How long does it take to prepare a fundraising pitch?

Allow at least two to three weeks if your fundamentals are ready: one to write and structure, one to rehearse out loud, one to practise the questions. If the date is closer, concentrate on the opening, the ask and your answers to the three most likely questions.

Should I adapt my pitch to a grant jury or an incubator jury?

Yes. Read the rules or the evaluation grid of the programme: it tells you what the jury scores. An incubator jury often judges the founder and the potential to learn; a funding jury looks more at the market, traction and use of funds. The structure stays the same, the order of the proof changes.

What if the jury asks something I cannot answer?

Say so plainly, give what you do know, then explain how you will check the rest. A jury forgives declared ignorance; it punishes bluffing and vagueness.

How many rehearsals do I need before the day?

At least five complete run-throughs out loud, two of them in front of someone who plays the jury and interrupts you. Rehearsing in your head does not count: only a standing, timed run-through reveals the sentences that do not hold up when spoken.

Do I need a coach for a jury?

It is not compulsory. It helps if you have few chances to rehearse in front of an outside eye, if nerves take over, or if your story is still confused. A coach mainly gives you an honest rehearsal audience and a framework for writing for the ear.

Prepare your fundraising pitch and face a grant or incubator jury

By Léo BarcetPublished October 1, 20266 min read

A fundraising round, a session in front of a public funding committee, an incubator audition: the three situations resemble each other more than you might think. A few minutes to convince, a jury that has already heard other projects that day, then an exchange of questions where everything can tip. Here is how to prepare for that moment, without promising miracles: a good pitch does not replace a good project, but a poor pitch can bury a good one.

What a jury looks for, whichever jury it is

Whether it is the jury of an incubator, of a support programme or of a funding body, it asks itself roughly the same questions, even if the grids differ. Always check the grid or the rules of the programme when they are published: they are your brief.

Is the problem real? Is someone suffering enough to pay, or to change their habits?
Is the solution credible? Not perfect: credible, with a first proof.
Can the team pull it off? At an early stage this is often the deciding criterion: it is the one the jury can judge live, by watching you speak.
Is the ask clear? An amount, a use, a deadline. A pitch that asks for nothing leaves the jury with no decision to make.

The differences come from the emphasis. An incubator jury often cares about the founder's ability to learn and to accept help. A funding jury looks more readily at traction, market and use of funds. Adapt the order of your proof, not the truth of your project.

The five-beat structure

A simple structure protects you on the day nerves wipe out half your text. It is covered in detail in the guide on how to structure an investor pitch; here is the short version.

The opening. A scene, a figure or a question that puts the problem in the jury's mind within ten seconds. Not "Hello, we are a startup that…".
The problem and the solution. One problem, one solution, in a customer's words rather than a specification's.
The proof. What already exists: a prototype, users, a pilot, a letter of intent, a first sale. If you have none of these, say what you will test and how you will know it works.
The team. Why you, why now. This is where the jury decides whether it believes you.
The ask. What you want, what you will do with it, what the jury gains.

Each beat fits in one sentence first, then three or four. If you cannot sum a beat up in one sentence, it is not ready.

Write for the ear, not the eye

A pitch is not a document read aloud. On paper you can go back; out loud, the jury gets a single pass. A few rules from the theatre, where the text is always written to be spoken:

Short sentences, with one subject and one verb. If you catch your breath in the middle of a sentence, cut it.
Few figures, rounded. Three well-chosen figures beat twelve. Say "nearly half" rather than "47.3%".
Concrete images. A specific customer, a specific day, rather than "industry professionals".
Written silences. Mark in your text where you stop: after the opening, after the key figure, before the ask.

Rehearse: standing, out loud, stopwatch in hand

This is the step most founders skip, and the one that changes the most. In the theatre, nobody goes on stage having only re-read the text. You rehearse until the text disappears and only the speech remains.

A simple rehearsal plan:

A full run-through out loud, alone, recorded. Listen back: you will hear the sentences that snag and the moment you speed up.
A timed run-through, with ten to fifteen seconds of margin under the limit. Prepare a short version in case you are cut off.
A run-through in front of someone outside your project. If they cannot sum up your pitch in one sentence, it is not yet clear.
A run-through with interruptions. Someone plays the jury and asks questions in the middle. It is the closest to the day itself.
A run-through in real conditions, on video or standing in a room, with the same support, the same outfit, the same time of day.

The questions: half of the test

In front of a jury, the exchange after the pitch often lasts as long as the pitch itself, and it is where the jury checks what you said. Prepare it as a part in its own right.

List the likely questions: competition, business model, the figures you master less, the main risk, use of funds, make-up of the team. For each, write a two or three sentence answer, then practise saying it without reading. The guide on investor questions after a pitch goes through the most frequent ones.

Three reflexes to build:

Answer first, develop second. Start with the answer in one sentence, then add nuance.
Admit what you do not know, saying how you will find out.
Do not defend yourself. A hard question is not an attack: the jury is trying to understand. Thank them, answer, move on.

The day itself

The day before: one last run-through, then stop. Sleep. Prepare your equipment and a plan B (the slides on a USB stick, the demo on video in case the live demo fails).

On the day:

Arrive early, look at the room, say your opening out loud once on your own.
Breathe long before going in: exhale more slowly than you inhale.
Start slowly. Nerves push you to speed up from the first sentence; deliberately slowing down from the first word helps you keep the rhythm.
Look at the jury members one at a time, for the length of a sentence. A jury that is spoken to remembers you.
End on the ask, then stay silent. The silence after the ask is yours.

When to get support

You can perfectly well prepare a pitch alone, with friends and a little discipline. Support becomes useful in three cases: you have nobody to play the jury honestly, your story stays confused despite several versions, or nerves take over when you speak. The guide on investor pitch coaching explains what this work involves.

I am Léo Barcet, an actor and stage director, and I write the pitch with you before teaching you to carry it, with the S.C.E.N.E. method. The programme is detailed on the pitch coaching page; the formats and prices are in the programs and pricing section. When a deadline is approaching, the simplest start is the free diagnostic: twenty minutes on video to see where your pitch stands and what matters most between now and the day.