Should I bring the product?

Investors like to hold, taste and try. Pitches that handed out free samples closed a deal 83% of the time, and those that offered a tasting 82%. A physical product on the stand went with 70%, a video or slides with 67%, and a live app demonstration with 65%.

The 38 pitches that showed nothing at all closed 53% of the time. A pitch counts once for each kind of thing it showed, so some pitches appear in more than one row.

This is a correlation, not a cause. Food and consumer products are easy to taste and touch, and they also close more often for other reasons. Still, if investors can try your product, bring enough for everyone on the panel and let them use it while you talk.