Wrong all along.

I know that already. Problem and solution, traction, market opportunity, team, sales and marketing strategy, financials, fundraising targets. Those are the only seven slides I need. I hear that all the time.        

I know you know the drill. Everybody does. But still no results? You mastered the what, you're just missing the how.

Turning your pitch deck into a powerful fundraising machine is not about upping your content. It's about becoming obsessed with a few things no one's been paying attention to. These four things.

Phone readable.

82% of pitch decks are read on mobile. Investors are commuting to work, waiting for lunch, checking emails on the go. If you're lucky, they'll open your deck. And if they do, trust me, it will be on a really small screen. No such thing as zooming into small text, read complicated paragraphs or scroll through countless slides. It's now or never. Either you check all the important boxes or you're boxed out.

Attention span ready.

Tick, tock. 8 seconds. Investors bombarded with notifications and emails, never-ending multitasking, round the clock. That's it, that's how many seconds you have to get their attention. Get them intrigued within the first eight seconds, you may get eight more. How do you do that? Nail the first two slides of your pitch deck and you're 80% there (spoiler alert: those two are not the ones you're thinking of).

Facts convince. Stories sell.

Investing is a rational decision, I hear them say. It's not. Eight seconds, two slides and a yes or no light starts pulsating inside the investor's brain. It's pure emotion. The remaining time, he simply looks for information that helps rationalize the decision. What you need is an emotional response, a powerful story, a compelling narrative. Your pitch is a deck. But it needs to become a movie trailer.

Fake it, until you make it.

For investors, fundraising is a game of probabilities. Turn x into 10x, less than 10% of the time. Beating the odds means minimizing risk. The founders who can show early signs of traction and no red flags get the dough. That's the name of the game, full stop. I know, easier said than done -?when you're just starting out, showing convincing traction can be challenging. Let me tell you, it doesn't have to.

Drill these four insights into your head and you'll get ahead. This is the way.

No way back now. Next post I'll cover slide #1, worth 30% of your deck. Until then, over and out.

Rui