Angels Den Blog

In this loan-shy banking era, Angel finance is one of the most frequently used methods of financing a new business, and more and more small business owners are taking advantage of this lucrative opportunity.

So what is ‘Angel finance’? The ‘Angel’ is a wealthy private investor—not bound by the rules of a venture capital firm, but governed solely by his or her own common sense—who is looking to invest in new opportunities. If your business could benefit from a capital injection to boost its chances at success, then it is this type of person whom you will need to impress.

With this in mind, we have compiled our ‘top three’ rules for pitching for Angel finance

Pitching for Angel finance rule #1—Be yourself
When pursuing Angel finance, be yourself. Don’t try too hard—the prospective investor is likely to see right through you. Remember, these wealthy individuals got to where they are today because they’re savvy entrepreneurs used to sifting out the truth. They won’t be impressed if they discover that you’re putting on an act to impress them—and they will be able to tell. Besides, nobody likes a kiss-up.

It’s only natural to want to do well in what could possibly be the most important meeting of your business life, but presenting a persona invented for your Angel finance pitch in the belief that it will show an investor what they want is a bad strategy. So if you’re not funny, don’t try to crack jokes when pitching for Angel finance—and if you’re not naturally sombre, don’t try to button it down. Start simply by being yourself. If you come across as unnatural or uncomfortable because you’re trying too hard to impress the investor, he or she will pick this up and feel less inclined to invest in you.

Pitching for Angel finance rule #2—Keep it short and professional
At an Angels Den SpeedFunding event, you will have just three minutes in which to present your case for Angel funding to each investor. Remember, these are wealthy individuals and you’re not the only one clamouring for their support. So while you need to be yourself, you also need to make your pitch professional—complete with all of the relevant information about your business, and its facts and figures. In short: you should know your stuff.

Think about an excited new mum or dad: they can answer any question about their baby. They know how much she weighs, what time she was born, what birthmarks she has, and where. Your business is your baby—and you ought to be prepared to answer any question that the investor might have, with the information right at your fingertips.

Make a list ahead of time of the questions that you might be asked during your pitch for Angel finance and make sure that you have those answers uppermost in your mind. If you have to dig for the answers (‘Um… Good question… Let me see here… I know I have it somewhere…’), you’ll end up wasting time and looking unprofessional.

Pitching for Angel finance rule #3—Honesty is the best policy
While you must be honest in being yourself, you must also be honest in relation to your business. If you try to inflate the facts and figures, once again, your potential investor will find you out. He or she may discover your omission or exaggeration long after your pitch—but whenever they do so, their trust and confidence in you will be destroyed. So when you make that graph, or when you write up that product comparison, stifle the urge to manipulate the truth. Of course, you love your business or your business idea. Of course, you think it’s a great idea—it’s your own idea, after all. But just because you think it’s great doesn’t mean that you need to come off sounding like a cheap used car salesman.

If your potential investor smells something fishy—such as a prospective sales figure for the first year that sounds a little too optimistic, or an assertion that you’ll definitely crush the existing competition without so much as a whimper from them—your pitch will be over before it really gets started.

So good luck with your Angel finance pitch: remember to be honest, professional, and—most importantly—be yourself, and it’s sure to go well.