What makes a private equity pitch stand out?
That’s the question I put to my panel at SuperInvestor, the annual conference for private equity decision makers, in November 2015. I asked them to tell us about teams that did something different and grabbed attention.
On the panel were Catherine Lewis La Torre (Head of Private Equity, Cardano), Anna Dayn (CEO, Dayn Advisors), Spencer Miller (Former Managing Director, OpTrust Private Markets Group) and Marc der Kinderen (Managing Partner, 747 Capital).
Between them, they review hundreds fund pitches every year and they’ve seen them all – the good, the bad and the ugly.
Here’s some of their advice for a great investor pitch:
1. Create a pitch that’s different
Anna Dayn recalled a pitch last year at SuperInvestor’s famous Quick Fire Showcase, where funds have just 90 seconds to pitch to a room of LPs. She told us about a pitch made in the form of a rap routine. Within 90 seconds, his rap managed to fit in all the fund highlights in a creative and memorable fashion.
2. Tailor your pitch to each investor
Spencer Miller reminded us how important it is to customise your pitch for each organisation you are speaking to. “Know who you’re meeting. Have an idea of what they are interested in.” You won’t always be guided by the LP. So focusing your pitch on exactly what the investor wants “makes it much more useful, and helps build the relationship.”
3. Demonstrate passion
“It’s fair to say that we see a lot of things that look more or less the same.” Said Catherine Lewis La Torre. “One that did stand out for me was a German GP. When they went through their portfolio they got products out and started talking about them. They were so animated and passionate that they really conveyed how much they knew about the businesses, how they would be generating value and they just loved that business. And that came across.“
4. Show, don’t just tell
“It gets us excited when we can get closer to the companies”, said Marc der Kinderen. “We once had a team came in and brought one of their CEOs. He happened to be in NY, and they let him speak to us. He explained how they got started, what they were doing, how the PE firm helped, how often they spoke. That made it come alive.”
