How to pitch your startup in a short message

How do you pitch your startup in a short message? As I said, one of the ways to get in touch with an investor is to send a message via WhatsApp or Telegram, or a private direct message on social media. To write a first short message to a cold contact, that is, someone you are talking to for the first time, it is very important to structure the message and present yourself properly in it, because you won't get another chance to make a first impression. I recommend building your message according to the following structure. The first element is the greeting.

It is best to address the person by name. Under no circumstances should the greeting be generic and templated, such as “Dear ladies and gentlemen,” “Dear investor” and so on. This shows that you are sending a mass mailing and have no particular connection to this person. Such greetings and such letters are generally considered spam and are most often not read. Some cultures and some countries have their own particularities. For example, in Kazakhstan, when speaking Russian, it is customary to address a person older than yourself by their first name and patronymic. In some countries people simply use first names.

And in still other countries people are addressed as “Mr. So-and-so.” You need to take all these nuances into account depending on what culture the person you are addressing comes from. Next, I recommend mentioning how you came to know them, that is, how you learned about this person. For example, you can write: “We met last week at such-and-such accelerator's demo day” or “We met at such-and-such conference.” Or you can mention that one of this investor's portfolio startups recommended that you contact them. Next, you must introduce yourself, that is, give your last name and first name and say which startup you represent.

Next, you need to present your startup, but very briefly, literally in one sentence. And if your startup is among many competitors, you can state your killer feature in one sentence, that is, some unique characteristic that sets you apart from others. For example, you could say: “Our startup is a platform that helps moms find nannies.” And you can add: “Unlike everyone else, we provide ratings and recommendations for nannies.” That's how you can describe it briefly. The next sentence is your startup's traction, that is, the path you have covered and some key metrics that will catch the investor's attention.

For example, you can write: “We launched a year ago, and in that time we already have a thousand customers and monthly revenue of, say, $3,000.” These are very typical and telling metrics. Here you can also say a phrase about your future path. For example, say that you are now planning to scale to Uzbekistan and all of Central Asia. This kind of description of traction is quite enough. The next point is mentioning the funding. That is, again briefly, say why you have approached this investor and roughly what terms you are talking about.

For example, it will be very informative if you write: “We are raising a round of, say, $100,000 at a startup valuation of $1 million. The minimum ticket is $10,000.” Everything is clear, understandable and short. Next, I would recommend clearly formulating your offer to the reader, for example, writing: “We invite you to become an investor in our startup” or “We invite you to become a mentor to our startup,” that is, make a clear, specific offer so that it is understandable and there are no misunderstandings. And finally, leave your contact details through which the investor can get in touch with you if your offer interests them.

Because if you have sent it via a messenger, it is better to leave your phone number for more convenient communication, or your email. And at the end of this message, I strongly recommend attaching a 12–15 slide startup presentation. If, after the text of the message itself, the investor is interested in the project, they will then open this presentation at their leisure, look at the more detailed information, and then contact you.