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Pitching Techniques

Pitching Tip #2 : Don't forget your pen

Don't Forget Your Pen post
Judges clarifying questions and responses

Pitching Tip #2 : Don't forget your pen

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Far too often, I’ve witnessed entrepreneurs make terrible mistakes when pitching to potential funders. This is my second pitching tip in a series of twelve that you – as an entrepreneur – need to implement in order to improve your business pitch to potential funders, as well as some of the pitfalls you should avoid.

Judges clarifying questions and responses

My second pitching tip is don’t forget your pen

When pitching to a venture capitalist, be open to taking part in a dialogue about your business with them, and be prepared to answer any questions they may have for you. It’s important that you don’t react defensively when asked tough questions. It’s very seldom that you will be able to conclude a deal when you have a “defensive” mind-set, therefore, rather be humble. The funder’s questions are a means of probing you to find out: how well-thought out your pitch is; whether you’ve really considered all of the possible risks that you may be presented with; and how you plan on mitigating them.

Make sure you take a pen with you into the meeting so that you can take notes throughout the discussion, and think about the questions that are being asked. Don’t be shy to ask the funder for clarity if anything is unclear because this will ensure that you have a thorough understanding of their concerns.

Be cognisant of any commonly asked questions that are raised by more than one funder because these will immediately highlight any particular issues or risks that you are not addressing in your pitch. In preparation for your next pitch, make certain that you address these specific concerns adequately so as to mitigate any similar questions surrounding them altogether.

Your notes will act as a record of the discussion and the important points that were raised, and this information will be all-important when you take time to reflect after the meeting. Learn from the feedback you receive, and don’t view it as criticism. Venture capitalists have years of experience behind their names, and will provide you with invaluable feedback about critical risks that you may not have considered yet.

At the end of the day, your pitch needs to increase your probability of raising finance so don’t go to your next meeting ill-prepared – always take a pen – and be open-minded! More often than not, venture capitalists view entrepreneurs who take notes and listen attentively as being more serious than those who sit quietly and don’t take any notes.

Pitching Techniques

Florence Duval

Florence Duval is a seasoned strategist with over 25 years of experience leading sustainability, stakeholder engagement and social impact initiatives across public and private sectors. 

As CEO and founder of IN TOUCH, she guides cross-sectoral teams to deliver high-impact advisory solutions that strengthen institutions, enable public-private partnerships and secure both the legal and social licence to operate. Her expertise spans compliance, community development, issue management and sponsorship development – always anchored in sustainable development principles. 

A former mining executive and committed social activist, Florence is known for her ability to build meaningful partnerships, navigate complex regulatory environments and drive transformative impact through purpose-driven leadership

Monique Chinnah

Monique is a curious, serial questioner who wants to take the mystique out of business and finance to make it practical and relevant to entrepreneurs. ‘Why?’, ‘Why not?’ and ‘How can we help, for real?' are her favourite questions.

She is the Senior Manager of Segment Design and Development in Retail Relationship Banking at Nedbank, and she is responsible for ensuring that small businesses are fully supported through Banking and Beyond® solutions and most particularly as the product owner of the SimplyBiz® platform. Monique believes that keeping business strategy simple, real and practically implementable is fundamental to success. She also believes in the power of fun. If you don’t like what you’re doing, don’t do it!

Monique draws on her own entrepreneurial journeys and extensive management roles in various industries to ensure that solutions are conceptualised and delivered with small-business owners’ needs in mind.

She believes in life-long learning and being a sponge through immersions in over 300 000 businesses, various tertiary and educational programmes, and she is a YouTube and social-media hustler. In 2012 she was awarded a scholarship through Goldman Sachs UK to attend the 10 000 Women entrepreneurial programme through the Gordon Institute of Business Science, and she has been recognised with several Top Achiever Awards in Nedbank.

Allon Raiz

Allon Raiz is regarded both locally and globally as a pioneer and maverick in the business-incubation industry. He is the founder and CEO of Raizcorp which, according to The Economist, is the only genuine incubator in Africa and which currently supports over 500 businesses.

A two-times PhD dropout, Allon is the best-selling author of three entrepreneurial books. He hosted the first national radio show on entrepreneurship in South Africa in 2004; wrote and hosted the first South African prime-time entrepreneurship reality television show; and created and published an entrepreneurial cartoon strip. Allon is currently hosting his 15th season of the popular The Big Small Business Show on Business Day TV.

Allon is a co-founder of the Entrepreneurs’ Organisation South Africa and Rural Roots, and is on the advisory and judging boards of numerous local and international NGOs and entrepreneurial awards. His passion for and focus on the development of entrepreneurs attracted the attention of the World Economic Forum (WEF) which, in 2008, recognised Allon as a Young Global Leader.

As an accomplished international speaker, Allon was invited to speak at the 2011 WEF Annual Meeting held in Davos, Switzerland. In 2011, he became a member of the WEF’s Global Agenda Council on Fostering Entrepreneurship, making him one of 15 recognised global experts in the field. More recently, he became a member of the WEF’s Global Future Council.

In 2013, Allon received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the Oliver Transformation and Empowerment Awards. The following year, he became the country winner, regional winner and continental winner of the Titan Award for Building Nations.

Between 2014 and 2016, Allon guest lectured at Oxford University where he was recognised as the Oxford University Saïd Business School’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence.

In 2015, Allon received an invitation from the White House, on behalf of President Barack Obama, to speak at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit held in Kenya.

Nonkqubela Maliza

Nonkqubela Maliza is the director of Corporate and Government Affairs at Volkswagen Group Africa. She has held the position since 2006 and also chairs the VW Community Trust and VWSA BEE Initiatives Trust. 

Prior to this, Nonkqubela was a senior executive at Metallon Corporation, a pan-African mining and financial services company with operations in South Africa and Zimbabwe. She also served as a chief director at the Department of Trade and Industry and has strong experience in the financial services sector. 

Nonkqubela holds an MBA from the University of Cape Town, a BA Honours in Economics from Rhodes University and a BA in Psychology and Economics from Rhodes University.