A fair warning about pitching venture capital firms: no amount of preparation will guarantee that you will raise venture capital. But being unprepared is the fastest way to fail. You really only get one shot making the right impression with each venture capital firm and the last thing you want is to blow your chances because you didn’t spend the time to know your business inside and out.

Contrary to what you may think, venture capital firms don’t actually read business plans, but they are sure glad you have one.

In the previous section we explained how to find venture capital firms to send your elevator pitch to. Now we’ll explain what you’ll need when they ask you to present.

Executive Summary

Over the years the reliance on venture capital...