What are the Fastest Ways to Scare Away Angel Investors?

Pitching an idea to potential investors can be a tricky game. You need to find a way to showcase your idea and its potential for profit in the best light possible. But you also need to give enough accurate information to make investors feel comfortable investing in your idea.

There are a few common mistakes that entrepreneurs make during these pitches that can scare investors away. Alex Melnick recently explained some of these pitfalls in a post for TECH Cocktail. The three most common mistakes he mentioned were:

• Presenting as a lone founder.
• Showing a lack of confidence.
• Not being completely honest.

That last point can sometimes be extra tricky. Often, new entrepreneurs try to be overly optimistic when pitching to investors. After all, you want them to have the best possible opinion of your business. But this can definitely backfire.

Just because you might be new to the business world doesn’t mean your potential investors are. They are likely to detect that false enthusiasm or misplaced optimism. And that could make them less likely to trust you and show any sort of confidence in your plan. Melnick wrote:

“Discussing your full plan starting from business model to potential customer base is the best way to take your investors into confidence. If you are not transparent about the communication then that would put venture capitalists in a dilemma about whether to trust this person or not! Drawing too rosy of a picture about success rate or influential connections is also not advisable.”

So while it is definitely important to show confidence in your idea, you also need to be realistic. Don’t hold back any important information just because it might make you look bad. And definitely don’t lie or exaggerate heavily.

Investors want to know what they are actually getting themselves into. So if they think you’re hiding or exaggerating any of the information in your presentation, they won’t hesitate to walk away.

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