A short talk (YouTube video) by Jason M. Lemkin arguing that founders must explicitly ask for money in investor pitches. The speaker shares personal anecdotes and statistics (claims ~70% of pitches end without an ask), frames the investor perspective, and begins outlining investor ‘mindsets’ when hearing a pitch.
This is, I think, the really interesting one. And I can kind of share some personal stories about this. In your pitch, you actually have to ask for money. You would be shocked at how many pitches people do, and they don't ask for money. I think that it's on the order of 70% where the pitch is done. The founder asks if there are any questions. Investor says, no. The meeting ends. No money was ever asked for. Now, I want to put you into the mindset of an investor for a second. I've been an angel investor for, I don't know, seven years. There are three mindsets I have when I'm listening to a pitch. Mindset one is, I will never fund this company. Most common will never fund this company. Mindset two is I will definitely fund this company.
