A billion-dollar startup founder used a classic memory strategy to perfect his investor pitch - and raised $448 million

• Henry Ward is the founder and CEO of Carta, an equity management firm that is currently valued at $1.7 billion.
• At a Business Insider webinar hosted by correspondent Shana Lebowitz, he talked about how he handwrote his pitch and memorized it.
• Research supports the idea that handwriting leads to retention.
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Henry Ward has raised a total of $448 million for his equity management firm, Carta. Even though Ward's work is emphatically digital, he relied on an analog technique to help raise his first $8 million.

Ward handwrote his entire pitch, word for word, and memorized it as a script. That pitch proceeded to draw in $1.8 million in his seed round and $7 million in his series A funding round.

"Figuring out how to clearly, cleanly, simply and concisely articulate what you're trying to do may be your most important job" as a founder, he told BI correspondent Shana Lebowitz at a Business Insider webinar.

Handwriting just the kind of thing you need to do to tighten a pitch - and strengthen your recall.

Research supports the technique Ward used to create his pitch and commit it to memory. A study from researchers at the University of Central Florida found that the physical act of writing spreads the memory across different areas of the brain more than typing something out on a keyboard. Handwriting requires unique movements, impressing each letter or word more deeply into memory than pressing keys. As psychology writer explored in the New York Times, the very efficiency typing affords may compromise a person's ability to take in new information.

Ward wrote everything out, and practiced his pitch constantly. He practiced with associates and CEOs who successfully raised money and kept iterating.

"I [even] used to put up a camera, pitch to myself in the camera, and watch myself," he said, "which is extremely hard to do."

But he did that for months in an effort to find the message that resonated most with investors.

"You will constantly have to iterate to get it right," he said.

Read more: The founder of a billion-dollar startup says that this book on Steve Jobs' presentation secrets taught him how to nail a pitch

As Carta grows, Ward finds himself pitching more, up to 15 times a week.

"Every time you tell the story of your company, try to do it a little tighter with fewer words the next time," Ward said. "Just keep doing it."

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