Just got back from a Bitcoin conference and heard a lot of investor pitches from people looking to raise money.

To be honest many of them ranged from very poor to below average.

Here are a few tips that might help people who are trying to raise money improve their models and strategy:

– Be concise – don’t go on and on about why Bitcoin is great unless the investor doesn’t know the space and specifically asks….instead focus on what specific problem you solve and how

– Be clear – explain exactly what your business idea does, what problem or need it solves and how it will earn money

– Don’t confuse charity with business ventures….if your idea is designed to save the world, great! Good for you! But be clear in your pitch that it is charitable not commercial…there is a difference and wise charities are cautious of donating to commercial ventures and wise commercial investors typically want the focus on returns with social aspect limited to the demand for the service

– Have a solid team and show dedication — if you are working another job that’s okay as long as you are putting a lot of time and dedication into the venture…but ideally, investors want to see full time or close to it dedication

– Have a real plan, better yet a working model and prototype — I ran into a lot of people in Miami who didn’t really have plans let alone a business….what they had is an idea…ideas are great but they are a dime a dozen and people are more cautious about writing checks for ideas than full fledged plans

– Know your audience – don’t pitch everyone you meet – see what kind of investments they make and are interested in – sophisticated investors look for certain size, certain areas and investments which play to their skills

– Look for smart money – at the very early stages what is more important than capital is operational know how to get something off the ground – people who know how to get stuff done can be great team members and investors

– Be aware of realistic terms – don’t expect to have someone write a huge check for an idea and not want a stake in line with what others would ask for

– Do as much as possible to get your business rolling as far along as you can without capital– build your prototype, website etc. and get as many people, vendors and partners on board as possible before asking for money and then only look for the smallest amount you can get by with

– This might be the most important one: FOCUS – I saw WAY too many people with dis-jointed business plans looking at too many areas and too complex — and often people with multiple businesses at once — I’d hear people say things like “My business is going to be a new wallet that integrates with major retail merchants…..and we ALSO will have a mining center that serves as a revenue generator and will design a new software which will link Germany to Argentina to do XYZ”. Whoa….hold on, focus.
The other variation was “I have four start ups, each with no employees one sells Bitcoin themed Hawaiian coffee for Bitcoin, the other is a new mining device which can be transported in a backpack, the other is an app for the auto industry to track vehicles using the Blockchain and the other is a blah blah thing I can’t articulate which combines five alt coins and partners with my cousin from the Check Republic” It’s hard to make a new business work….it’s a good practice to focus on the best idea…Investors will be cautious of people with too many things going.

For best practices look at some of the companies doing well: Bitpay is very focused, they don’t do ANYTHING other than their core business…..Coinbase, also very focused and with real smart money and a really deep team.

Just my two cents.

Author Bruce Fenton is an angel investor who invests in absolutely anything with the word Bitcoin in it, no questions asked! Just kidding. My focus is on investments and partnerships where my background in the financial sector or knowledge of the Middle East offers added value.