Your solution isn’t your product, and other words of wisdom

“I hope you realize this is not a concert,” said Nvidia president Jensen Huang to an audience so large, it filled up the SAP Center in San Jose. This is how he introduced what is perhaps the complete opposite of a concert: the company’s GTC event. “You have arrived at a developers conference. There will be a lot of science describing algorithms, computer architecture, mathematics. I sense a very heavy weight in the room; all of a sudden, you’re in the wrong place.”

That, and some of the other surprises from Nvidia's keynote at GTC, in my column at TechCrunch.

When you want for consistency

If you want to know what a good team slide looks like, have a look at the pitch deck teardown I conducted of Protecto’s deck for TechCrunch last week. Honestly, it was that solid I wondered why they’d hidden it away at slide 11. Protecto’s deck also displayed a good competition slide, which is worth glancing over, too. But why-oh-why, when they’ve done these elements so well, do the founders let themselves down with a poor use-of-funds slide and a weak go-to-market slide? Do take a look: there’s a lot to be learned from it.

3 top fundraising tips

1. Your solution isn’t your product: When you’re putting together your pitch deck, be sure to differentiate your solution from your product. I see a lot of decks that struggle to separate them and it’s a vital distinction. Remember: your solution is strategic.
2. Finding the right VCs: When you’ve got your deck together and you’re ready to pitch, you need to pitch to someone. But how do you go about finding the right VCs to feed into the top of potential investors’ funnel? It’s not actually that hard, but it does take dedication. Here’s how to find your potential investors.
3. Was that a no?: When you have got your deck in front of some VCs and you’re getting feedback, it can be a little tricky to discern a soft no from a hard no, and know what to do with that no. Don’t be disheartened, though, there’s a lot you can learn from a no.

Events!

We have two upcoming events that you might want to put in your diaries.

Subscriber Q&A

Monday 1 April 2024

09:00 PST | 12:00 EST | 17:00 BST | 21:30 IST | 00:00 (2 April) SST

Get together with other Pitch.Guide subscribers for a Q&A session with me. I’m on hand to answer questions ranging from how much is too much to raise to what should I do about soft nos??

This is a Pitch.Guide subscribers-only event. You can subscribe to Pitch.Guide here (a bargain at $29.99/month) and to the Q&A here!

Live Pitch Deck Tear Down

Thursday 19 April 2024?

08:00 PST | 11:00 EST | 16:00 BST | 20:30 IST | 21:00 SST

Join me as I look at two pitch decks and analyze them with my investor hat on. You get to see in real time what works and what doesn’t work when a VC looks at a deck.

This event is open to all Pitch.Guide members. Sign up here.

And if you want a taste of what a live tear down looks like, you can see the one from 19 January here.

Need some tailored support?

If you are raising money for your startup, and you want a private pitch deck review from Haje, that’s possible! See haje.pub/pdr for more information. Because you are a newsletter subscriber, we’ll even give you a 10% discount! Use the booking link and promo code NL10 to claim your discount!