Make Your Pitch: How to prepare and

present an executive summary for investors

Dragon Law
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This version was published on 2017-01-23

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Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

When do you need a business plan, an executive summary or a sales pitch? 2

What information do you include in an executive summary for a VC? . . . . 3

1. A clear simple hook. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. A problem you are addressing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3. A tangible solution that strikes the imagination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4. A well-thought through business and economic model. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
5. The size of the business opportunity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
6. Distinctiveness and defensible differentiation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
7. Intellectual property and protection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
8. Your team and your passion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
9. Funding required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

What tone do you strike in your presentation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

What medium should you use and is Powerpoint a medium of the past? . . 12

How long should your summary be? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Useful resources and readings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

About Emmanuel Pitsilis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

About Dragon Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Contact Us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Introduction

This eBook provides essential tips and advice every startup or small business should
consider.
Read on.
When do you need a business plan, an
executive summary or a sales pitch?

This is often a question for entrepreneurs:

Should I write and share a very detailed plan, a quick summary of the business or should
I only first share a sales pitch about the business?
There is no black-and-white answer, and different investors will have different pref-
erences. However, we suggest that you keep the detailed business plan you created
with your co-founders for yourself and the sales pitch for pitch day at your favourite
accelerator, and that you write a compelling executive summary to communicate with
potential investors.
The rest of this eBook details the types of requests we have had from potential
investors and what we look for in companies as angel investors.
What information do you include in
an executive summary for a VC?

A lot has been written on this topic, and you will find a lot of useful resources simply
by searching the topic online. We have synthesised some of the best we have found
during our experience doing business in Asia and have come up with the suggestions
below.

Here are some ideas on how to write an executive summary:

1. A clear simple hook.

It is crucial that you start your presentation with a clear hook - something that will
make a potential investor think that this could be a big idea worth supporting.
What information do you include in an executive summary for a VC? 4

Is there a very specific problem you are solving for your clients?
How distinctive and hard to replicate is your solution?
Are there brand-name entrepreneurs, advisors or investors involved already?
Do you have brand-name clients or partnerships already?
Do you have a proof of concept already? Regardless of the length of your
presentation, you have about a minute or less to get your audiences attention.

While investors in Asia tend to be more patient than those in North America and
Europe, you still need a clear hook to get their attention.
There are fads and trends in VC investing just as in fashion. Chinese consumers, Fin-
Tech, prescriptive analytics, internet of things, wearable technologies and eLearning
are some examples of these trends in Asia today. If you happen to fit within one
of these, make sure you leverage it. You can spend less time on the nature of the
opportunity but must show immediately how you are differentiated from the other
hundreds who are trying to tap this opportunity. What makes you different? If you
do not fit within one of these clearly identified trends, you have less than a minute
to convince your audience that this is a significant opportunity worth looking into.
Differentiation might be less important but dont forget to show your business is hard
to replicate.

2. A problem you are addressing.

There has to be a problem you are addressing for your customers. For Dragon Law, we
first use the following: Using our service in combination with that of our partner law
firms, you can take care of most of your legal needs 10 times faster and at a cost that
is 5 to 10 times lower than using a traditional approach. What is your unique value
proposition? Are you helping your customers in saving costs, saving time, connecting
with people, or accelerating opportunity capture?

Dragon Laws web app helps you manage your legal needs more efficiently and
more cost-effectively.
Start a Free Trial now (no commitment - no credit card details)

As it is hard to actually think like a customer, it is often powerful to let your customers
spell out the problems they face and how your value proposition speaks to them. Put
it down on paper in their words or show it in a compelling video.
What information do you include in an executive summary for a VC? 5

3. A tangible solution that strikes the imagination.

This will spell out what you are going to do to solve your customers
problems. It needs to be spelled out in layman terms while avoiding
complicated jargon. Remember that most of the investors you are talking
to will be novices in your field. In Asia, you will typically be dealing
with angel investors, families or generalist VCs that look across as many sectors as
possible. This means that your solution be it software, hardware or service needs
to be explained in simple terms. If possible, a prototype or a mock-up will help in
making it real and tangible for the investors.

4. A well-thought through business and economic

model.
We have often found this section the weakest for many Asian startups we have
met over the years. You have probably heard of companies that grew without a
monetisation strategy grow it first and then think about a monetisation strategy.
These are either plain myths or the lucky few. Most successful companies start with
a clear model in mind. Here is a useful list that you should think about when spelling
out your business model:

a. How will you generate revenue? What is your revenue model who is the client
and who is paying for which service?
b. How will you generate profits and at what point? What are the margins in
your business and what influences them over time? Have you thought of sensitivities
around a few likely drivers of change over time?
c. How you will use capital? How capital-light are you? Do you understand what
drives your working capital requirements and how this will evolve over time?
d. What metrics will you track to gauge success? What are the metrics you will
track that show success over time? It is often number of clients but identifying
leading indicators of success (number of partnerships, engagement level of early
adopters, etc.) could be even more useful than simply tracking revenue and number
of clients.
e. Will it fit into an existing value chain or ecosystem? Are you part of or building
an ecosystem of partners on which the success of your venture depends? How are
you building this ecosystem and how are you going to reward participants to make
sure the ecosystem grows or to secure your space in the value chain?
f. How will you grow? Growth is not linear and a lot has been written about it
What information do you include in an executive summary for a VC? 6

search for Technology Adoption Model or Tipping Point online. Show how you will
deal with it, overcome the issues of lack of scale and take advantage of scale once
you have it.
g. How will your resource requirements and economics scale? Many businesses
we have met in Asia underestimate what it takes to scale a business and deliver
the same value proposition with 10 times, 100 times or 1,000 times the number of
customers they have today. Size creates expenses; complexity creates even more.
Have you defined a business model that allows you to scale while managing costs?
You need to show it clearly beyond just saying that you are scalable.

There are two special cases worth discussing.

The first one is the case of an Asian copycat of a successful Western model. These
are a dime a dozen and it is hard for investors to figure out which ones will work.
Make sure you understand how the Western model was successful and show how
you have adapted the model to make it successful in Asia. If you are covering the
whole of Asia, how will you deal with complexity, languages, or cultural differences?
If you are replicating a model that relies on a value chain that exists in the West but
does not exist in Asia, how are you going to create that value chain? It is important to
identify these Asia-specific challenges. They do not have to be a threat to your idea. If
you address them well, they will make your business highly sustainable and hard to
replicate.
The second case worth discussing is the one when several companies have failed at
building similar businesses, serving similar clients, or addressing similar pain points.
Address this issue early by showing that you understand why they failed and how you
will address the issues they faced.
Having a well-defined economic model means that you know how you will make
money and articulate the economics of the business. In most cases, it does not mean
detailed financial projections, conservative or otherwise. Some investors will look
at them but most understand that financial projections are only useful as a tool to
What information do you include in an executive summary for a VC? 7

understand how the business will perform in different scenarios and the metrics that
will drive success. Remember however that the nature and depth of your financial
analysis will depend on the stage of development of your company. The longer you
have been in business, the more specific you need to be. If you have been in business
for a while and are generating revenue, it is hard to avoid showing a 3-5 year plan
with revenue, costs and capital requirements. Make sure you emphasise what drives
the economics and the core beliefs behind your projections. These often matter more
than the actual figures in the decision-making.
If you are pitching an idea, having a compelling dream will be more convincing
than financial projections picked from the ether and which will by definition be
wrong at that stage of development of the business. While your revenue is hard to
predict, remember that you control your costs and can demonstrate thoughtfulness
by showing how your burn will evolve and how you are planning to use the proceeds
of the funds you are asking for.

5. The size of the business opportunity.

Apart from very rare exceptions, you need to help the in-
vestors figure out what type of opportunity they are dealing
with. For example, is it a multi-billion dollar-opportunity
with explosive growth but high risk, or a safer opportunity
with slower growth? Investors prefer specific and tangible
opportunities. While we all understand that you will sell one
of your widgets to half of China one day, explain how you will
get a significant share of very specific and well-understood
markets. Using the technology adoption model mentioned
in (4), be clear about the size of the opportunity you will capture within innovators
and early adopters.
You might be creating a brand new innovative market with no precedent; this is
very common in emerging Asia. In that case, show that you are thoughtful about
the opportunity by providing proxies and different ways to evaluate the size of the
opportunity while recognising that the actual size of the opportunity will only become
clear over time. Show how your model and growth strategy accounts for this discovery
process.

6. Distinctiveness and defensible differentiation.

You may or may not have direct competitors now but you probably will have some
in the future. Also, your customers are already addressing their problems one way
or another today. How different are you and how defensible are your sources of
What information do you include in an executive summary for a VC? 8

differentiation? A few markets are winner-takes-all, although there are exceptions.

Some markets are natural monopolies but they end up being regulated sooner or
later, so you should be ready for competition. Key questions to ask yourself include:

What keeps anyone from coming up with the same product but cheaper and
faster? Are there real barriers to entry in your business?
Are you building hard to replicate business capabilities, accumulating hard to
find information or building a proprietary ecosystem for your business?
Do you know how you will react when your first competitor shows up?

Only the Paranoid Survive was written in the 90s but remains a great read on how
companies can react to massive change in competition and in their markets.

7. Intellectual property and protection.

Protecting intellectual property is critical and there is unfortunately no simple answer

for how to do it. In some cases, this will make or break an investors decision to invest
in a company. This is an especially difficult issue in Asia and you should have a clear
view of how you will keep the secret sauce away from competitors and defend it if
required. Most startups overlook this issue at least at the beginning. The approach
needs to be defined on two levels:

a. Overall strategic approach. Do you have a clear view of which brands, knowledge
assets, scientific discoveries or proprietary know-how you will need to protect? Have
What information do you include in an executive summary for a VC? 9

you weighed the pros and cons of different approaches? For example, a patent offers
legal protection but requires significant disclosure which may help your competitors.
Before getting into the mechanics of legal implementation, be very clear about your
objectives.
b. Legal strategy and implementation. Dragon Law has a wealth of documents
you can use to implement most of legal steps required to protect yourself. How
you implement this goes beyond your executive summary but make sure you
understand how to put in place the required legal documentation and that you have
received advice from experts in this area if required. We can help you in reaching
out to the right people through our Certified Advisors.

You can find most of the relevant documents in Dragon Laws web app.

> Want to learn more about protecting your intellectual property rights?
Download our free eBook Own Your Trade Mark to read more about what
you need for a successful application and how you can ready your trade mark
for an ever-increasing global role.

8. Your team and your passion.

Many investors in Hong Kong and Singapore have
repeated what we have heard in North America:
we invest in people first and businesses second.
Especially at the very early stage and especially in
emerging Asia, we know that the model will need to
change and that the projections are all wrong; if we
invest in the right team, they will pivot. Make sure
you describe clearly why you are the right team,
who amongst the founders is a serial successful
entrepreneur, who brings distinctive knowledge rel-
evant to the business, and so on. Good mentors are
massively useful in the early stage and at important
transitions of a business. Investors will value their presence, especially if they have an
established track-record. If you can, provide references but make sure they are only
positive.
There are practical matters that go beyond the executive summary; make sure that
the Facebook and LinkedIn pages of the key people in your team are consistent with
What information do you include in an executive summary for a VC? 10

your story and dont include anything that could raise questions from a potential
investor.

Want to grow your team in a sustainable manner?

Download our free eBook The New Hire to learn how to navigate employment
laws and best manage employer-employee expectations via legal documents.
The New Hire (Hong Kong version)
The New Hire (Singapore version)

9. Funding required
The only reason why you would bother writing an executive summary is that you need
funding. You could decide to keep this separate from the business summary itself and
use a cover letter instead. Both work fine as long as it is clear what you want and need.
How much should you ask for? We deal with this in our eBook Early Stage Funding.
What tone do you strike in your
presentation?

First, remember that this is a selling document and not a PhD thesis! It is most useful
if it gets you to the next meeting. Be truthful as because investors will see through lies
(white or otherwise) and this will damage trust and reputation for both you and your
business. If there are challenges, talk about them professionally and ask for advice
people love giving advice!
What medium should you use and is
Powerpoint a medium of the past?

While everyone complains about vertical write-ups and PowerPoint presentations,

they remain the main way to communicate for most business people and investors.
The fact is that truly professional investors read a tonne of research and do their
homework when making decisions. A write-up or a few slides are likely to be the way
investors first hear of you. Get friends to read it and criticise it. If you have a friend
who is a writer, journalist or designer, get them involved early. It will make a massive
difference in your pitch and story.
Should you use videos? When done well, they can be amazing in
creating the hook. A short video of your clients talking about your
product is worth gold. However, make sure they are produced in
a compelling way. Unless you are a video production expert, do
not expect to produce a professional-looking video in an hour. It
takes real work. If you cant produce something really compelling,
it is probably better to abstain.
How long should your summary be?

Probably not 50 pages and probably not 1 page either (except if you are a genius at
synthesising). There is no one-size-fits-all: millions of people have read Tolstoy while
millions cannot read more than a paragraph at a time. If it is well-written, starts with a
strong hook and covers succinctly the points above, a 2- to 10- page note will be read.
A lot of people claim that investors do not read. In the end, investors who commit
money read our (not so well-written) 15-pager about legal services so there is really
hope for everyone!
Useful resources and readings

The art of the start 2.0 by Guy Kawazaki

Venture Deals: Be Smarter than your Lawyer and Venture Capitalist by Jason
Mandelson and Brad Feld
Grow fast or die slow by Eric Kutcher, Olivia Nottebohm, and Kara Sprague
About Emmanuel Pitsilis

Emmanuel is an entrepreneur, angel investor and a mentor to start-up entrepreneurs.

He helps them in setting up, seeding and growing their businesses. An engineer by
training, he focuses on B2B SaaS and FinTech and is passionate about leveraging
technology and artificial intelligence to transform old industries. Dragon Law, where
he is one of the co-founders, is one example.
Emmanuel is also a senior advisor with several investment funds and with First Bridge
Strategy. First Bridge advises large institutional investors on alternative investment
programs, including private equity, distressed debt, venture capital, co-investment,
and real estate on a global basis.
Emmanuel previously spent 21 years with McKinsey & Company, mostly in Asia Pacific,
where he had various leadership roles as Managing Partner of both geographic and
functional practices within the Financial Services Group.
About Dragon Law
Dragon Law is the trusted platform to manage law online. Founded in Hong Kong
in 2013, our mission is to transform the way businesses meet their legal needs.
Our simple question-and-answer interface gathers key insights about your business,
and generates highly-customised contracts that address your specific needs. We give
business owners the know-how and confidence to create even the most complex legal
documents from start to finish.
Dragon Laws clients have one platform to learn, one legal help desk, and one bill to
pay. Today, more than 3,000 businesses rely on Dragon Law to meet their legal needs
at a fraction of the time, cost, and complexity of the traditional system.

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