From a well-established company to a small tech startup, a good pitch deck is crucial for any company or startup that wants to raise funds from potential investors.
If you were an investor, what would you look for in a pitch?
In order to create a good pitch, you must start by stepping in the investor’s shoes. What would grab the investor’s attention and convince him to invest in your company? Brainstorming and listing out these points can help you in creating a good pitch deck.
A pitch deck is the first impression of your company for the investor. The topics you include in it should be chosen carefully so that the pitch includes all the major points while keeping it concise, easy to understand, and interesting. This article is to teach you to do just that!
What Makes A Good Pitch Deck?
In simple terms, a good pitch deck is a summarized but effective presentation of a company/idea which encourages a potential investor to invest in the company.
If you were an investor, what would you look for in a pitch?
In order to create a good pitch, you must start by stepping in the investor’s shoes. What would grab the investor’s attention and convince him to invest in your company? Brainstorming and listing out these points can help you in creating a good pitch deck.
A pitch deck is the first impression of your company for the investor. The topics you include in it should be chosen carefully so that the pitch includes all the major points while keeping it concise, easy to understand, and interesting. This article is to teach you to do just that!
After analyzing a lot of successful pitches which were able to grab the attention of the investors, we have listed out a blueprint to create a perfect pitch deck for fundraising.
Blueprint For a Successful Pitch Deck
Here is a blueprint to create a perfect pitch deck for fundraising:
1. Show Gratitude
“The deepest principle of human nature is a craving to be appreciated.”
William James
Expressing your gratitude towards someone spontaneously builds a connection and strengthens the bond. And that is what your want to do with an investor. It is key to building a long-term relationship and mutual cooperation.
When you make the investors feel valued and important, most likely they will value your idea too and care to listen to you. Having a sense of gratitude towards your listeners for giving their time is a perfect way to start your pitch by setting a good mood.
And although this may sound obvious most pitches miss it and lose a precious opportunity to connect with the investors.
2. Codify The Mission
Now that you have set a good mood, you can now give a quick overview of why you do the work you do.
This part is the summary of 3-5 sentences that sums up your company’s whos, whats, wheres, hows, and whys. Basically, you summarize your company in such a way that it creates a hook.
A point to remember while starting your work is that the investor may or may not have prior involvement in your field of work. You should explain it in a way that you would to a friend over brunch.
3. State The Problem
“Solve a real problem and the world is yours”
Aaron Patzer (Founder of Mint)
After explaining the mission of your organization, you should show an overview of the challenges that are solved by your organization and make it as relatable as possible.
Investors are more likely to invest in your company if they can somewhat relate to it and believe that those are some real problems you are solving!
The other thing to remember here is to give a perspicuous explanation about the problem without any complicated jargon. If you offer a questionable or disagreeable statement, the investors can be instantly hesitant to invest in your company. Also, it reflects that you have not properly understood your field of work. Hence, it’s better to include verifiable and straightforward claims in this part of your pitch.
4. State The Solution
Moving on to the solution, you can now mention some core functionalities of your business and how it solves the problem you previously stated.
The wording of your solution can also play a major role! Instead of saying “My company can give you XYZ services…”, you can state the solution as “Imagine having XYZ service…”. The latter statement is better as it makes the listener realize how your service can make their life easier while the former statement just states your solution as a feature.
Besides explaining the solution, the product demo is a critical part of your pitch to support your claims. However, in a live demo, if the product fails, the pitch can go in vain. So, be careful with this double-edged sword!
An alternative way to show your product demo can be through creative videos.
Whatever way you choose to present the demo, it should be appealing and make the investors go “WOW!”.
It’s good that you are solving a real problem, but why should the listener invest in your company? The next topic deals with exactly that.
5. Give A Reason To Invest
The goal of all the investors is to get profit out of their investments. If you can convince the investor that you are going to make them rich, half of your work is done!
A clever thing you can do is to research your potential investor beforehand and target the points which are likely to convince the investor. You can research their previous investments, their likings, their priorities and tailor your pitch accordingly.
There is no better way to make them believe this than through facts and figures, which takes us to our next points.
6. Talk About The Market
You can start this section of your pitch by stating your target market i.e., who is your ideal customer? Consequently, explain the market size for your product as well as the opportunity in the market and make the investors realize that they should not miss that opportunity.
You can give specific numbers on how big your company can get and the Total Addressable Market (TAM). Pay attention to not giving false market information. There can be an investor who knows about the market and everything you present can go south due to that one mistake. On the contrary, if you pull this off with proper knowledge and facts about the market, it can increase your trustworthiness.
Now that they realize that there is a huge opportunity, they should know how we make our money, which brings us to the next topic!
7. Lay Out The Business Model
A business model is a company’s core strategy for profitably doing business. All successful companies are successful, thanks to their good business models.
This can be a make-or-break factor for your pitch. So, you should clearly outline how you are making the money so that the investor truly believes that the company will make profits. It can include your product price, margin per product, your revenue source/s, and how you intend to sell your product in the market. You can also mention the strategies that you have planned out while keeping it simple without including any complicated projections.
A company may have a good business model but there probably are some competitors in the market which brings us to the next point.
8. Talk About The Competition
In this part, you must explain who your competitors are in the market and why a customer would pick you over them.
This is the perfect time to present the uniqueness of your organization and show how it stands apart from other similar companies/services in the market.
You should be able to explain why and how your company has an upper edge over the other companies involved in the market. This includes unique strategies, patents you have, or other ideas which can turn the tide in the market.
Growth is a result of making plans and achieving them. So, investors would be interested in listening to your future plans. This brings us to the next point.
9. Showcase Future Plans
It is important to have future plans for any company. As a presenter, you should be able to communicate to the investors about future plans for the company.
A key factor to remember here is that you have to show your firm belief and confidence in the plans for the investors to believe in you.
You can support your future target claims by showing your company’s position at the current time and explaining why the projections/plans are justifiable.
The main goal of this part of the pitch is to make the investors believe that you can figure out ways and are committed to growing the company.
10. Highlight The Team
“Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people”
Steve Jobs
A good team is a foundation for the success of any business. In this part of the pitch, you are going to present your core team members and why you all are the best people to do this job.
A popular combination of core team members is the hustler-hacker-hipster trio. Here, the hustler is the CEO and is a go-getter and can sell the company and keep investors excited. A hacker is a CTO who can lead product development. A hipster is the CDO who can build the brand through designs and marketing.
The main goal of this part of the pitch is to make the investors believe that their investment is in good hands and these people can carry the company through thick and thin.
11. Show Traction or Validation
For the cherry top, if your company is making revenue and is growing, it is evidence that your idea is working! In this part, you would include the milestones that you have reached and the trust you have gained in the market.
If your company is growing, you can include charts to show the growing trend of users/sales. If you have got positive feedback, high SEO rankings, pr coverage, awards, or basically anything that shows that your company is working, you should include it in this slide.
This part of the pitch adds credibility to your company and could play a pivotal role in making the investor want to invest in your company.
12. Make The Ask
Finally! It’s time for you to ask. Make a fair ask and seal the deal!
It is always advisable to be specific about the amount you are asking and where you will be using that amount. This shows that you have done your research and have actual plans to elevate your business.
Using a simple pie chart can be an effective way to show in which sectors the funds will be utilized, how it will help the company grow, and what targets can be reached with those funds.
In Conclusion
There you go! These are the guidelines to follow in order to create a perfect pitch deck, get those investments in, and take your companies/ideas to the next level!