Creating a Great Investor Pitch Deck by Startups Seeking Financing

Entrepreneurs and startups frequently prepare pitch deck to wow angel investors and venture capitalists. The process can be nerve-wracking when you don’t have the right presentation deck in place. However, you can hold potential investor’s attention long enough and demonstrate to them choosing you is a good investment.

On the other hand, an excellent presentation will never substitute the right product, but you need to have the two components to win the investors. Getting their funding will mean the difference between survival and failure for your startup. Thus, it would help if you had an impressive pitch deck to win the partnership you’re seeking.  

The article provides you with do’s and don’ts as well as the key slides in the investor pitch decks.

Do’s in the Investor’s Pitch Decks

1. Put the words Confidential and Proprietary. Copyright by (Business Name). All Rights Reserved on the left-hand side of the cover page.
2. Send the document in PDF format to the investors before the meeting. The document should have consistent font size, no grammatical errors, and all slides should have a header title style.
3. Provide adequate information that the investors should know, such as the market size, competitors, and financial projections. Don’t belittle or underestimate the competition. 
4. You can use images, and graphs to explain your data. Back up your information with accurate data to show the potential investors that you have more than an idea.

Don’ts in the Investor’s Pitch Deck

1. The pitch deck should not be more than 15-20 slides. Any other information should be provided as an appendix.
2. It would be best if you did not cover everything in your presentation. Additional information on financial details can be provided in the follow-up. Further, it will give you an opportunity for an in-person presentation. 
3. Avoid acronyms and jargon that is unfamiliar to the investor.
4. Avoid bad graphics, poor layout, or low quality. You may consider hiring a graphic designer to make your pitch deck more professional.

 Main Slides in an Investor Pitch Deck

As stated, your pitch deck should have 15-20 slides. Any other information should be provided in the appendix. The following are the key slides in your presentation.

1.    Company Overview

The slide should have 4-6 bullet points summarizing your business. It should state the problem in the market that your company is trying to solve, its location, the management team qualification, and experience as well as the present key traction. Invest time and effort on this page. It should be appealing and convincing. 

2.    Mission/Vision of the Company

Provide a summary of your company’s mission and vision. The vision is what you want the company to become or the desired future position of the company. Mission, on the other hand, defines the business, its objectives, and the approach it will use to reach these objectives. This slide should be your 15-second convincing elevator pitch.

3.    The Team

Investors are mostly interested in your team because they are the most important determinant of the success of your business and the reason for investing or not. Therefore, the slide should have a photo of the team members, their titles, and a summary of their qualifications, experience, and relevant expertise. You should also provide a list of consultants, advisors, and board members to bolster credibility. 

4.    The Problem

Clearly articulate the problem your startup is going to solve. You are expected to provide information like the size of the problem, why it is important, and your target.

5.    The Solution

Articulate the proposed solution to the problem you stated in the previous slide. Explain why your solution is the best than what is available in the market. This slide should be carefully coordinated with the next slide because they overlap.

6.    The Product

Define your product or service and states why it’s unique. You need to highlight the key features, why the users should care about it, major product milestones, key differentiated features, and additional product features that are you have planned.

7.    The Market Opportunity

It would be best if you realized that invest wants to invest in markets with huge opportunities. Therefore you should define this market clearly, and your market size. Provide a graph showing the size of the market you intend to address.

8.    The Customers

Showing your early customers will add credibility. Put logos of your well-known customers and partnerships.

9.    The Technology

Investors are interested in your underlying technology, both the present and what is undergoing development. Clearly state the basic technology backbone, intellectual property rights, and the reasons why it’s difficult for your competitors to replicate.

10. The Competition

Don’t tell your investor that you don’t have competitors because every environment has other rival companies with similar offerings. Therefore, provide a list of your competitors, your company’s competitive advantage, and differentiating features from these competitors.

11. Traction

Having early traction will be attractive. However, it’s not compulsory to have this slide. You can sprinkle the information in this part in other slides. If you choose to have it, include information like sales, website traffic, app downloads, testimonials, press, and accolades.

12. Business Model

Address how you make money, price model, long-term value, and customer acquisition and costs.

13. The Marketing Plan

You need to explain how you will market your product to your target market. Indicate whether you will use social media, billboards, newspapers, or TV. State your early successes that you have accrued from these channels. 

14. Financials

Provide your company’s current financial position and 3-5 year projections or forecasted cash flow. Include your cost of developing and market your products, total expenses, and revenues as well as key assumptions.

15. The Ask

Indicate the amount you are seeking in this slide. The length of financing, major milestones that you expect to reach with this financing, the use of the funds, and existing investors.

Conclusion

You are likely to obtain financing with a great investor pitch deck. Thus, make sure you have an excellent presentation that tells your story interestingly and convincingly. Make sure to provide the necessary information that investors want to hear.