A pitch deck can make or break your entire company. Investors see hundreds to thousands of pitches a year, so how do you make yours stand out? Based on some of the top fundraising pitch decks, here are some steps.
Pitch design — how to make your pitch look super professional:
The first question is whether you’re designing your pitch deck yourself. It can seem daunting to consider all the graphs and logos that need to be designed, but you have options. Designing it yourself is by far the cheapest way to do it, and you decide exactly what you want there, but it is hard and takes a lot of time. There are different kinds of designers you can hire, such as independent contractors, big design houses, or pitch deck specialists, but these can cost thousands of dollars. Some independent contractors may not be overly familiar with the necessary slides for a pitch deck, but the more experienced your designers are, the more they cost. If you don’t have a lot of money to spend on this, it is best to do it yourself, but if you don’t have a lot of time, hire a professional.
The design should include a simple logo, and many charts and graphs. Displaying milestones on a timeline, competitors on an XY axis, and graphs is a better way to present data than just bullet points.
Useful link for finding great templates: 10 Pitch Deck Templates to Download
10–15 slides is the industry standard. Generally, seed presentations have less information to display, and thus are shorter. These decks need to sell the idea of the product more than anything else, especially because you don’t have all the numbers yet. Later rounds can be longer because you’ll have more data.
Here’s some examples of great pitch decks: 17 Essential Investor Presentation Ideas.
The necessary slides are fairly simple, and generally you won’t require much more than these:
Showcasing a team with diverse backgrounds and high qualifications is a perfect way to round out your pitch deck. Investors want to see that they can trust the people in charge.
Feel free to frame your team as “Experienced team with experience in working together and proven track record” / “Industry experts with strong tech background” / “Seasoned entrepreneurs with proven track record”
To sell a product or service, you need to sell the problem first. The beginning of your pitch should articulate first the problem, and then how your product is the solution.
Address all concerns immediately, while you still have your investors’ attention.
Describe your solution to the problem. Showcase the product, explain how it works, and demonstrate the value it provides.
Display it. Use a screenshot from your demo or wherever that makes it easier to imaging what the solution actually looks like
Convey that the market is ripe for your product. Talk about market size, market validation, and what your market strategy is.
Show how you make money, but don’t show too many revenue streams, as it can look like you’re not focused enough. Showcase whether or not the business model has been successful before now, through experiments or similar models.
Investors want to see how you’re positioning yourself in the market, and that you have a niche carved out for yourself. How are you going to be better than your competition, and who exactly is your competition? Who is a direct competitor, and who is an indirect competitor? Explaining how you’re better than your competitors is the most significant part of this analysis.
Investors want to see positive growth. Use graphs and charts to show trends moving in the right direction, such as monthly growth, monthly revenue, or number of customers. Display clear goals of how much money you need in order to progress to your goals. Show your financial projections and your expected timeline.
Overall, keeping the presentation neat and to the point while also presenting compelling data is the best way to reel in investors. Investors tend to be cautious, but they want to invest their money. All you need to do is convince them that you’re where their money belongs.
10 Pitch Deck Templates to Download — if you don’t have a good template
17 Essential Investor Presentations Ideas — Check out these successful pitch decks for inspiration!
Slides to put in your pitch deck
