Crafting the perfect pitch: key takeaways from webinar with Aaron Fu

This post was written by MEST Community Manager, Lundie Strom.

Last week, MEST Africa’s Managing Director Aaron Fu led a webinar to share tips and tricks for how startup founders can make an investor pitch stand out amongst the crowd.

“Some people say they can’t pitch their business in less than 10 minutes — they think it’s too complex, too complicated. But there is a lot of meaning that you can convey in very [few words],” Aaron explained.

Participants followed Aaron’s talk with a deck focused on the importance of storytelling while pitching for investment.

“Most of the time when we think about how to pitch, we think about getting on a stage, getting in front of investors… But you should think about your story before you get on stage. You should really dive into why you are doing what you’re doing; not enough people do that. Why should people join your company? And why should we buy your product?”

Aaron emphasized that this message should come from the heart. “It should still be from you. People can tell when you aren’t being authentic, and brands often feel manufactured.”

After a few nods to brands that tell their story very successfully (Toms Shoes, for example), Aaron opened up the discussion for questions from the eager audience.

Some great questions asked and answered included:

• Is the way you tell your story dependent on your audience?
• How do I develop the confidence to pitch on a scale bigger than one-on-one?
• When I pitch, should I focus on the audience or the judges?

Following Q&A, Aaron concluded the hour-long discussion with a quote: “Tell me the facts, and I’ll learn. Tell me the truth, and I’ll believe. But tell me a story, and it will live in my heart forever.”

For more key insights and to hear Aaron’s answers to the questions above, listen to the full audio of the Webinar here (content starts around 6:00 minutes) and access the presentation slides here.

Be sure to also follow MEST Africa on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to ensure you don’t miss future webinars.