Startup Funding – The Pitch Video

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If you prefer to read, here’s the Pitch Video transcript:

Hey, let’s get you funded!

Startup funding: How to use video to get your company funded. 11 tips for using a Pitch Video to get the funding you need plus the pros and cons of hiring a video pro to produce it.

We’re gonna go over why you should consider using a Pitch Video, what to include in your Pitch Video and end with discussing the pros and cons of hiring a pro to help you.

You have a great idea, a successful startup, or maybe just a business plan. You also have the passion and skill it takes to realize your dream. And you’re now at the point where you need an investment of capital to get your company onto the next rung of success, whether that’s seed money or a later round of funding, like a Series A or Series B round. So now it’s time for you to reach out to venture capitalists, VCs, or private investors for funding. You’ve probably created a Pitch Deck, if not, you’ll need one, that’s professional precise and tells your story. But, what do you do with that exquisitely crafted Pitch Deck?

For most people, the way to generate interest in your company is to email your Pitch Deck, to as many investors as possible and cross your fingers, maybe your toes too. And hope for an in-person meeting. It’s possible for this approach to work but these days, this old technique is like throwing a handful of darts at a dartboard and hoping one of them hits the bullseye. Besides, VCs usually get more pitch decks than they can handle, and oftentimes pass them off to their junior associates where they can get lost in the shuffle. Before you know it, your dream along with much needed funds are lost to digital black holes in the form of unread emails.

So the question becomes, how do I get the attention of VCs and stand out from the rest of the companies, looking for funding?

One powerful way that’s relatively new is to use a Pitch Video that will supplement your Pitch Deck to get the attention of investors. Basically, there are two options for how to create your Pitch Video. Doing it yourself, or hiring a professional filmmaker or team. We dive into that a little bit later, but first let’s go over the why and how of a pitch video.

A Pitch Video opens more doors. Smart startups are now using Pitch Videos to grab attention. These founders are finding that a Pitch Video opens so many more doors that it’s becoming the go-to tool to get the funding you need. Raising money for your business is no easy task, you’re not only asking investors to embrace your vision, but you’re also convincing them that they will eventually make a profit as well. A Pitch Video helps you stand out from the crowd.

A Pitch Video is a creative way to engage your potential investors. The Pitch Video helps you stand out from the crowd and tell your company’s story in a short amount of time. A Pitch Video helps you connect to the investor. A Pitch Video is also a transformative way to create an immediate human connection. We’ve all heard the statement that 55% communication is non-verbal. So a Pitch Video will not only capture your story, but will also convey your body language, gestures, and tone of voice, that project your confidence and enthusiasm.

Tips to create the best Pitch Video. Be clear. When creating a Pitch Video, it’s essential to be direct and clear about your company’s mission, your target audience, and the value gained by VCs who are investing in you, not just your company. With an engaging hook, a Pitch Video draws in investors and allows you to tell your story.

Length of your video. Only as long as it needs to be.

Another thing you wanna keep in mind is the length of your video. Despite what some people have you believe, there’s no set length for a Pitch Video, or really almost any video. The only rule is whether your video continues to be of interest to your audience while it’s playing. When you’re watching, what you or your pro editor has created for you, you should constantly be asking, is this piece of info of interest to the investor that will be watching this video? If not, it’s onto the cutting room floor with that segment, no matter how cool you think it is.

But, to give you a broad range, anywhere from one to 10 minutes is enough time to tell your story and capture an investor’s attention. To avoid a Pitch Video that’s too long, make sure you know what you wanna convey. This could be in the form of a script or a storyboard, or maybe just some bullet points. It depends on your preferred style and how much practice you’ve had telling your company story.

Remember the objective for your Pitch Video is not to explain all the details.

Instead the real mission of the pitch video is to get you a meeting with potential investors.

And the best way to get them interested at this point is to use an emotional perspective, making your video aspirational, showing your potential investors, what your customers can achieve. And what the VC can achieve, will bring them into your story and get them excited to find out more. Emotion is motivating. You can provide them with all the nitty gritty details of your product and pitch during your meeting.

Avoid too many details in your Pitch Video. Avoid revealing lengthy details about your product or service. Show what your business or product does in general, and then focus on the future of your company. Let the Pitch Video answer the investor’s inherent question, What’s in it for me?

Your Pitch Video should whet the appetite of the investor, make sure they understand your concept and that it could be a great fit for their portfolio of investments. Be relaxed and confident on camera. Whether you’re creating your own video or using a professional, be sure you’re relaxed and confident on camera. Less on product specs, more on investing.

Your Pitch Video should also focus on illustrating to venture capitalists the highlights of your product or service. For example, if you have an actual product, you’re showcasing be sure your Pitch Video captures the essence of the products function without being too detail oriented. What’s important to a VC, isn’t necessarily a specific feature, instead it’s the market viability, revenue forecast and customer engagement.

Your Pitch Video should tell your story, spotlight your product or service and present a call to action to the investor. A clear and compelling call to action. A strong call to action encourages your viewers to reach out to you. Many people make the mistake that well VCs are smart, and then they assume that the viewer will know exactly what to do next, but you don’t wanna take that risk. The slightest bit of uncertainty will lead people to inaction. So be sure to use a clear CTA, like schedule a call now that clarifies what you want and motivates your contacts to book a meeting with you.

Pro Tip: personalized video intros.

Another really strong tactic that video enables is the possibility of creating personalized intros for your main Pitch Video. In other words, you can record a short video that says something like, “Hi, Susan, the team here at XYZ App has created a short video to help you learn about what we’ve been up to and some info about our next round of funding, check it out.” Now, of course, you’ll also use the VCs name and the email that you send that contains the link to your Pitch Video, but these personalized video intros get attention. Again that’s really what we’re trying to do here is get the attention of people that can fund your business. Here’s another

Pro Tip: tracking who and how much of your video was watched.

Integrating your Pitch Video on a platform like HubSpot, Salesforce, Wistia, or Vidyard is like having a secret weapon because these tools can also help you track metrics such as viewer engagement down to the specific person. So you’ll know how you should follow up with the viewers or non viewers of your pitch video. For example, you send your pitch video to investor A and see that they haven’t watched any of your video, you’ll then know to send them a follow up to remind them to give it a watch. Or, if you see that investor B has watched your entire Pitch Video, you’ll know that they have at least some interest and you can follow up with a request for a meeting. Should you hire a pro to help you make your Pitch Video?

Okay, we’ve talked about the why you should make a Pitch Video, and what should go in your Pitch Video. Now let’s talk about the how to make your Pitch Video. Simple Pitch Videos can be made with your smartphone. No question. You’ll need some basic things like a tripod or something to hold your phone so it’s steady while you’re filming, you’ll need to make sure your audio is clear and you’ll wanna make sure your lighting is good too. Then after you record, you’ll need to edit what you shot so that it’s as concise as possible. If you have the time and inclination to do those things, then go for it, really.

What you get when you hire a pro video studio is better image quality, better sound quality, and someone to take care of these sometimes arduous task of piecing together all the footage you shot in a compelling way. In other words, editing your video to tell your story really well.

If you are considering hiring a video professional or studio, there are two basic types. Those that focus only on production or making a video to your specs and the other type that we’ll consult with you beforehand to make sure that your script and storyline, filming, graphics like text, charts and animating your logo, your on-camera performance, what to include and exclude in your video and the best way to get your video in front of investors.

With both types of video studios, you’ll get a video that looks and sounds great. But with a more consultative approach, the odds of you ending up with a video that gets funded is much greater because a lot more thought, planning and strategy went into it.

Having an objective third party working with you will help keep your story on track so that investors will stay interested in your video all the way to the end. Remember, you need a result from this video and the result is getting a meeting with an investor. If your video falls flat, there’s very little chance that you’ll get that meeting.

Now, hiring a video pro will obviously be an investment. Very broad range for a Pitch Video is anywhere from two to 25K, depending on the type of video production company you go with and what you’re hoping to achieve. But, if you look at it truly as an investment to secure the funding that you need to make your vision a reality, then it can easily make financial sense to make the call to a pro video studio.

Whether you’re up for the challenge of creating your own Pitch Video, or want to take your business to a pro level, by using a commercial filmmaker, using the power of video to get the attention and interest of investors will not only show them that you understand marketing and sales, but are also willing to use innovative tactics to help your company succeed.

To achieve the success you crave for your company, your business needs to be seen, heard and understood. MOVING + STILL can be your guide through the entire process of creating your best pitch video so that you can make your vision a reality. Get in touch by sending a DM or checking out the contact page on our website. And you can pick the option that’s best for you to connect.

During your discovery call, there’s never any pressure and we’ll only go forward if I really think we can help you out.