Issue 9 - Pitch Deck Refresher ??
There is a lot of great advice and examples available on what to include when presenting your business opportunity to potential investors in the form of a pitch deck.
We have seen lots of iterations and styles come across our desk from successfully funded startups that are scaling really well and tracking against their growth milestones. We thought it would help to share the common themes and content that can be included to give that rounded view of your business and help you to communicate it's potential.
Your pitch deck is your tool to attract potential investors. It must be short and concise but convey the complete story of your business (past, present and future). The objective is to turn the complicated detail you are involved in each day, into simple impactful messages. An investor will spend under a minute looking over your deck in the first pass, so keep it simple and resist putting too much detail down.
Traditional business plans are too heavy for startups raising early funding and may give an adverse impression. Investors would want you to be a team who spends a wise amount of time telling the important bits of your story through a pitch deck rather than one who spends weeks of valuable hours creating a 40-page business plan that could be out of date by the time it is distributed.
Content
The pitch deck contains all the vital components needed to convey the potential in your startup, to get attention, to generate interest and to secure that follow up meeting with an investor to talk in more detail, one-on-one.
PROBLEM / SOLUTION
- What is the problem statement / mission?
- Who is your business for? Who will benefit from this?
- Why is it currently unsolved and why are they not satisfied with current solutions?
- What is your solution?
PRODUCT
- What is the value proposition?
- Show product demos - displaying the functionality and look and feel of the product
- Current traction and feedback on it - it's important to show the user validation
MARKET
- What is your position in the ecosystem and competitive landscape?
- What is the market size? - TAM / SAM / SOM
- What makes you different? Unfair advantage / secret sauce?
NUMBERS/DATA
- What is your business model? Convey your unit economics
- What is your route to market? Distribution channels / customer acquisition?
- Know your metrics - CAC, LTV, MRR, conversation rate, churn, burn, gross margin
STORY/JOURNEY
- The story so far - milestones achieved
- Critical learning and growth points
- Challenges you have experienced and how you've overcome them
- Plan for the next 12 to 18 months - key growth milestones
- What is your endgame? (vision)
TEAM
- "This is our team" - Key highlights of founding team and core staff
- Demonstrate why you're the ones to do this - Domain knowledge / experience, etc
- Emphasise the gravitas your team has and what they can do to drive this forward
FUNDING
- How much funding do you need and what are you going to spend the funding on?
- What will the funding lead you to achieve next? What will happen after that?
- Summary financials in an appendix - to EBITDA level - 12 to 24 month projections
CONSUMER CONSCIOUSNESS
- Is there an element of positive change in what you are doing?
- What impact are you making to the world that helps people and the planet?
Remember, keep it simple! Use smart data points or images to keep it impactful.
Your pitch deck should build the audience's interest, so build up to better and better information, highlighting all the key points and make it easy to follow with a consistent design.
Good luck!!!
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We hope you have enjoyed this article and have picked up a few takeaways that will help you with the design and build of your deck.
Remember - if you want to collaborate on an article or would like to hear more about specific topics, please do not hesitate to get in touch and we will get it on our roadmap.
We're looking forward to sharing the next issue with you in 2 weeks.
Team ihorizon
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Articles to date:
Issue 9 - Pitch Deck Refresher - What should you be thinking of including in your deck
Issue 8 - EMI Options - Engaging your team through EMI options
Issue 7 – Growth Shares – How they could work for you as an incentivisation strategy
Issue 6 – Brexit – Post transition period updates to impact on VAT & Tax for our clients
Issue 5 – Client Spotlight, our friends at DataForm on their sale to Google
Issue 4 – Navigating the new SME R&D Tax Credit Cap as a Startup
Issue 3 – Brexit – Impact on VAT & Tax for our client base
Issue 2 – Focus on Financial Management Information - How to read your reports
Issue 1 – Launching ihorizon Sigma, our R&D product