Million Dollar #Startup Dreams !!!

Whether you are a startup seeking first or second round funding, or an established company that is seeking institutional investors, a pitch deck is the vehicle by which you present your company to private equity and venture capital firms as well as angel investors. A proper investor pitch deck is generally created using Power Point (a favorite format on the part of professional #investors) and it is a presentation that requires no more than four minutes to review by the targeted audience. 

A good pitch deck tells a compelling story that excites viewers. A bad deck wastes everyone’s time. Let's see How To Start Building a Good Pitch Deck For Investment

Step 1 : Structure it well

Pitch Decks represent perhaps the most important document your company will ever produce. They represent the first route any investor takes when looking to your business. As such, it is vital that this document has the ability to ‘grab’, and then ‘hook’ investors While there may be difference of opinion on exact length and format of your presentation, most approaches adhere to the same basic structure. This structure consists of:

a) Identifying a Problem

b) Communicating a Solution

c) Proving the Market Value of your product

d) Demonstrating the benefits of your product over others

e) A strong Business model

f) Insight into the team leading your project

g) A convincing call to action

h) Milestones – both future and achieved

Step 2 : Deck Guidelines

Generally, the presentation is confined to no more than 15- 20 slides that effectively highlight the company’s opportunity, its technology and/or other unique value propositions, management team expertise, sales projections and how investors can expect to recoup their investment and recognize a profit.

Most professional investors will acknowledge that Step 1 is a compelling elevator pitch; a verbal presentation that is limited to 90 seconds and frames the value proposition and the ‘ask’. If your elevator pitch landed on the right floor, Step 2 is the investor pitch deck.

The first slide should include three to eight bullets that emphasize the size of the market opportunity and your strategy for exploiting it. You want to convince potential investors that you are presenting a massively valuable investment thesis which will benefit investors significantly. Naturally, interesting images and graphics are a plus to hold the audience’s attention, and you’ll want to use a consistent font size, color and heading style throughout. Remember to put a copyright notice on the bottom of the cover page.

Step 2 : Starter Deck Outline

Here is an outline for a 15-slide deck that you can use as the starting point for your preparation:

1. Big Picture Overview
2. How Big Is the Opportunity?
3. Your Vision
4. What Problem Are You Solving?
5. How Are You Solving It?
6. What Is Your Product/Service?
7. Who Will Be Your Customers?
8. What Technology Will You Use?
9. Management Team and Prior Investors
10. Who Is Already Competing in a Similar Space?
11. What Gives Your Idea Traction?
12. How Will Your Business Work (Business Model)?
13. How Will You Market Your Offering?
14. What Are the Financials?
15. What Are You Asking For?

Address each topic crisply, without too much wordiness. Add an important stat every now and then to reinforce your points. But most of all, shape your presentation to your audience and confront potential problems head-on. Your audience will enter with concerns – let them know you understand these concerns from the start and they’ll pay closer attention. If you are an early-stage startup, show your audience that you have a well-conceived path and the right vision.

Step 4 : Revise your deck with Tips and Tricks

There are several does and don’ts you’ll want to consider when composing your pitch deck. For more in depth analysis, see article by Reid Hoffman.

• DO pitch by analogy, tying your business and technology to other successful businesses
• DO decide whether to drive your pitch by concept or by data, whichever applies most directly
• DO proactively confront risks with mitigating strategies that help to build confidence
• DO dwell on your competitive advantage, what will give you traction to survive and grow in the market, what makes you unique and maneuverable
• DO show in detail how you will attack competitor’s revenue streams
• DON’T use more than 20 slides, and keep them from being wordy
• DON’T overwhelm with financial data – save for follow-up
• DON’T look to cover everything in the deck – you can flesh out items in subsequent Q&A
• DON’T use jargon or obscure acronyms
• DON’T belittle the competition
• DON’T use old data that makes your deck look dated
• DON’T economize by doing your own graphics – use a graphic designer

Example : 12 Slides of Pitchdeck

Although opinion differs as to how many slides one should include in the pitch itself, 10 – 15 tends to be the agreed number of slides. Bearing in mind how each slide corresponds to the basic structure above, each slide should be labelled in a similar vein to these below:

1) Company Overview

2) Company Mission

3) Your Team

4) The Problem

5) The Solution

6) The Market Value

7) The Product

8) The Customers

9) The Technology

10) Competitors

11) Traction

12) Business Model

13) Marketing

14) Finances

Sources & References