New SaaS for "Proposal Writing"

•

I remember interactions with investors at a growth stage startup over raising a 2nd round describing the strategy, roadmap for the upcoming quarters. Their disinterest totally startled me, but taught me a few life lessons. #productmanagement #investors #capital #funding 1/

Digressing into my recent article "The New SaaS (Storytelling as a Skill)" I've covered how important a trait storytelling is & how it ought to go beyond the confines of marketing / content writing / copywriting. Here's the link to it: mgmtinc.substack.com/p/saas-storytelling-as-a-skill 2/

Back to topic! I thought about it long & hard, recalling the conversation, decoding & zeroing-in on anything that could have possibly gone wrong, anything better than I could have really done. A couple of days later when I met my team (cofounders & other leaders...), 3/

I suggested that we'll role play. I said, "I'll be the investor & one of you guys take me through the pitch". They giggled agreeing to it gingerly. As one of them started pitching, I opened my laptop started taking notes. 4/

By the time the guy was half-way through the pitch, I had almost 10 points jotted that were all in the negative / neutral & by the time he was done I had 15+ in there. To think that I was a major contributor for the pitch was a deep grievance I could've carried to my grave. 5/

When I don't remember the exact words I wrote, the learnings from there are totally etched in my memory. Here they are: 1. Never start a pitch with the next feature planned 2. Don’t stop at just quoting features, help them understand motivations behind features 6/

3. Don’t ever discount the power of proper storytelling 4. Share the problem statement abundantly, unambiguously, clearly 5. Quote research only when asked, never embed it in the proposal (appendix is a good idea though) 6. Highlight the value proposition prominently 7/

7. Circle back to considering how that value proposition would convert to revenue 8. Work (rework if need be) until you have your projections, estimations pan out well 9. Be very clear on what you need from them 10. Share a perspective on how the funds would be apportioned 7/

11. Never discount the importance of updating / reporting back to them at regular silos 12. If they are interested & inclined, invite them over & get them involved in your strategic planning activity (but make sure you're totally prepared to handle a few odd questions) 9/

13. Don’t start building sans proper vetting process (hypothesis, research, validation, insight) 14. Make sure you highlight the big picture, what the future holds & how you'd get there 15. Highlight the GTM strategy & also focus on how that would change as time progresses 10/

16. Keep It Short & Simple – Make a one-page proposal as nobody would have the time, bandwidth, inclination to read a 20-30 pages document Remember: investor meetings are a make / break & it is mostly about what you share & the manner in which you do it. 11/

Story telling was a luxury but is very basic & imperative now. Here's a visual from the landing page snippet from the article showing how "storytelling " ought to be employed to: - help build an understanding - establish emotional connection - leading to better conversions 12/

That's it folks! If you enjoyed reading this, please: 1. Retweet the first tweet - it'd help me greatly! 2. Follow me @bgpinv for more on #productmanagement, #leadership & #culture. 3. Check out & subscribe to my Newsletter - mgmtinc.substack.com/ Thanks for reading 🙏

SUMMARY: Make sure you are mindful of these points over that upcoming big meeting with your investor(s).