You have a great idea, a solid team, and a clear vision for your startup. Now you need to convince potential investors to fund your venture. But how do you craft a pitch deck that stands out from the crowd and captures their attention? Here are some tips to help you design a pitch deck that showcases your value proposition, market opportunity, traction, and roadmap.
Before you start designing your pitch deck, you need to understand who you are pitching to and what they are looking for. Different types of investors have different expectations, preferences, and criteria for evaluating startups. For example, angel investors may be more interested in your personal story and passion, while venture capitalists may focus more on your financial projections and scalability. Research your target investors and tailor your pitch deck to their needs and interests.
Real Estate is not a one-size fits all industry. There are a lot of pitch, listing cmas and other presentation templates that are available online; and as beautiful and well-designed as some of them may be, our team prefers a more personalized, tailored approach to pitches and presentations. Every single person who comes to us; be it a seller, buyer or developer, has unique, needs and goals. So it is important that we do our research and have preliminary conversations so that we can better highlight our skills and experience that will best help our potential client exceed their goals.
A pitch deck should have a clear and logical structure that guides investors through your story and solution. Generally, it consists of 10 to 15 slides that cover topics such as the problem you are addressing, how your product or service solves it, the unique value you offer customers, the size and segmentation of your target market, key metrics that demonstrate product-market fit and customer satisfaction, your business model, the founders and key members of your team, short-term and long-term goals and milestones, how much funding you are seeking, and how investors can contact you.
A pitch deck should be easy to read and understand, as well as visually appealing and engaging. Use simple and concise language, avoid jargon and acronyms, and highlight the key points and takeaways. Use visual elements, such as images, graphs, charts, icons, and logos, to illustrate your data, showcase your product, and reinforce your brand identity. Avoid cluttering your slides with too much text, colors, or animations, and use a consistent and professional layout and font.
Never underestimate the power of good design when pitching. My best tip when designing a deck from scratch is understanding its journey after you finish the document. If it is a collaborative document you need to use a software such as Google slides or canva. If you do not need to then you should push to the next level and use Adobe or figma. There are great templates available on Envato Elements that will allow your design to go well beyond what the basic tools can achieve.
When preparing a pitch deck, you need to consider different scenarios, such as sending it via email, presenting it in person, or sharing it online. The length of your pitch deck and the number of slides should depend on the amount of time you have to present your startup. Additionally, you need to decide on the best format for your pitch deck, such as PDF, PowerPoint, or an online platform. Furthermore, it is important to consider the content of your pitch deck and determine which slides are most important and relevant. Lastly, you need to decide how you will present your pitch deck, such as verbally, visually, or interactively.
A pitch deck is not a static document. It is a dynamic and evolving tool that you need to test and refine based on feedback and results. Seek feedback from your mentors, peers, customers, and potential investors, and ask them for their honest opinions and suggestions. Track the performance of your pitch deck, such as the open rate, click rate, response rate, and conversion rate, and analyze the data to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your pitch deck. Iterate and improve your pitch deck until you achieve your desired outcomes.
One size does not fit all when pitching. Consider multiple document formats including portrait for mobile. If you are sharing on WhatsApp don't make a landscape pitch deck.
Be prepared to go off script. Before your presentation, think about a deal you did recently that would be of interest to this audience; depending on circumstances you can decide not to give specifics; Be sure to emphasize your critical thinking that got the deal done; Don't hesitate to get professional help to create the deck;