In 1916, celebrated author, Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, famously coined the phrase, “Murder your darlings.”
He implores writers to remove any element that doesn’t serve their story. Even those you love.
It’s good advice and something people pitching for investment should also heed.
In my experience, people who create; artists; entrepreneurs; inventors, etc. want to talk about their creations.
And why shouldn’t you? It’s your baby; the embodiment of your vision and the product of your blood, sweat, and tears.
It’s also why pitch presentations are invariably drowning in technical detail.
Problem is, investors aren’t interested.
They look at your idea through a different lens. One of ROI and profit.
They want to understand the scale of the problem you’re solving, why it matters and what it’s worth. They want to know why your solution is better than the competition, who owns the IP and your go-to-market strategy.
They know the seeds of failure are sown in management. So, critically, they want to assess you and your team.
So, when creating your pitch, be ruthless.
If any element isn’t in service of the investor’s narrative, you must kill it off.
Even if it means murdering your own darlings.
