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"When you pitch to investors or venture capitalists, assume that you are not going to have a lot of time. Investors constantly get pitched, so it's important to catch their attention quickly and engage them by keeping it simple.\n\nSEE ALSO: Mashable's Startup Investment Tips Series\nHave a presentation (a \"pitch deck\") prepared with which you can pitch your entire idea and business plan in less than 20 minutes. You should also be able to provide more details if questions arise. Decks should be about 10 pages long, but what should they include? Here, we've listed the 10 components that investors care about the most and how you should approach them.\n\r\n1. Cover Page\r\n\nThe cover page should have your logo, business name and a tagline. Your tagline should give insight into your company and be easy to remember, for example, \u201CWe are the Groupon for X.\" Remember to include your contact information \u2014 you would be surprised how many people forget it. Especially if your deck was forwarded, it should be easy for a person to track you down. \n\r\n2. Summary\r\n\nSummarize all of the information before you present it, and use this opportunity to get your audience interested in your company. Talk up the most interesting facts about your business, as well as any huge milestones you may have hit.\n\r\n3. Team\r\n\nInvestors are not only putting money toward your idea, they\u2019re investing in your team. It\u2019s important they know the people who are going to make the concept successful. Make sure to include your background too, and how it relates to your new company. Highlight any of your team's successful exits. Investors like to see that you can take a company to acquisition.\nIf applicable, emphasize that your team has worked together in the past or for a long period of time. It shows you can and like to work together. If you have any important advisors, list them, but make sure they know you\u2019re using their name.\n\r\n4. Problem\r\n\nYou need to be able to explain the problem your concept is going to solve. Further, you need to prove why investors should care about solving it with your product or service. \n\r\n5. Solution\r\n\nThis is the value proposition you are bringing to the table. It should solve the problem you just mentioned. If you have a demo of your product, this is the time to show it. Include any case studies to show that your product has worked for existing customers.\n\r\n6. Marketing/Sales\r\n\nYou'll want to show the market size for your product. This can include profiles of target customers, but be prepared to answer questions about the cost of acquiring these customers. Not knowing this information is a red flag to investors. If you already have sales, you can discuss your growth and forecast future revenue.\n\r\n7. Projections or Milestones\r\n\nIt is difficult to create financial projections for a startup. If you don\u2019t have a long financial history, your forecast is really just an educated guess. Instead, you should present the milestones that you've already reached. For instance, include that you acquired 1,000 customers by X date, that you have a partnership with company Y, that you signed a major customer or that you will be cash flow positive by Q3. \n\r\n8. Competition\r\n\nEvery business has competition even if you think you're offering something new and unique. List your competition and why your product/service is different from their model. If your competitors have been acquired, list acquisition prices and who acquired them.  \n\r\n9. Business Model\r\n\nEvery investor wants to get his money back, so it's important to tell them how you plan on generating revenue. Show a list of the various revenue streams for your model and the timeline for each of them. How will you price your product and what does your competition charge? You should also discuss the lifetime value of your customer and how you will keep him engaged.\n\r\n10. Financing\r\n\nIf you have already raised money, you will want to talk about how much, who invested and what you did with it. If you have not raised money yet, talk about what you have accomplished with minimal funding. If you have personally funded your startup, make it known. Investors like to see entrepreneurs who have invested their own money. If you\u2019re pitching to raise capital, list how much you're looking to raise and how you intend to use the funds.\n\r\nPreparing the Presentation\r\n\nThe above topics are critical when pitching an investment community, but be ready for questions. Learn a bit about your audience and anticipate their own passion points. Here are three talking points to keep your investor engaged and interested. \n\nInclude any press you've received on a backup slide.\nHighlight any large barriers to entry in your field. They indicate that you have limited competition, that your concept has first-to-market exclusivity for a longer period of time.\nInvestors are always thinking about the exit, so have a strategy in place and be able to talk about it. It helps to list any companies that may acquire yours, including similar products that have been acquired in the past.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nImage courtesy of iStockphoto, davidf"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2011/06/24/startup-pitch-presentation/>