How to Pitch to a VC – The Best Venture Capital Pitch

How do your pitch a VC?  What makes a venture capital pitch stand out? How do you pitch a venture capitalist? What makes a successful VC pitch?

Meet the Author: Benjamin Ball

Ben is the founder of Benjamin Ball Associates and leads the presentation coaching and pitch deck creation teams. Formerly a corporate financier in the City of London, for 20+ years he’s helped businesses win with better pitches and presentations, particularly investor pitches. He is a regular speaker and a guest lecturer at Columbia Business School and UCL London.  Follow Ben on LinkedIn or visit the contact page. 

The Challenge of a Venture Capital Pitch

Pitching to a venture capitalist (VC) can feel challenging. A good VC pitch is more than just putting together a polished presentation; it’s about telling a compelling story that convinces investors your idea has real growth potential. The best pitches combine vision, data and a clear strategy for success.

What Do VCs Look for in a Pitch?

Venture capitalists are looking for pitches that demonstrate a compelling market opportunity, a scalable business model and a strong founding team.

They want to see a well-defined problem, a unique solution and evidence of traction or market validation. Your financial projections should be realistic and backed by data, showing a clear path to profitability.

VCs also assess competitive advantage—what sets the business apart and how it can sustain growth. Beyond numbers, they look for confident, coachable founders who can articulate their vision effectively and navigate challenges. A great pitch tells a compelling story, backed by facts and leaves investors excited to learn more.

What Help Can You Get For Your VC Pitch

At Benjamin Ball Associates, we have been helping firms with their venture capital pitches for over 15 years. While we don’t work with startup pitches, we do help with scale up pitches. Outlined below are some of the things we have learned over the years about what VCs look for in a pitch.

Let’s dive into how to make your pitch stand out, with practical examples to bring each point to life.

1. Know Your Audience

Your first step is to understand who you’re pitching to. Venture capitalists have different areas of interest, so your pitch should align with their focus.

For Example

Suppose you’re pitching a fintech startup that uses AI to prevent fraud. You’d approach a VC firm like Crane, IQ Capital or Accel that has a track record in fintech investments. Mention a specific company in their portfolio that’s similar to yours and explain how your solution complements or improves upon that model. This shows that you’ve done your research and know how you fit into their investment thesis.

Doing your homework helps you frame your venture capital pitch in a way that speaks directly to their interests.

2. Tell a Compelling Story

Your venture capital pitch needs to grab attention and the best way to do that is through storytelling. Investors want to understand the “why” behind your business.

Example

Imagine you’re the founder of a health tech company. Start by sharing a real story: “Last year, my grandmother was misdiagnosed because her GP lacked access to her full medical history. That’s when I realised there’s a huge gap in how patient data is managed.” This personal story highlights a clear problem and sets the stage for your solution—a platform that aggregates patient data across healthcare providers.

Using a story that resonates with a common pain point makes your pitch for venture capital memorable and relatable.

3. Show Market Size and Growth Potential

Investors look for startups with the potential to grow significantly. They want to see evidence that your target market is large enough to support that growth.

Example

 If your startup is developing a new electric scooter for urban commuters, don’t just say, “The market for electric scooters is big.” Instead, break it down: “Our Total Addressable Market (TAM) is £50 billion globally. The Serviceable Available Market (SAM) in Europe alone is £15 billion, with a Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM) of £3 billion in the UK’s top 10 cities.”

Specific figures backed by market research show that you understand the scope of your opportunity and are realistic about where you can capture value.

Why Pick Benjamin Ball Associates for Your Investor Pitch Coaching

At Benjamin Ball Associates, we’ve been coaching business people to improve their business communication skills for over 15 years.  Our coaching is fast and effective.  We work with individuals and with companies, one-to-one and in groups.  Call us today to learn more.

“I honestly thought it was the most valuable 3 hours I’ve spent with anyone in a long time.”

Mick May, CEO, Blue Sky

Our most popular training courses include:

• Presentation Coaching
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Trusted by some of the most successful companies globally

Speak to Louise on +44 20 7018 0922 or email info@benjaminball.com to transform your speeches, pitches and presentations.

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4. Be Clear About Your Business Model

VCs want to know exactly how you plan to make money. Your business model should be straightforward and scalable.

Example

Let’s say you run a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company. Instead of saying, “We charge companies to use our platform,” detail your revenue streams: “We operate on a subscription model with three tiers: basic (£50/month), professional (£150/month) and enterprise (£500/month). Currently, 70% of our customers are on the professional plan, with a 20% upsell rate to the enterprise level after six months.”

This level of detail demonstrates a clear understanding of how your business generates revenue and its potential to grow over time.

5. In Your Venture Capital Pitch Show Traction and Milestones

Traction proves that your idea is not just theoretical but is already gaining momentum in the market.

Example

“In the last six months, we’ve grown our user base from 500 to 5,000, a 900% increase. Our monthly recurring revenue (MRR) has grown by 150% and we’ve reduced our customer acquisition cost (CAC) by 30% thanks to a new referral programme. We’re also in talks with two major retail chains for partnership deals.”

These metrics highlight your startup’s growth and show that you’re hitting the right milestones, making your company an attractive investment prospect.

6. Outline the Competitive Landscape

VCs need to know who your competitors are and what differentiates you from them. Ignoring your competition in your venture capital pitch could make you seem naïve.

Example

If you’re launching a new e-commerce platform, mention your competitors like Shopify or Wix, but then outline your unique selling points: “Unlike Shopify, which requires technical skills to set up, our platform uses AI to create stores automatically based on user preferences, cutting setup time by 80%.”

Identifying competitors and explaining your edge shows that you understand your market and have a plan to outdo existing players.

7. Be Transparent About Risks and Challenges

Honesty about your challenges earns you credibility with investors. Every startup has risks and VCs appreciate when founders acknowledge them in their venture capital pitch.

Example

“One of our biggest risks is market adoption. Although our technology is new and innovative, it requires a behavioural shift in our users. To address this, we’re focusing on a targeted education campaign and partnering with industry influencers to drive credibility.”

Being upfront about risks and how you’ll tackle them shows that you have a realistic view of the obstacles ahead and a strategy to overcome them.

8. Define Your Ask Clearly

You need to be specific about how much money you’re asking for and how you’ll use it. VCs want to know that their money will be put to good use.

Example

“We’re raising £1.5 million to scale our sales team and enhance our product features. £500,000 will go to hiring six new sales executives in the next 12 months, £700,000 will be allocated to product development and £300,000 will be for marketing efforts to expand our user base by 300%.”

Breaking down the use of funds into clear categories shows that you have a detailed plan and that their investment will drive tangible progress.

9. Practice and Refine Your VC Pitch

Practice makes perfect. The more you refine your venture capital pitch, the more confident and convincing you’ll be when it matters.

Example

Every week at Benjamin Ball Associates we advise and rehearse management teams to polish their venture capital pitches. We show them how to tell their story, how to create compelling pitch decks and we role-play the toughest meetings and the toughest questions.   One startup founder recently said, “I practised my pitch 30 times before stepping into the room with the VC and it made all the difference. I could anticipate their questions and address concerns without missing a beat.”

Rehearsing your pitch will help you deliver it smoothly and adapt on the fly when tough questions come your way. Contact us to find out more.

10. Hear what David Rose recommends in this short TED video.

You will learn some great tricks on how to pitch to a VC.

His advice on how to pitch to venture capital is clear, simple and gets to the point.

In summary:

When you pitch to venture capital, you need to get across that you have/you are:

• Integrity
• Passion
• Experience
• Knowledge
• Skill
• Leadership
• Commitment
• Vision
• Realism
• Coachable

You do this by giving your venture capital pitch:

• A logical progression
• Include “Things I know and understand”
• Clear validation
• A believable upside

In your venture capital pitch you must avoid:

• Things that the VC knows/thinks are untrue
• Things they don’t understand
• Things that make the venture capitalist think

His recommended running order for a VC Pitch is:

1. Logo
2. Business Overview
3. Management Team
4. Market
5. Produce
6. Business Model
7. Strategic Relationships
8. Competition
9. Barriers to Entry
10. Financial Overview
11. Use of Proceeds
12. Capital and Valuation
13. Logo

While we don’t agree this pitch flow is right for all venture capital pitches, it is a great start.  Great advice from a master.

Improve Your Pitch to Venture Capital

But remember, every pitch to venture capital investors is different.  Beware of looking too formulaic.

We help many firms with their VC pitches.  If you would like to discuss how BBA can help create a compelling investor pitch, we would be delighted to help. Either call our Client Services Director Louise Angus on 020 7018 0922 or click this link:

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Why Choose Us:
Transform your pitches and presentations with tailored coaching

We can help you present brilliantly. Thousands of people have benefitted from our tailored in-house coaching and advice – and we can help you too.

“I honestly thought it was the most valuable 3 hours I’ve spent with anyone in a long time.”

Mick May, CEO, Blue Sky

For 15+ years we’ve been the trusted choice for leading businesses and executives throughout the UK, Europe and the Middle East. We’ll help you improve corporate presentations through presentation coaching, public speaking training and expert advice on pitching to investors.

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Speak to Louise on +44 20 7018 0922 or email info@benjaminball.com to transform your speeches, pitches and presentations.

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FAQ: How to Pitch to a VC for UK Entrepreneurs

For further guidance, get in touch. We’d be delighted to prepare you to impress VC investors!

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