Not surprisingly, there is a difference in formality and look among entrepreneurs between the East Coast and the West Coast. In cities like San Francisco and Seattle, dress is often more casual, while on the East Coast, business attire is more formal. This was evident when more than 450 tech entrepreneurs and executives participated in Silicon Valley’s latest disruption–the Black Enterprise TechConneXt Summit. They flocked to the two-day conference held October 12th and the 13th at the Hyatt Regency, Santa Clara in Santa Clara, California to not only hear from tech luminaries–a powerful lineup of innovators, entrepreneurs, financiers, and executives–but to connect and collaborate with the promise of creating the next big thing.
East Coast vs. West Coast was a common theme that came up during several panel discussions, especially ones focused on burgeoning tech hubs in Atlanta, Austin, and Detroit. But not in terms of rivalry. Inquiring entrepreneurial minds wanted to know, for instance, if there is a difference in how you should pitch investors based on where their business operations were located.
[Related: How To Deliver A Powerful Pitch To Investors]
Black Enterprise decided to find out, from Silicon Alley to Silicon Valley, how do angel investors and venture capitalists compare? The following answers are provided by members of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched BusinessCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.
When pitching your business or concept here’s what you need to know:
1. Be More Modest on the East Coast
Risk-averse East Coast investors prefer small but sure gains over gambles. The more grandiose your claims, the more relentlessly East Coasters work to sniff out hidden downsides. Meanwhile, West Coast VCs go for multiple high-stakes bets and don’t need your modesty; show them a twinkle of unicorn potential and your fact-based recognition of the slim odds you aim to beat.
2. Consider Both Coast and Timeline
Keep your pitch honed to both the coast you’re talking to and the time horizon. East Coast seed round? Pitch the small story about how you’re going to hit a few million in revenue in months and reach an exit point. VC in California? Pitch the biggest, baddest version of your pitch that still represents your core business.
3. Emphasize Tradition in New York
Having lived in both Silicon Valley and New York and having been able to pitch at top-notch VC firms, I found that there was much more
— David Ciccarelli, Voices.com
4. Keep Culture in Mind
With Silicon Valley, it’s important to be aware of and discuss company “culture,” where East Coasters are much less likely to care, and may even be suspicious of any presentation that distracts from the numbers. By culture, I mean try to craft your company as an interesting story when working with West Coasters. They still want the numbers, but a dream is important.
5. Focus on Traditional Growth Metrics on the East Coast
The majority of investors in New York and on the East Coast (Boston, Washington D.C., Philadelphia) are traditional and rely mostly upon traditional valuation metrics such as Earnings Before Interest Tax Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA), growth profit, and/or revenue to value companies. In contrast, West Coast investors are less traditional and focus on total users and viral coefficient.
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6. Pitch With Investor Expectations in Mind
East Coast investors care about revenue above all, both yours and theirs. They’ll want a
7. Know Your Audience
This may be just me, but I find East Coast investors are more open to discussing business models that fall outside the “scalable, repeatable SaaS” model. On the East Coast, I keep my answers short and directed and don’t get into the whole backstory of the company. On the West Coast, however, I typically see a desire to hear the origin story.
8. Focus on the Market You Want to Be In
If you are creating a startup that will resegment an existing market or create a new market, the odds are better if you pitch VCs on the West Coast. Most Silicon Valley VCs are product managers-turned VCs that are looking for disruptive technologies even when no revenue model exists. VCs on the East Coast are often more conservative and look for established markets with sustainable revenue.
9. Show West Coast Investors Your Leadership Team Is Strong
The East Coast is more
10. Prepare Accordingly, Especially on the East Coast
Because West Coast investors are more comfortable investing in startups based on vision or founders alone, they don’t often ask for things like pitch decks or business plans for early-stage investments. East Coast investors, being somewhat newer to the game or coming from other industries, will often ask for those prior to investing. Make sure you’re prepared to follow up with documents.
11. Focus on Revenue Growth on the East Coast
I’ve pitched over 100 times to investors on the East Coast (New York City, Boston, Philadelphia) and West Coast (San Francisco, Greater Palo Alto Area, Los Angeles). In both markets, you need a compelling idea, a strong team, and traction. On the other hand, East Coast investors focus much more on revenue growth (and potential), while West Coast investors focus more on user growth (and potential).