One of the first documents a founder will create, before they set out to fundraise, is a pitch deck.
In this post we will discuss everything you should incorporate into a slide-by-slide pitch deck.
What is a pitch deck?
An investor pitch deck is a slide presentation that covers the key details about an organisation, in essence it is the thing designed to “sell” the idea to a potential investor.
Pitch decks are typically built using PowerPoint, Keynote or Google slides. Your pitch will generally be emailed over, ahead of meetings, and will be introduced or presented during investor contact.
The presentation of your pitch deck is normally what is referred to as “The Pitch”.
Presentations give investors a quick overview of the company, the idea, the market and the opportunity. Even if you are not looking to raise funds, pitch decks can be a means to help you outline your business to potential partners or advisors.
Creating a pitch deck will rescue you from continually rehashing your strategy through back-and-forth email, and the procedure of building the deck will help you concentrate on a consistent message.
DocSend and ClearSlide are apps that are amplifying in popularity among entrepreneurs for distribution of their pitch decks with investors. Both permit you to mail your deck as a link, opposed to an attachment and contributes attractive data on how people are linking with your deck. It informs you about who is viewing your document, how long they view, it even allows you to switch off access to a document once you have dispatched it. This keeps you in control, prevents documents being distributed on without your consent and ensures data protection is maintained as well as it can be.
Most pitches will focus on the basic high-quality themes of your business or idea.
Storyboarding your slides before creating them is an ideal way to ensure that you encompass all the key points, while saving you time on modifications.
Invariably there are always differences of opinion and differences in what individual investors want to see and, as such, anyone you ask will give you a marginally different framework for the ideal pitch deck.
However, here is a proposed outline for an appendix and a 11-slide pitch.
1. Title Slide
This slide needs to include your business logo and one line about what you do which should communicate as succinctly as possible your vision and what motivates you.
2. Problem
A problem slide relays a story, blueprinting the present pain in the market that you are proposing to resolve. Utilise data to backup how large this problem is, and the size of the business opportunities it poses.
3. Solution
The solution slide proposes how you are solving the issue and addressing the market need, adequately introducing your product. Discuss what makes you special and where your expertise comes from.
4. Demo
In the demo slide you want to display, not tell. Either step over to a live product demo, or add a short, embedded video, on how your product functions. Embedded videos avoid the risk of a broken demo and allows you to manage the narrative. Professionally designed screenshots are suitable if a live or video demo are not attainable.
5. Team
This is where you present your team, this is when you inform the investors why you are the ultimate team to resolve the issues. Itemise relevant experience, and remember to use brief phrases, alongside recognisable companies and educational establishments when possible. Additionally, reference well known consultants or investors. You can also include an advisory board in your team section to show off the level of skill, experience and acumen you can call upon.
6. Traction/Distribution
Even if traction is early, investors prefer to back metric driven founders. So, you need to display your metrics and ensure the slide is easy to scan, as well as designing an awe-inspiring charts.
7. Business Model
How do you earn your money? Or how do you plan to accumulate money? If you do not have a target, ensure you are prepared to defend why not and describe what other metrics are important to you right now. For the majority of companies, you will need to add revenue, unless you already have it.
8. Competition
Evading your competition does not assist you in a pitch. The investors will discover you have competitors. Explain to the investors that you know you have competitors, their strengths and weaknesses and your competitive edge.
9. Roadmap/Milestones
What is your vision for the future? What is next? Key milestones are product launches, revenue and customers. This is what your investors will consider you against in board meetings post raise.
10. The Ask
What is it you want from the investors? This is the part where you discuss your raise, how much you require and how you will utilise it? For example, sales, marketing, product development etc. How does the raise fit into the key milestones you previously talked about?
11. Contact Information
It is vital you include your name and contact details.
Appendix
The appendix is where you place any additional extras. For example, slides that may come up in the introduction. Appendix should not be emailed across. Try to foresee questions investors may ask and develop a slide to answer them. An appendix will incorporate subject matters, such as risks, additional financials and frequently requested metrics.
Possessing pre-prepared slides will ensure you appear prepared and professional. While the format is principal, a superb pitch is about much more than prepositioning the right slide headings.
It is also be advisable to add in a disclaimer (similar to one you would put in an email signature) that legally covers you for any specifics or errors within the pitch.
General Pitch Deck Advice
See below some advice for creating a near perfect pitch deck.
Use data
Investors appreciate realistic founders. Draw the investor into your story, contribute your progress to date and utilise numbers. Include when talking about traction, go to market strategy and business model. Investors need to know how you think about your business; they want to feel it has both potential and reality built into it. An indistinct, high level description is not going to draw anyone into your story.
Paint the big picture
Successful founders have the innovation and vision to see what the world will look like in three, five, even ten years from now. You may be discussing your business today, but your investors are not investing just today, they are investing into the future. Ensure the investors come away from your pitch deck aware of the bigger picture for the company and how where you are now, displays a magnificent vision for the future.
Put time into design
After content, the design of the deck is extremely important. If you cannot develop a functioning slide presentation, why should an investor trust you to develop a great product.
Once you have prepared the content for each individual slide, appoint a designer to build your pitch deck. It is not necessarily important or advisable that you need to have a designer on the permanent team in the early days. Enlist someone you trust, either on contract or utilise an outsourced slide design business. An excellent slide deck is well worth the investment.
Do not list a valuation
It is crucial to note that, while a pitch deck may indicate how much a business is raising, it should not comment on the valuation (as in how much of the company an investor might expect to buy for that investment level).
Do not include everything
The aim of a pitch is to heighten interest, get investors animated and begin a conversation. It is more pivotal that your deck covers the fragments of the business, that get investors most excited, than it is to detail every point. Even the most reserved founders come to life when discussing topics that energise them.
Do not be unrealistic
Investors generally have a fairly good deception meter, developed after years of listening to hundreds, if not thousands of pitch decks.
Try not to pitch impractical growth. Although you want to be enthusiastic you also need to draw in investors and encourage them to buy in to your product. Your view and your projections need to be convincing, you want everyone in the room nodding in agreement, not leaning back dubiously. If you make it look too good to be true, they will know that it is.
Iterate
In conclusion, it is vital to understand that your first pitch will not be faultless. Use the pitch like a product, go over it until it is practically perfect. Your pitch will expand, it is a good idea to take note of how investors react to each slide. Internalise the response, the feedback and questions asked in the presentation and constantly improve your pitch delivery.
For more help or information on developing a successful and well-developed pitch deck, please get in touch with us today.
Email us info@thealtitudeagency.com or call 0203 150 0565.
