英语学习：创业路演最容易出现的28个雷区

友谊的真诚

早期阶段的创业公司要想拿到融资，就必须要通过成功的项目路演吸引到投资人。但很多创业者在路演时要么显得没有经验，要么干脆就搞得一塌糊涂。
身为风投家和天使投资人，我听过的路演不计其数。我给创业者们列了一份清单，总结了路演过程中最容易犯的一些错误和需要避免的问题。


Entrepreneurs from early stage startups have to pitch to investors to raise financing, and many entrepreneurs are inexperienced or terrible at making the presentation.
As a venture capital and angel investor who has heard many pitches, I’ve compiled a list of mistakes and things to avoid if you are an entrepreneur seeking angel or venture financing.

友谊的真诚

错误1：莫名其妙地寄来项目摘要或计划书
对于创业者“海投”式的电子邮件，投资人一般都不会看，而是直接删掉。因为他们会收到成百上千这样的邮件，他们不可能花时间一封封地去看能不能在里面找到宝贝。但你如果是他们这个圈子里的某个人推荐来的，他们还是会加以留心的——比如某位律师，或他们投资的某个公司的企业家，或者是另一位风投资本家。


Mistake #1: Sending me your executive summary or business plan unsolicited.
Investors routinely discard or don’t read unsolicited emails. They get hundreds if not thousands of such emails, and they can’t spend the time sifting through them all to find that diamond in the rough. But what they will pay attention to is a referral from someone in their network — a lawyer, an entrepreneur from one of their portfolio companies, or a fellow venture capitalist.

友谊的真诚

错误2：除非你显然从事的是我感兴趣的行业，否则不要找我
有些投资人只对某一个领域的项目感兴趣，比如生物科技、移动应用、清洁能源或互联网和数字媒体等。你在联系我之前，最好先做做作业，确保你的公司从事的恰好是我感兴趣的领域。


Mistake #2: Pitching me your company unless it’s clear that you are in a space I am interested in.
Some investors only care about biotech. Or mobile apps. Or clean tech. Or Internet and digital media. Do your homework first before trying to pitch me to make sure your company is in my sweet spot.

友谊的真诚

错误3：给我一份50页的商业计划书让我看
我没时间先看一份50页的商业计划，再去决定值不值得跟你会面或跟进这个项目。请给我发一份2到3页的摘要，或是一份PPT。


Mistake #3: Giving me a 50-page business plan to review.
I don’t have the time to review a 50-page business plan up front to decide whether it’s worth taking a meeting or following up. Give me a 2-3 page executive summary and maybe a PowerPoint deck.

友谊的真诚

错误4：没有向我展示为什么你的项目有较大的市场机会
大多数投资人都在寻找可以做大做强的企业。所以你要首先解答为什么你的公司可以做得很大这个问题。不要给我展示任何小点子。如果第一个产品或服务比较小，那么你可能需要把你的公司定义成一个能催生多个产品和应用的“平台”型企业。还有，我想知道你真正的目标市场是什么，以及随着时间的推移，你打算占据多大的市场份额。


Mistake #4: Not showing me why the market opportunity is big.
Most investors are looking for businesses that can scale and become meaningful. So make sure you address this issue right up front as to why your business can really become big. Don’t present any small ideas. If the first product or service is small, then perhaps you need to position the company as a “platform” business allowing the creation of multiple products or apps. I will want to know the actual addressable market and what percentage of the market you plan to get over time.

友谊的真诚

错误5：带着团队参加路演，但只有CEO一人在讲话
投资者想知道你是否拥有一个好的团队。所以在路演的时候，只让CEO进行讲演，绝对是一个错误。如果其他团队成员不开口，投资人怎么确定这是一支好团队？还有就是不要让他们的发言自相矛盾。


Mistake #5: Coming in with your team to a pitch meeting, but only have the CEO speak.
Investors want to know that you have a good team. Only having the CEO speak at a pitch meeting is a mistake. How will the investor gauge whether the other team members are any good if they don’t hear them speak? And please don’t have the team members contradict themselves.

友谊的真诚

错误6：跟我说你还没有任何竞争对手
如果你跟我说你没有任何竞争对手，我肯定会觉得你要么不切实际，要么太幼稚。你当然是有竞争对手的，不管这种竞争是直接还是间接的，又或许有其他人能够提供替代你的解决方案。另外，你对竞争对手的分析，也能表明你对市场是有理解的。


Mistake #6: Telling me you don’t have any competition.
Telling me you have no competition likely says you are unrealistic or naive. Of course you have competition, whether direct, indirect. or someone who provides a substitute solution. And your analysis of your competitors will show me you have an understanding of the market.、

友谊的真诚

错误7：给我看无趣的或不切实际的预测
如果你向我预测道，在五年之内，你的公司的收益能达到500万美元，我可能还会有一丁点兴趣。我想投资的是一家能够显著增长的公司、一家令人兴奋的公司。但如果你向我预测道，你的收益在三年内就能达到500万美元，我只会觉得你不切实际，尤其是如果你目前的收益是0的话。另外，如果你的预测中的假设不能自圆其说的话——比如如果你打算在运营和营销成本只增长20%的情况下，就使收益增长400%，那么这种豪言壮语就不要对我说了。


Mistake #7: Showing me uninteresting or unrealistic projections.
If you show me projections for the company to become $5 million in revenue in five years, I will have little interest. I want to invest in a company that can grow significantly and become an exciting business. Alternatively, if you show me projections where you are at $500 million in three years, I will just think you are unrealistic, especially if you are at zero in revenues today. Avoid assumptions in your projections that will be difficult to justify, such as how you will get to a 400% growth in revenue with only a 20% growth in operating and marketing costs.

友谊的真诚

错误8：在跟我分享信息之前，先要求我签保密协议。
大多数投资人都有不签保密协议这个不成文的习惯。既然你要找投资人，为什么要自己给自己设一块绊脚石呢？如果你有什么高度保密的东西，千万别跟我说。


Mistake #8: Asking me to sign an NDA before you will share information with me.
Most investors have a policy not to sign non-disclosure agreements. Why would you want to put a hurdle in front of being able to connect with an investor? And if you have something highly confidential, don’t share it with me.

友谊的真诚

错误9：对我的问题给出令人困惑或糟糕的答案。
创业者在给投资人做讲演之前，应该先找朋友或顾问练习一下。你需要对投资人的问题给出干脆利落的答案。另外，你必须提前想到投资人可能会问你哪些比较难回答的问题。如果你跟我说，“我回去了解一下再告诉你答案”，那就很难给我留下一个好印象。
如果我在问你问题，这是一个好迹象，说明我已经对你感兴趣了。所以，要尽量当场回答这些问题。在路演的时候，不要回避那些难以回答的问题，或者告诉我你打算等一会儿再回答。我就是想看看你的反应有多快。在路演的过程中，被投资人的问题打断是很正常的。


Mistake #9: Giving me confusing or bad answers to my questions.
Entrepreneurs should practice their pitch with friends and advisors before presenting to an investor. You need to be prepared to give crisp answers to questions. You have to anticipate the difficult questions you may get. Telling me that “you will get back to me with an answer” seldom leaves a good impression. If I am asking you questions, that’s a good sign that I am engaged. So do your best to answer them right away. Don’t evade the hard questions or tell me that you will get to it later in the presentation. I want to see if you can think on your feet. Expect to get interrupted during your presentation.