Baldwin and Matt interviewed Memet Yazıcı, Managing Partner of TRPE Capital. Memet speaks here about preparing for pitch meetings, a portfolio company’s management team’s role in telling the company’s story, and the importance of relationships with LPs.

01:35 Sometimes more experienced LPs will give you very good feedback on your pitch, helping you clarify your message.

03:59 Talking about your track record isn’t always the most useful way to pitch. Try these things instead.

05:37 Memet talks about how he doesn’t change the fundamental investment thesis, but “moves the emphasis,” according to the particular interests and background of the LP.

07:12 Memet tells us a bit about his pre-meeting prep.

09:27 Memet points out that the management team at the portfolio companies is part of the storytelling effort too.

10:58 Memet goes into whether he finds storytelling skills well-developed at portfolio companies.

11:48 Memet describes things that make him cringe about some portfolio companies’ storytelling.

13:01 Memet mentions that sometimes a portfolio company’s management team needs outside help with their storytelling.

14:06 Memet talks about the CFO in particular, and his/her role in telling the company’s story.

14:59 “The CFO is the navigation officer on the ship” (one of Baldwin and Matt’s favorite quotes from the interview)

15:38 “They [CFOs] obviously need to own the numbers, they need to be very good with the numbers, but what do those numbers mean? What’s that context? We need the CFO to have that context.”

17:13 In Memet’s opinion, the best CFOs are often female CFOs, and Memet goes into what he means by that and why he thinks that way.

19:37 Memet talks about relationships with LPs, and how they should be seen in a bigger picture. “Relationships are really the true capital of our business.”

20:30 Memet goes into other things that an LP relationship might mean to you, beyond supplying financial capital to your business.

23:42 “Building that human relationship [with the LP] gives you an opportunity to help back, to contribute back.”

Memet was quite articulate and thoughtful, this was one of our favorite interviews. Thanks Memet, it was a pleasure!

About Baldwin Berges

Baldwin has been active in the investment industry for more than 20 years. His specialty is all about positioning investment opportunities so they are easy to understand and developing strategies and systems to convert more opportunities into business during long sales cycles.

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