Thousands of startups come and go every day. But nobody gets to know the reason behind the shutting down of these startups. Perhaps the most important reason behind that is below level pitch deck presentation in front of investors. First of all, we need to understand what a pitch deck is. It is a kind of presentation used to present or pitch our idea to any number of audiences, usually investors. The pitch deck consists of 15-20 slides in a PowerPoint presentation that is intended to showcase the company's products, technology, and team to the investors.
Dos and don’ts for the effective pitch deck
Sometimes the startup which we start doesn’t take off just because the pitch deck is not good enough. There are a lot of startups that make small mistakes and create fewer chances for being selected. We need to look at some do's and don’t to make an effective presentation.
- Do include some words at the bottom left of the pitch deck cover page such as "confidential and proprietary", "copyright © by company name", and "all rights reserved".
- Convince the investors of why the market opportunities are larger.
- Graphics and images should be included to make the pitch visually interesting.
- It should be planned to have a demo of your product as a part of a personal presentation.
- Tell investors an interesting and motivational, and memorable story that shows your passion for your business.
- Make sure you have more than just an idea that you have gotten earlier in the time when you are developing the product.
- Use a consistent font size and color and header and title style throughout the slides.
Don’t for pitch deck
- Don't add too many slides. It should be under 15 – 20 slides, and if you need to add more information, then you can make an appendix.
- Don't make too many wordy presentations.
- It would be best if you did not have to give excessive financial information, although it can be provided in the follow-up.
- Don't include all the information in the slides themselves, as a personal presentation will give you more opportunity to highlight the information.
- Don’t give too many jargons which an investor may not understand.
- It would be best if you did not underestimate the competitor.
- Don't make your pitch out of date. Don't give the date on the front slide, which is several months old.
- Don’t add an old layout with a poor graphic and low-quality look. You can hire a graphic designer to make your pitch more interesting.
How can you make an ideal pitch deck for investors?
By Giving Company Overview
To make an effective presentation, you should have to add your company's overview. Summaries with 4-5 bullet points of your business. What is the problem, where it is located, their core traction, etc?
Company’s Vision
In this slide, you can just simply add your company's vision or mission. The vision can be the ultimate goal you think you could become, such as "we provide the best service just like urban clap".
Team Slide
The third slide should include team members. Many investors believe that the company’s team is the most important factor of a pitch deck which may include pictures, titles, summaries of prior employment of the team member that show their experience.
Slides Of The Problem And Solutions
The further slides should include the problem and its solutions. Do we need to start from the problem, like how huge is the problem? Why is it important?
Now the solution section comes in. This section should articulate the proposed solution and why it is better than others. The deck should be coordinated with product slides of the pitch deck.
Product Slides
In this slide, you should have to explain everything about your company's product or service, along with some examples of why the product is so unique. The slide should also mention the key features of the product, why users buy the product, what are product milestones, etc.
It would be good if you managed to add some visuals such as images and videos of products without a lengthy explanation.
Slide On Market Opportunities
Investors are always looking for a bigger opportunity. They give everything to invest in big opportunities with the large addressable market.
You also need to define the market and include some graphs that show that your company will address the large market.
Customer Slides
In this slide, usually, mentioned logos. If the firm already has some customers, it would be more powerful and credible for the pitch deck. Usually, this slide is made for presenting logos that show the bond between company and customer.
Technology Slide
Well, the investors are more interested in the underlying technology. This slide of the pitch deck includes basic technical information and why technology will be superior?
Competition Slide
Competitors are always a concern for investors, so giving short information about the main competitors is important. You have to be prepared for all the questions that investors will ask of competitors, and if somehow you don't know about the competition, then the investors may conclude not to invest in your firm.
The Marketing Plan Slides
No matter how good your startup and your product are, if you don't have a good marketing strategy, you will not be able to succeed in your business, and investors may not be particularly interested in investing in your firm. The Slides include the key channels to promote a company or its products, what early success you have, and many more.
Conclusion
Now, after discussing a lot on investors' pitch deck, we conclude that a great investors pitch deck can make obtaining financing for your firm much more likely. But one thing that you need to keep in your mind is that the story is compelling and interesting, and you have to add slides that your investors are looking for and with more visuals.
