Teruel Carrasco - president Valhalla Private Capital, co-founder of Radar Endeavour Group Inc and CEO of Lending Assist - has outlined some best practices for pitching to investors within North America’s startup ecosystem.
With current investments including
Copperstone Technologies Ltd,
Radar IT Systems Inc and
G2V Optics Inc, Teruel works with startups and established companies alike to improve leadership, team-building, business development and overall strategies.
However, Teruel maintains that a focus on emotional connection can be a defining characteristic when pitching to investors.
“Whether you like it or not, there is an emotional connection that is taking place when you're pitching,” Teruel began. “You can have the best numbers in the world, you can have the best organized slide deck in the world, but they are signaling for that passion and that connection.”
This emotional connection, Teruel remarked, can be nurtured through a shift in vernacular - moving away from the jargon of fellow industry professionals to better explain the intricacies of an entrepreneur's company to parties who may not be experts on the topic.
On the topic, he continued: “I'm always telling the startups to think about their audience.
“You're speaking to 40-50 accredited investors who may or may not have knowledge of your industry, and so how are you going to create that interest and bring that passion forward when they don't understand the context of why your startup is great?”
Teruel concluded: “Those are the things I'm always coaching for, among other things, when I'm speaking to entrepreneurs as they prepare to go in front of an investor.”
Likewise,
Valhalla Private Capital chairman
Randy Stewart Thompson has also opened up about how best to avoid “crushing souls” within startups.
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