[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYOwbLupoM4&w=560&h=349]
Kevin Rose, CEO of Milk and co-host of Diggnation, has a few successful (Digg) and not successful (Pownce) startups. But through all that work he’s talked with a lot of VCs, invests in companies himself, and has heard a lot of pitches. At the Future of Web Apps conference in Las Vegas, I asked Rose to give me a few tips on how to get VC investment:
- Go to where people are investing in what you're building – If you’re building something in tech, you’ll find a high concentration of tech investors in the Bay Area (Silicon Valley to San Francisco).
- Don’t create huge projections – Investors aren’t going to believe them, and nobody can predict what’s going to happen six months out.
- Don’t put together complicated pitches – A couple of pages should be enough to get the point across.
- Create a working prototype – People want to see what you’re working on.
- Do an anti-pitch. Be passionate – Best pitch Rose ever got was from Ubango. Someone just came to him who was very passionate about the space. The two of them connected and Rose invested.
- Make sure your talent shines through – Ideas come and go. Ultimately what VCs are looking for is talent. If this idea doesn’t work out, they want to know they can use you for something else.
