How To Introduce Yourself to an Investor Hello, this is Hall T. Martin with the Startup Funding Espresso — your daily shot of startup funding and investing. In engaging investors, startup founders should master the self-introduction. It’s important to make a good first impression. While some introductions come from others, most often the founder will be introducing themselves. Here are some key points in introducing yourself to an investor: Begin with gratitude for their time. Avoid the entitled attitude, as most founders are not entitled to anything from the investor. Introduce your name, company, and what your company does. Use a five to seven-word tagline to describe your company. Based on the person you are meeting, customize the next sentence to show how the startup is relevant to the investor. For example, if they are a fit for your fund, indicate that your research shows that. Avoid the long-winded explanation of what you do and instead engage the investor in the conversation. The goal is to elicit what interests them the most and take the introduction in this direction. Investors look for the following in founders to fund: They have good communication skills. They know how to prioritize the talking points, putting the most important at the beginning. They know how to make their information relevant to the one they are speaking to. They are not nervous or uptight. They know how to build rapport with the investor. Finally, they demonstrate confidence even though startups come with a great deal of uncertainty. Thank you for joining us for the Startup Funding Espresso where we help startups and investors connect for funding. Let’s go startup something today. _________________________________________________________ For more episodes from Investor Connect, please visit the site at: http://investorconnect.org Check out our other podcasts here: https://investorconnect.org/ For Investors check out: https://tencapital.group/investor-landing/ For Startups check out: https://tencapital.group/company-landing/ For eGuides check out: https://tencapital.group/education/ For upcoming Events, check out https://tencapital.group/events/ For Feedback please contact info@tencapital.group Please follow, share, and leave a review. Music courtesy of Bensound.

Copyright (c) 2026, Hall Martin and investorconnect.org. All rights reserved.

Disclaimer:
Hall T Martin is the director of Investor Connect, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to the education of investors for early-stage funding. All opinions expressed by Hall and podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of Investor Connect. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon for the basis of investment decisions.