Pitching Hacks is exactly what it sounds like: a guide to pitching venture capitalists. The eBook was released by Venture Hacks, which according to their website is “Like Hamburger Helper for Entrepreneurs”.
I found Venture Hacks about a year ago–can’t remember how. I’ve ended up frequenting their blog quite a bit. Their founder, Babak Nivi seemed like a colorful character. What I really enjoyed about Venture Hacks’ site was that they have some really funny posts. Great style, practical lessons and they’re not drawn out. They used a video example from HBO’s, The Wire. Swett, brah.
At the same time, Venture Hacks isn’t a joke. They’ve delivered some nice results by helping start-up companies backed by Kleiner Perkins, Benchmark and Sequoia.
This really had me expecting a lot when I heard of their new eBook, “Pitching Hacks!”
In short, they delivered. It’s a nice guide filled pragmatic, actionable items. Seriously. You can implement the lessons unveiled in their eBook right away. It’s not some–”if you work hard, success will come your way,” or, “You become what you think about. That’s the strangest secret.” No, nadda. Not bashing those old-school how-to’s, but they are what they are: old.
Pitching Hacks is new. They’ve unveiled some practical and easy-to-follow steps for raising venture capital.
The guide covers five areas:
- Traction
- The importance of introductions (The most important piece in raising venture capital)
- High Concept Pitches
- Elevator Pitches
- Decks (PowerPoint presentation)
- Business Plans (and why they’re no longer critical)
- NDA’s
There are other themes and sections scattered throughout the guide, as well.
Here’s my favorite part, in which they write about what your presentation or story should reveal:
We have a mission and a team that is taking us there.
Why? We discovered this large problem and solved it
with a product that has this amazing technology inside.
We’re going to market and sell it to these customers,
with these advantages over our competitors. In
particular, we’re working towards these milestones
over the next few quarters. In conclusion, this
financing is a great investment opportunity.
Pitching Hacks gives you what you want–what you need for raising venture capital. It’s a refreshingly action-oriented guide. I recommend it for entrepreneurs, as well as venture capitalists—there’s value in it for everyone within the start-up arena.
You can pick it up here.
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