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Abstract

better for the overall success rate of your pitching if you assume the product won’t be accessible while you’re telling the story.And you know what? Many investors aren’t actually tech product people anyway. They don’t care about whether it’ll work for them, they mainly care whether it works for the customer.So as a general rule of thumb, it’s much better to tell a good story than demo an early product. As Mat says, “…if they don’t understand the story then I’m probably failing at selling anyway.”There are exceptions (as always). For some startups, the product experience really is the whole point of the story. I can tell people that <a href="https://www.sparrowflights.com">Sparrow Flights</a> lets you book a flight and a hotel room as easily as calling an Uber, but how they pull that off is something you really have to see.Note there’s a difference between “try” and “see”.If I let you noodle around with the Sparrow app during a pitch you’re likely to have only half your attention on what I’m saying and half on what you’re seeing. I think I’d want to show a couple of screenshots to illustrate what I mean about the interface, but there’s no reason to introduce the risks inherent in demoing something live. Even if it’s been popular in the iOS App Store for a couple of years, it could still run into a server error, or show a timeout due to a patchy mobile connection.Sometimes, what you do is so deep in the backend there’s nothing to demo but you still feel the need to prove that your IP is real. I get that.<a href="https://www.murumusic.ai">Muru Music</a> built a smartphone <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/muru-music-instant-playlists-personal-dynamic/id1062422852">app</a> as a proof-of-concept that their algorithmic music playlist technology really does do what it says on the box. Not because they want to compete with Spotify, but because it’s hard to show how good the backend technology is when its ingesting and auto-categorising new music for a record label.But Nicc from

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Muru Music doesn’t usually demo the iOS app when he’s pitching to you; his pitch is about Muru’s role in the big picture and the long-term future of the music industry. That’s what Nicc wants you to invest in; not the company’s ability to design and build a great smartphone app.If he sees you’re a bit sceptical about whether the backend tech works, he can send you a link to download the app.When I’m pitching M8 Ventures to potential investors, I don’t have a product to demo. If I really wanted to, I could have my MacBook setup to run you through demos of Bugherd, UpGuard, Bugcrowd, Propeller Aero, Workyard, Elevio, Geosnapshot, and the other startups I’ve invested in, to show you how I believe I’m great at picking world-class product and technical teams at the pre-seed and seed stages.But I don’t. I don’t even use a deck. I tell a brief story about me, about how I came to be here. Then I actively elicit a few stories from my potential investor about them, and how they came to be here. Then I tell them a story about what we aim to do with our venture fund, how it’ll work, what we think the timeline will be, name drop some of the other investors already committed.Then I ask them if they have any questions. Once I’ve addressed their questions, I ask them [dramatic reality TV music] if they’re interested in investing in our fund.And I can tell you; I sell about as well as anybody with a product background and asking that question is ten times harder than demoing a product to somebody.But asking and getting the answer to that question is what it’s all about. And I’m not going to let anything distract me from it.If, instead of yes or no, they ask to see a deck, I can email it to them immediately following our meeting.Disclosure statement: my only affiliation with Evoke and Sparrow Flights is they are good friends. I’m a current investor in Muru Music, Bugcrowd, Propeller Aero, Workyard, Elevio and Geosnapshot. I’m a former investor in Bugherd and UpGuard (Exits! Yay!).</article></body>

Should we demo our product in the pitch?

It’s the ANZAC Day public holiday in Australia today. Like many in the tech startup industry, I’m working, but planning to do shorter hours, and hoping to catch up on some of the ‘important-but-not-urgent’ stuff in my task list. Like, you know, blogging!

While I’m writing, Mat Peterson at Evoke pings me a quick question:

I’m preparing a new pitch and I was wondering: should you ever demo a product during a pitch? My guess is no.

“Ooh!”, I think to myself, “Good start for a blog post”. I have a rule I enforce on myself: any time I give more than two founders the same advice, I should write a blog post about it – it’s a sign that it could be useful advice for a broader audience.

So, here’s that blog post: should Mat plan to demo his platform during his investor pitch? I advise him (and you) not to.

So many things can go wrong; most of them out of your control and too hard to control for. Bugs, obviously, but also:

Slow or patchy internet connections;
Corporate firewalls;
Critical software updates;
iMessages from your Mum during the demo interrupting your flow;
Dumb-ass questions from the investor interrupting your flow;
Dumb-ass opinions from the investor about the UX and brand colours interrupting your flow;
Running out of power or not being able to reach a power outlet;
Not having the right display adapter;
Too many people to easily crowd around one laptop;
Too much sunshine to see clearly; and
A combination of the above.

It’s hard to script and rehearse a pitch that includes a product demo in such a way that if the demo fails, it doesn’t leave a huge, gaping hole in the story. It’s much better for the overall success rate of your pitching if you assume the product won’t be accessible while you’re telling the story.

And you know what? Many investors aren’t actually tech product people anyway. They don’t care about whether it’ll work for them, they mainly care whether it works for the customer.

So as a general rule of thumb, it’s much better to tell a good story than demo an early product. As Mat says, “…if they don’t understand the story then I’m probably failing at selling anyway.”

There are exceptions (as always). For some startups, the product experience really is the whole point of the story. I can tell people that Sparrow Flights lets you book a flight and a hotel room as easily as calling an Uber, but how they pull that off is something you really have to see.

Note there’s a difference between “try” and “see”.

If I let you noodle around with the Sparrow app during a pitch you’re likely to have only half your attention on what I’m saying and half on what you’re seeing. I think I’d want to show a couple of screenshots to illustrate what I mean about the interface, but there’s no reason to introduce the risks inherent in demoing something live. Even if it’s been popular in the iOS App Store for a couple of years, it could still run into a server error, or show a timeout due to a patchy mobile connection.

Sometimes, what you do is so deep in the backend there’s nothing to demo but you still feel the need to prove that your IP is real. I get that.

Muru Music built a smartphone app as a proof-of-concept that their algorithmic music playlist technology really does do what it says on the box. Not because they want to compete with Spotify, but because it’s hard to show how good the backend technology is when its ingesting and auto-categorising new music for a record label.

But Nicc from Muru Music doesn’t usually demo the iOS app when he’s pitching to you; his pitch is about Muru’s role in the big picture and the long-term future of the music industry. That’s what Nicc wants you to invest in; not the company’s ability to design and build a great smartphone app.

If he sees you’re a bit sceptical about whether the backend tech works, he can send you a link to download the app.

When I’m pitching M8 Ventures to potential investors, I don’t have a product to demo. If I really wanted to, I could have my MacBook setup to run you through demos of Bugherd, UpGuard, Bugcrowd, Propeller Aero, Workyard, Elevio, Geosnapshot, and the other startups I’ve invested in, to show you how I believe I’m great at picking world-class product and technical teams at the pre-seed and seed stages.

But I don’t. I don’t even use a deck. I tell a brief story about me, about how I came to be here. Then I actively elicit a few stories from my potential investor about them, and how they came to be here. Then I tell them a story about what we aim to do with our venture fund, how it’ll work, what we think the timeline will be, name drop some of the other investors already committed.

Then I ask them if they have any questions. Once I’ve addressed their questions, I ask them [dramatic reality TV music] if they’re interested in investing in our fund.

And I can tell you; I sell about as well as anybody with a product background and asking that question is ten times harder than demoing a product to somebody.

But asking and getting the answer to that question is what it’s all about. And I’m not going to let anything distract me from it.

If, instead of yes or no, they ask to see a deck, I can email it to them immediately following our meeting.

Disclosure statement: my only affiliation with Evoke and Sparrow Flights is they are good friends. I’m a current investor in Muru Music, Bugcrowd, Propeller Aero, Workyard, Elevio and Geosnapshot. I’m a former investor in Bugherd and UpGuard (Exits! Yay!).