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Some tips to founders when they pitch to VCs in very early stage -> 1. Get the five critical filters right a. TAM - ye kitna BADA ho sakta hai? b. Excitement of your offering - tere idea mei kya HATKE hai? c. Founder quality (skill, longevity potential) - TU kyun sahi insaan hai isske liye? d. Parallels - ye kahin aur - doosre desh/industry - mei hua hai kya? e. Early progress - abhi tak any early wins? Good team/prototype? 2. Don't take hole-poking questions personally. Many founders find this process annoying and immediately assume this is a way to diss the idea. It's NOT. Quite the opposite.. This is the associate or analyst or even partner preparing for these questions from the IC. Their colleagues will ask and if they don't internally present the case well, deal won't happen. Beyond a point, no one likes to spend time on a deal and have it fall through. Use such experiences to get tighter on your pitch. 3. Paper or no-paper Some VCs like solid decks, some like paperless conversations. Ask explicitly what is the preference. You should be prepared to present a 25 page detailed deck or also have a freewheeling no paper conversation - BUT the messages that need to land NEED TO LAND. My usual style is to go with detailed deck prints, do a 10 min speech with clear messages without paper and then ask if they want to deep dive on something, use the printed doc. This allows me to land messages upfront and set context. 4. Own the room a. Talk to everyone in the room. Including your own team/bankers. b. Divide eye contact equally - make sure hierarchy isn't playing a sub conscious role. c. Stand if possible - it exerts control. d. Dress well but not too much. I usually like a brand tee, sharp jeans and clean sneakers. e. Smile f. Listen and reflect. Don't ever interrupt - especially when eager to answer a question which is a very natural instinct in founders :) let the person finish ALWAYS. 5. Show who you really are This is a good opportunity to show who you are. At end of the day, the VC is looking to see if they can bet on you. Share honestly, tell about your family, what is the emotion behind the company etc. Some people do too much of this - that's a turn off too. But listen for cues when someone wants to get to know you and open up. :) 6. Study the VC's thesis Every VC has hot buttons independent of your company - markets/spaces/business models/kind of founders/capital risk/stage etc. Study them. The cleaner fit you are to their thesis the more probable the conversion. Thanks Arpitesh for this one in comments :) The more you do the better you get. End of the day, everyone wins in a great deal :) This comes from great guy: Shantanu Deshpande