should be for a smaller round — “We are raising $1M in exchange for 5%” which is aimed at Angels and Seed Funds. Your second plan should be for larger VCs — “We have a plan to raise a $5M round assuming we find the right firm to invest”. Without a clear plan for fundraising prepared in advance, you will not be able to present a clear and united front when talking to investors which isn’t the first impression you want to make.
You don’t have to have the best presentation, instead focus on delivering a clear, and simple pitch.
2. Set clear goals
Make sure that you have set goals of what you want to get out of Demo Day and come with a plan. Don’t get into the mindset that everything will fall into place when Demo Day starts. Have a idea of what you want to get out of Demo Day and how you can achieve that.
If you want to meet investors, check the guest list and make a note of who you want to connect with. If you want to help increase PR, then connect with any press there and make posts on social media of your experience at Demo Day. If you want to find an advisor, then make a note of any founders who are coming who you can network with. Plan ahead to make sure that you hit all of your goals.
3. Present a Great Pitch
Your pitch is the most important part of Demo Day. Make sure your pitch is memorable, simple, and just awesome. Make investors want to reach out to you to learn more, and make everyone pay attention to your pitch. You will be presenting with the rest of your cohort so make sure that investors will remember you when it comes time to mingle.
Go with the flow and smile at any situation. Your audience will be a set of invited guests who will be friendly if something goes wrong, and may even applaud you if something goes wrong. Don’t let a situation that’s out of your control ruin your pitch. If there are microphone or audio issues, make the best of it and continue going with confidence, it’ll really make a great impression.
4. Work the floor
Make sure that you are on the floor during Demo Day at the most popular points so that you can collect leads for either investors, advisors or clients. Your accelerator may have an online introduction service (like Y Combinator), but nothing is better than a personal introduction. Don’t waste time talking to cofounders other than on stage, and instead use that time to hustle up leads and make connections.
5. Talk to a lot of investors
Most startups are looking to raise financing after completing an accelerator program. Demo Day is a great place to connect with investors and set up future meetings. Some accelerators will have online tools allowing investors to send their details over to you, however you should still make it very clear during your pitch how investors can connect with you.
Before Demo Day make sure you know who is coming and reach out to those who you think are relevant to you, then try to get a meeting. Build a strategy for meeting with investors and other people during Demo Day — connect quickly, get their business card and email, then follow up to schedule a meeting. Also remember, there will be other companies investors want to talk to as well as yours, so don’t take up all of their time. If the investor is taking too long with you, be polite and remind them you have other people to talk to and that you will follow-up soon if appropriate.
6. Use the whole team
Your whole team should be out in the field making connections, not just your CEO. CEOs will primarily be talking to the media, presenting the pitch, and talking to investors. Plan ahead and ensure that your CEO doesn’t have to do everything. Ever founder should be know the elevator pitch and be able to reach out to investors and the press, then schedule future meetings.
7. Follow up immediately
Even though Demo Day has ended, there is still a lot to do. Follow up with investors and the press that night to make sure you are first in line to talk to them. Don’t wait to send out your meeting requests as it may mean your meeting is delayed and the investor forgets parts of your Demo Day pitch. Come up with a plan to ensure that you are maximizing your newly acquired connections with investors and also to ensure that you can continue to build press for the company.
In that respect, also prioritize your meetings based on your needs. If you are raising a seed round, focus on angels then seed funds. If you are raising a Series A round, focus on early-stage investors. If you get momentum early in the process, your fundraising journey could be shortened as investors are scared of missing out.
Conclusion
Demo Day is a very scary but also a wonderful opportunity. Preparing in advance will mean you can better execute your pitch and make the most of the event, allowing you to increase the chance you get meetings with investors. Make the most of the day as there is only one chance to pitch, and make it a good one.
I hope you enjoyed reading this article and that it gave you some insights into how you can make the most of your Demo Day. If you have any questions regarding Demo Days, tweet me @jamesstewartvc or shoot me an email at james@thedisruptivevc.com and i’ll get back to you soon.