Cephas Chikanda

Industry Healthcare | BioTech

Expertise Overall Strategy | Access to Networks

Cephas currently owns and operates a thriving specialist health systems consultancy based in Johannesburg, serving numerous geographies in sub-Saharan Africa. Cephas is a medical doctor with an MBA who is passionate about entrepreneurship, and the power of networks to uplift businesses in Africa.

Sam Crocker

Expertise: Financial Management & Analysis | Business strategy

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Sam is a financial executive and entrepreneur with over 15 years’ experience in corporate finance, business advisory and financial services. Based in Cape Town, Sam is currently a shareholder and CFO of an innovative local company producing cutting edge shoe care products that are sold in retail sneaker stores in over 30 countries worldwide.

Fatima Collins

Industry: Various

Expertise: General business expertise | Overall Strategy | Access to Networks

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Fatima is a Joburg based socio-economic development specialist who spends her daytime hours leveraging infrastructure development as a key driver of sustainable social and economic development on the continent. Fatima has spent her career nurturing businesses and entrepreneurs, ensuring investment readiness and advising on strategic direction.

Jaco Louw

Industry: tbc

Expertise: tbc

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Jaco is an actuary. But don’t let that scare you. Numbers are important to him, but only when they are ringing out huge profits. Otherwise he’s just like you – except he doesn’t need a calculator to split the bill.

Yaw Peprah

Industry: Direct Marketing | Investment Banking | Corporate Finance

Expertise: Networking | Pan-African Commerce

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Yaw started business life as a chartered accountant in 2003 but after a couple of years in investment banking got a taste for independent innovation in the online advertising world. Since then he has founded and built Marae Investments, a specialist corporate finance and consulting platform assisting clients across Africa with direct marketing and investment banking.

Howard Moodycliffe

Industry: Consumer tech | Business tech | Various

Expertise: Marketing Strategy | Access to Networks

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Howard is a seasoned investor from Cape Town who is currently back in entrepreneurship mode, launching a cutting edge mobile application that assists medical professionals to navigate complex clinical scenarios. Howard is an experienced senior marketing & operations professional with a skill for start-up and operational transformations across multiple industries.

James Lehman

Industry: Various

Expertise: Management | Marketing and development

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James is a civil engineer by trade as well as a passionate startup enthusiast. Still early in his career, James has already achieved numerous successes, including being one of the main creative forces behind the PitchLab and Huddleworx startup concepts.

Limont Lehman

Industry: Professional services | Retail | Manufacturing | Consumer tech | Business tech

Expertise: Financial strategy | Growth | Marketing

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Limont is one of the founders of PitchLab and the creator of the business builder process

Scott Carr

Industry: Fin-tech | Application design | Digital services

Expertise: Systems architecture | Product development

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Scott is a mathematician by night and a computer scientist by day. Throughout his career Scott has successfully straddled investment banking, digital technology and entrepreneurship. He brings this unique blend to the world of startups as a co-founder of PitchLab.

Pia Harris

Industry: FMCG

Expertise: Brand Development & Strategy | Marketing | Wine & Spirits | Luxury goods

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Pia is qualified in psychology however it didn’t take her long to find her passion for Brand Strategy and Marketing. She currently heads up Brand Management for some of the world’s leading luxury goods within the FMCG sector.

WHAT’S DONE, WHAT’S NEXT?

Achievements and next steps

What have you achieved, and what do you plan to do in the next year or so? If an investor knows what stage you are at, they know what kind of investment you need.

Early stage businesses may talk about branding, prototypes, market research or first sales and customers. Established businesses may tell us more about growth in sales, profits, customers or products and services.

Then, based on these achievements, what is your next strategic move.

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YOUR BUSINESS

Describe what your business does

Tell us about the product or service that your business offers in one short sentence. Remember that you are going to have a conversation, so the time for more detail is during the live chat.

Imagine describing your business on the label of a tin. What would it say? Here is how we do it at PitchLab:

PitchLab is an online platform that allows entrepreneurs to pitch for investment using video clips instead of business plans

There you have it; it does what it says on the tin!

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INVESTMENTS, PLEASE!

What do you want from an investor?

Briefly describe how much investment you need, and what you plan on doing with it. Investors need to be sure that you have thought through your funding requirements.

But that’s not all, they willl also want to know if the partnership will be a good fit. If you tell them what you want, they will be better placed to make that decision. Are you looking for mentor-ship, strategic insights, industry expertise, access to networks?

Ok, get pitching people!

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ALL ABOUT YOU

Showcase Yourself

Make your videos clear and concise, with only the information investors need to start a conversation. It is important that they get a good sense of you – the entrepreneur.

Introduce yourself by starting with your name and where you are from. For the rest of video be the best version of yourself. Investors will learn a lot about you from the way you present your business on camera.

Be well spoken, professional, confident, passionate and knowledgeable!

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YOUR CUSTOMER

Describe your customer

Do you understand the profile of your main customer? Here are two examples so that you can see the the sort of thing investors are looking for. The first is for PitchLab:

PitchLab focuses on South African entrepreneurs that need investment to get to the next level, and that have scalable business models and the potential for strong financial returns.

And here’s another one:

RentMyRide provides an online platform that allows private vehicle owners in South Africa to make extra money by renting out their cars. The service helps people with cars that they don’t use often, but that they don’t want to sell.

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WHAT’S SPECIAL?

What makes your business special?

What sets you apart from your competition? What is it that makes your customer choose you? What unique problem do you solve for your customer?

Here’s how we do it at PitchLab:

PitchLab is different. First, we only accept video clips as funding applications, not business plans. People come across best in person, it’s that simple. Second, we guarantee a conversation with anyone who submits a serious pitch. Nobody leaves PitchLab empty-handed. Even if you don’t get funded, you get constructive advice on strategy and next steps.

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MEET THE INVESTORS