Need to create slides for your pitch deck? Have a meeting with investors coming up soon? This is an exciting point in your business that could make or break your business. You want to make sure you put your best foot forward. There are so many factors regarding your business you can share during that meeting: sales, story of how you started, your teams’ accomplishments, features of your product etc. However, most pitches are time-limited, and you do not have time to share every detail about your business.
When preparing for you pitch, it is important to remember the pitch is not designed to raise money. The whole purpose of your pitch is to get the “second date”-that is, a follow-up meeting where your business will be discussed in greater detail. So, what should you focus on during your pitch? You do not want to overwhelm the investors by telling them your entire life story or everything about your business.
There are 12 essential slides to make an effective pitch deck.
Slide 1: Cover
This slide is also your opening or title slide. On this slide you want to make sure you
include: company name, company tagline, inviting picture that showcases your company’s brand, name,
contact information.
Entrepreneurs often overlook including their contact information on the cover slide of their pitch decks and instead place it on the final slide. However, it is advisable to have your contact information prominently displayed on the cover slide. This ensures that investors reviewing your deck can quickly access your contact details without having to search through the entire presentation. By placing your information on the cover slide, you make it easily retrievable and readily available to interested parties.
Example cover slide with a big picture representing the product/service and relevant information.
Slide 2: The Problem
The slide dedicated to the problem is of utmost importance as it establishes the foundation for the entire presentation. Its purpose is to not only engage the audience logically, but also evoke emotions. Ideally, the readers of your problem slide should be compelled to acknowledge the significance of the issue at hand, recognizing it as a substantial problem in need of an urgent solution. To effectively capture the attention of your audience, it is advisable to start this section with a story that introduces the problem. Storytelling has a powerful effect in combining both logical and emotional elements.
When constructing your problem slide, you have a couple of options: you can either enumerate the specific problems that your product or service addresses, or you can opt for a visual representation that vividly demonstrates the problem. You are encouraged to explore creative ways to illustrate the problem, allowing your audience to grasp its essence more effectively. However, it is important to focus on a select few problems that your product solves, rather than presenting an exhaustive list of issues.
Overall, the problem slide holds immense significance, and leveraging storytelling techniques, concise problem identification, and impactful visuals will greatly enhance its effectiveness.
Tip: When describing the problem make sure it is from the perspective of the buyer of your product/service. Not identifying who is experiencing the problem is something I see lacking in many pitches. If you have two types of beneficiaries of your product/service make sure you specify which one has the problem.
Click Here to Learn More About Storytelling Techniques
Slide 3: The Solution
The solution slide is where you address how your product/service solves each of the problems you mentioned previously. The solution slide is not the same as doing a demonstration of your product. You will do a demonstration next.
Slide 4: The Product
Do a product demo. However you choose to do your product demonstration remember the purpose is to show how your product or service works. You will need to show you have a working product. If you have patents, bring it with you to the meeting. If you have a physical prototype remember to bring it to the meeting as well. Some ideas for doing your demonstration:
- Show a video
- Do a live demonstration
- Hand out samples of your product
***Important Note State your value proposition when introducing your product/service.
I have come across numerous pitch presentations that lack a crucial element. Despite being aware of the importance of having a value proposition statement, many entrepreneurs overlook it. I have witnessed this gap in various pitch practices and competitions. Consequently, investors and the audience often struggle to grasp the exact product or service being offered by the entrepreneur.
Recently, I attended a pitch competition where multiple entrepreneurs presented their ideas to potential investors. One particular entrepreneur aimed to provide a solution for keeping young athletes hydrated during sports activities. Surprisingly, even after her pitch, the investors had to inquire about the specifics of her offering. If she had mentioned her value proposition upfront, the investors wouldn’t have needed to ask this question. If you have experienced similar inquiries after your pitch, likely, your value proposition is not clearly stated. It is crucial to mention it early on in your pitch, rather than leaving it until the middle or end. Investors and listeners are eager to understand your proposition quickly, as it helps them determine their interest in what you have to say.
A good template for creating your value proposition
- Our [Company Name] is [Product Category] for [target customer] that [key benefit].
- Example using this template
- Company Name is a software only orchestration platform that lets service providers and large enterprises create low-latency cloud infrastructure anywhere, at any scale, on any network.
Slide 5: Business Model
On this slide show how your company makes money. You do this by showing your pricing structure similar to the one below. Make sure you state exactly who will be paying you.
Slide 6: Traction
Show number of sales and/or users of your product and/or service. If you are pre-revenue, share feedback received from beta testers and potential customers who have experienced your product or service.
If you lack the elements mentioned above, it is advisable to refrain from seeking funding until you gather some information regarding the market reception of your product or service. The traction slide serves the purpose of demonstrating the existence of a market demand for what you are offering. Without being able to substantiate this, it becomes considerably challenging to convince investors to invest in your company, as they remain uncertain about the potential return on their investment.
Slide 7: Market Size
Tell how many potential customers are out there who will want to by your product. Discuss how you reach your target customers. Give specific numbers for how many people fit your customer descriptions. State what percentage of those people you expect to buy your product.
The objective of this slide is to provide evidence of a substantial customer base for your product or service. It is crucial to remember that investors are primarily concerned about how they can generate a return on their investment. Therefore, if there is an insufficient number of potential customers for your product or service, the revenue potential would be limited. Conversely, if there is a sizable market, the opportunity to generate significant profits becomes substantially higher.
TAM (Total Addressable Market) refers to the total market demand for a product or service.
SAM (Serviceable Addressable Market) represents the portion of TAM that a company can realistically target.
SOM (Served Available Market) is the specific segment of SAM that a company successfully reaches.
Slide 8: Milestones
The inclusion of a milestones slide in a pitch deck is not universally necessary for all companies. This slide serves as a timeline highlighting the achievements and growth your company has experienced. In the case of post-revenue companies, the milestones slide may not be essential. However, for pre-revenue companies, it becomes a valuable component as it demonstrates a clear roadmap for success and showcases progress towards generating revenue in the near future with the support of investment.
I have come across numerous pitch decks where startups, particularly pre-revenue ones, are seeking significant investment amounts, such as $500,000 or even more. In such cases, it is beneficial to utilize the milestones slide to exhibit the progress made thus far, leveraging personal funds, contributions from friends and family, and any previous fundraising efforts. This provides investors with a comprehensive overview of the strides you have already taken and instills confidence in your ability to utilize the forthcoming investment effectively.
Slide 9: Financial Projections
This slide should show your financial projections in a simplified form. You will show typically in a chart how much money you believe your company can make over the next 3-5 years. Investors will often request financial projections presented in the form of a spreadsheet. It serves as a tool to assess the potential impact of future events or decisions by providing a systematic calculation of the financial outcomes. For a deeper dive into financial modeling Click Here.
Slide 10: Competition
Show who your competitors are. Compare and contrast yourself with your competitors. Competition is inherent in every industry. Claiming that we have no competitors indicates a lack of thorough research and understanding. Investors expect us to have done our due diligence, and if we assert that there are no competitors, they may perceive it as a failure on our part to adequately assess the market landscape.
Slide 11: Team
The team slide serves as an opportunity to provide additional details about your qualifications, experience, and the composition of your team. It may also be appropriate to mention any advisors you have. The primary objective of this slide is to demonstrate that your team possesses the necessary capabilities to ensure the success of your product or service.
You might be curious about why this slide is placed at the end rather than being one of the initial slides in the deck. When starting the presentation, it is common to provide a brief introduction that includes your name, job title, and the names of any other presenters. However, delving into an extensive discussion of your experience should be avoided at the beginning. It is more effective to immediately address the purpose of the meeting, which revolves around the problem your product or service solves.
There is an exception to consider when it comes to incorporating team information at the beginning of the presentation. If you and your team have achieved exceptional past success, such as growing a previous company into a million-dollar enterprise, it may be advantageous to feature this accomplishment early on.
Slide 12: Funding Request and Use of Funds
On this slide state the size and type of investment you are looking for. List how you will spend the money and what it will help you to accomplish.
It is crucial to avoid overvaluing your company, as it can undermine your credibility and deter potential investors. An example of this would be requesting $500,000 in exchange for a mere 5% stake in your company, effectively valuing it at $10 million. Without demonstrating that your company is truly worth that amount or providing evidence of market validation through sales, investors may struggle to perceive you as a credible investment opportunity. It is essential to align your funding request with the current value of your company and the amount of capital required to reach the next significant milestone.
Closing
You may be thinking you want to end your pitch with a thank you
slide stating thank you for your time. However, this is not the best way to conclude a pitch. You are not
just grateful for the investors’ time you want them to invest. Therefore, it is better to end with a call to
action inviting the investor to join your company by investing.
Additional Resources
Click here for additional resources to assist in helping you to build a successful pitch and make sure you communicate effectively to secure the funding you deserve.
Hope you found this article helpful in preparing for your next pitch. If you need help with constructing
these slides listed above and designing your pitch, we would be happy to help. We will walk you through
the details of your pitch and write your content for you. Learn more about our pitch deck design services. CLICK HERE TO Schedule a free consultation to learn more
about how we help make sure you are prepared for pitch day to raise the funding your company
deserves.
If you are preparing a pitch deck for demo day, check out our blog demo day slides.