Martin Dalgleish

Morpheus Ventures | Asia Principal Capital Pty Ltd | Ratesetter Australia

Martin Dalgleish is an experienced Company Director and technology investor. Previously held various CEO, Chairman and Managing Director roles. 30 years in technology, consumer, telco and media with leading brands including PBL, Optus, Dixons, Rank, PepsiCo, IBM. Have held Non-Executive Director roles within many of Australia’s leading media and online brands, including PBL Media, FOXTEL, Mediaworks (NZ), Fox Sports, Hoyts, Ticketek, SEEK, Carsales, NineMSN, Betfair, Sky News, and iSelect. Highly connected in Media and technology circles. Investor in privately held tech, including Ratesetter Australia, Temando, Ingogo, Literacy Planet, DealsDirectGroup, Bubblegum Interactive, Katcha Media (US) and the Influential Network (US).

Specialties: NED, Governance, Strategy, Media, Technology, Marketing

B.Bus (WA), MBA (Cranfield UK), GAICD

Biggest rookie mistake(s) made by people pitching to investors?

Don’t over sell – I am not wowed by the first slide telling me about near-term IPO ambitions.  Great businesses always have exit options, so tell me why this business is great.

How does a pitch blow you away?

None really – because they are not meant to – they are designed to get me into full due diligence, so don’t try to over craft the pitch. Great pitches are short, sharp, and simple.  And don’t be beholden to the slides. Take the conversation as it comes, I can read the slides earlier or later (in fact I prefer to review the deck in advance of the face to face meeting)

In order to pitch to you, I would need to….

Email me a few short statements on what the business is, what investment stage you are at, what you are raising, and why it might suit our fund. Try to know about the  fund mandate first, no value in sending a pitch to a potential investor that is off mandate.

Best advice to prospective “pitchers”

Do your homework in advance to who you are pitching to – and tailor the discussion accordingly. Particularly look for thematics that fit, and ensure you are pitching to the right investor for the stage of funding you are seeking.

A great pitch…..

Has a clear explanation of the problem, the opportunity, addressable market, competitive advantage, and most importantly, a great team.

How many people should be in the “pitch team”?

2-3 ideally, I would like to see the depth of the founder team. I had one less than memorable pitch where six turned up and wasted half the meeting on their in depth BIO’s, and talked over each other. Have one clear presenter.

During a pitch, I am really looking at…..

Quality of team, clarity of purpose, clarity of thought, demonstration of product/market fit, clear growth strategy, large addressable market, sustainable competitive advantage.

Ventures/ideas I like best……

Truly disruptive (which doesn’t mean cheaper) but has a genuine competitive edge to disrupt a large market.

A Pitch deck should be no longer than….

About twenty pages (and preferably shorter)  – it needs to tell the story and no more. The detail can come later.

Score out of 10 (10 being extremely important) how significant is a well presented, high quality pitch deck?

7 – as ultimately the narrative around the deck is probably most important. A well crafted deck means you have thought through the narrative.

Don’t bother pitching for funds if you….

Aren’t fully committed to the journey ahead of you.