Getting funding for your startup can feel like an uphill battle. You craft the perfect email, rehearse your pitch until you know it by heart, and still, the meetings don’t always go the way you hope. The truth is, talking to potential investors isn’t just about having a great idea. It’s about communication, preparation, and knowing how to build the right relationships.
Whether you’re meeting angel investors at a networking event or pitching to venture capitalists in a formal setting, how you present yourself matters just as much as what you’re presenting. This guide breaks down 10 practical tips that can help you connect with investors, make your pitch memorable, and increase your chances of securing the funding you need.
1. Research Your Investors Before You Reach Out
Walking into a meeting blind is one of the fastest ways to lose an investor’s interest. Before you schedule that call or send that email, do your homework. Research the investor community you’re targeting—what companies have they invested in before, which industries do they focus on, and what stage of funding do they typically provide? For founders in property or proptech spaces, reviewing resources like a 10 best real estate software for investors list can also help you understand the tools and technologies investors already trust and expect businesses to use.
Understanding which type of investor is right for you makes the fundraising process more focused. If you’re an early-stage startup looking for seed funding, pitching to a late-stage venture capital firm won’t get you far. Look at their portfolio. If they’ve invested in companies similar to yours, that’s a good sign. If their investment thesis doesn’t align with your business model, keep looking.
Platforms like Tablon make this research easier by connecting founders with investors who are actively looking to fund startups in specific sectors. When you attend events through Tablon or use their one-on-one meeting service, you’re already starting with investors who have expressed interest in businesses like yours. That’s half the battle won.
2. Perfect Your Elevator Pitch
You never know when you’ll need to explain your business. Maybe you’re at a networking dinner. Maybe an investor asks you to summarize your startup in 30 seconds. If you can’t explain your company in 30 seconds, it’s either too complex or you don’t understand it well enough.
Your elevator pitch should cover three things: the problem you’re solving, your solution, and why it matters. Skip the jargon. Skip the technical details. Just tell them what you do in plain language. Practice it until it feels natural, not rehearsed. Test it on friends, family, and people who don’t know your industry. If they get confused, simplify it more.
3. Know Your Numbers Inside and Out
Investors care about data. They want to see proof that your business can make money. That means you need to understand your financial projections, customer acquisition cost, revenue model, and burn rate. Even founders who actively research broader investment topics—such as comparing options in a 10 best etfs for young investors guide—quickly learn that solid, data-driven decision-making is what builds investor confidence across all asset classes.
A strong plan should include detailed financial statements, a clear marketing strategy, and specific business growth targets. When an investor asks about your margins or your path to profitability, you can’t hesitate or guess. Your numbers should be second nature, and you should be ready to explain the assumptions behind them.
Here’s what you should have at your fingertips:
- Current revenue and growth rate
- Customer acquisition cost (CAC) and lifetime value (LTV)
- Monthly burn rate and cash runway
- Revenue projections for the next 12–24 months
- Clear break-even timeline
If you don’t know an answer, don’t make something up. It’s perfectly acceptable to say, “I don’t have that figure right now, but I’ll follow up with accurate details.” Investors respect honesty and transparency far more than confident but inaccurate guesses.
4. Build Relationships Early, Not Just When You Need Money
The biggest mistake founders make is waiting until they’re desperate for funding before reaching out to investors. By then, it’s too late to build trust. It’s much easier to speak with potential investors before you need money, and this early contact can make the fundraising process much more focused when you do decide to raise capital.
Start conversations early. Attend events. Ask for feedback. Share your progress. Let investors watch your company grow over time. When fundraising season arrives, you won’t be a stranger. You’ll be someone they’ve been following, someone they believe in.
Tablon’s monthly networking dinners give founders exactly this opportunity. Instead of cold emailing hundreds of investors, you can meet them face-to-face, share your vision, and start building relationships that might lead to funding down the line.
5. Tell a Compelling Story, Not Just a Business Plan
Data matters, but so does emotion. Investors get pitched hundreds of times a year. The jobs to be done theory states that customers don’t just buy products; they hire them to do jobs. Your job is to make them care about your story, not just your spreadsheet.
Start with the problem. Make it real. Help them see why it matters. Then introduce your solution. Show them how you’re uniquely positioned to solve it. Talk about the journey that led you here. What inspired you to start this company? What keeps you going when things get hard?
People invest in people as much as they invest in ideas. Let them see your passion. Let them understand your vision. Give them a reason to root for you.
6. Focus on Market Opportunity, Not Just Market Size
Saying “we’re going after a billion-dollar market” doesn’t impress investors anymore. Every founder says that. What they want to know is why this market needs your solution right now. While investors like to see companies playing in large markets, there’s something that’s more important than size: market need.
Explain the gap in the market. Show them the trends that are working in your favor. Prove that customers are actively looking for what you’re building. Talk about early traction, letters of intent, or beta users who can’t live without your product. That’s the evidence that matters.
7. Send Materials Ahead of Time
Don’t walk into a meeting expecting the investor to spend 20 minutes just figuring out what your company does. Send a confirmation email a couple of days before the meeting and reattach the background information you’ve previously sent so it’s at the top of the investor’s inbox.
Include your pitch deck, a one-page summary, and any relevant metrics. This does two things. First, it shows respect for their time. Second, it lets them come prepared with questions. That means you spend less time explaining the basics and more time having a real conversation about the business.
8. Listen More Than You Talk
This might sound counterintuitive, but a pitch meeting isn’t a presentation. It’s a conversation. Investors want dialogue, not a monologue, so you can start your meeting by asking questions.
Ask what caught their attention. Ask about their experience with similar companies. Ask what concerns they have. Then listen. Really listen. Their questions tell you what they care about. Their feedback tells you what to address. If they’re asking about customer acquisition, spend more time there. If they want to know about your team, dive deeper into who you’ve hired and why.
If you can pick up on your investor’s metaphors, you will better understand how they see the world and then you can respond using their language. Do they talk about growth, battles, or building? Mirror their language. It creates connection.
9. Be Honest About Your Challenges
No business is perfect. Every startup faces obstacles. Trying to hide them makes you look naive. Annual reports should discuss the challenges facing the company because investors expect honesty and transparency.
Talk about the risks. Explain what keeps you up at night. Then explain how you’re addressing those challenges. Show them you’ve thought it through. Show them you’re prepared. Investors don’t expect perfection. They expect awareness and a plan.
If a competitor just raised funding, acknowledge it. If your last quarter was slower than expected, own it. If you’re still figuring out product-market fit, say so. Then explain what you’re doing about it.
10. Follow Up with Clear Next Steps
The meeting ends, but your job doesn’t. Try to close on a tangible next step in the meeting, such as sending the data room and setting up a second meeting or doing a product demo next.
Send a thank-you email within 24 hours. Recap the key points you discussed. Include any information they requested. Propose a specific next step, whether that’s another meeting, a product demo, or introductions to your team.
If they said no, ask for feedback. Ask if they know other investors who might be a better fit. When you get that rejection, move on and don’t spend a whole lot of time engaging with investors who are not going to get excited about your company. There are too many other investors out there.
Why Meeting Investors Face-to-Face Still Matters
In a world of Zoom calls and email chains, meeting investors in person creates a different kind of connection. You can read body language. You can build rapport. You can have the kind of spontaneous conversation that leads to real understanding.
That’s why platforms like Tablon focus on bringing investors and founders together at networking dinners and one-on-one meetings. These aren’t sterile pitch sessions. They’re opportunities to connect as people first, business partners second. When you shake hands, share a meal, and talk about your vision face-to-face, you’re building the foundation for a relationship that could last years.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Talking to Investors
Before we wrap up, here are a few things you should never do in an investor meeting:
Don’t Ask for an NDA. Unless you’re dealing with technology so sensitive and valuable that some level of paranoia is truly healthy, then an NDA is not going to do anything but waste time. It signals that you don’t trust them and don’t understand how the industry works.
Don’t Say You Have No Competition. If your product asks for anything from a customer, be it money, time, or attention, you are by default in competition with all of the other things a customer could be doing with that money, time and attention. Every business has competition. Show that you understand yours.
Don’t Focus Only on the Exit Strategy. Investors want to see that you’re building a real business, not just looking for a quick payday. Focus on creating value, not just cashing out.
Don’t Oversell. Be sure to avoid overselling your product or service; your business helps a certain group of people meet an important need or want, and you should make this clear to potential investors. Let the data speak for itself.
FAQs
Q: When is the best time to start talking to investors?
Start building relationships with potential investors long before you actually need funding. This gives them time to see your progress and gives you time to find the right fit. If you’re actively fundraising, reach out when you have traction and data to show, not just an idea.
Q: How long should my investor pitch be?
For formal presentations, aim for 10-15 minutes, leaving time for questions. For casual settings like networking events, prepare both a 30-second elevator pitch and a 3-minute overview. Always read the room and adjust accordingly.
Q: What should I include in my pitch deck?
Your pitch deck should cover the problem, your solution, market opportunity, business model, traction, team, competition, financial projections, and your funding ask. Keep it to 10-15 slides and make sure every slide has one clear message.
Q: How do I find the right investors for my startup?
Research investors who have funded companies in your industry or at your stage. Look at their portfolio, read their blogs, and understand their investment thesis. Networking platforms like Tablon can also connect you directly with investors looking to fund startups in your sector.
Q: What if an investor says no?
Don’t take it personally. Ask for feedback, thank them for their time, and ask if they can introduce you to other investors who might be a better fit. Keep building your business and come back later with better traction.
