Definition:
A pitch deck is a brief presentation, often created using PowerPoint, Keynote or Prezi, used to provide your audience with a quick overview of your business plan. You will usually use your pitch deck during face-to-face or online meetings with potential investors, customers, partners, and co-founders.
Slides of a pitch deck include:
- Introduction: Who are you and why you’re here? Keep it short and sweet.
- Contact: Leave your contact details and let people know how to reach you quickly.
- Team: Show the people behind the idea and briefly describe their role.
- Investing: What is your planned budget? What kind of money are you looking for?
- Problem: What problem are you trying to solve? Is it really a problem?
- Business model: How are you planning to make money? Show a schedule when you expect revenues to pour in.
- Advantages: What makes your solution special? How are you different from others?
- Competition: What are the alternative solutions to the problem you are trying to solve?
- 5. Solution: Describe how are you planning to solve the problem.
- 8. Market: Know, or at least attempt to predict, the size of your target market.
- 6. Product: How does your product or service actually work? Show some examples.
- 7. Traction: Traction means having a measurable set of customers that serves to prove a potential.
Pitch Deck Do’s
1. Tell a story & engage people emotionally
Everyone loves to hear stories, even the investors. So tell an exciting story about your startup.
2. Limit each slide to expressing one idea
You want to keep your entire audience on the same page
3. Prepare to make a great first impression
First impressions are powerful. Believe it.
The first 2-3 minutes are the most important
4. Show the people behind your idea
Focus on a significant, relevant accomplishment for each person in a team that identifies that person as a winner
5. Keep a consistent look in presentation
Use the same font, size, colour and capitalization format across all slides of your investment pitch deck.
6. Know your metrics better than anyone
Traction speaks louder than words.
Pitch Deck Dont’s
1. Don’t use too many bullet Points
Limit the bullets. Too many bullet points will kill a presentation.
2. Don’t make it too long
Average entrepreneur pitch: 38 slides. Average VC attention span/cranial capacity: 10 slides. Do the math.
3. Don’t read word by word from your script.
You will sound like a robot and miss
the all-important eye contact with the audience.
4. Don’t create a text-rich, picture-poor presentation.
People cannot read and listen at the same time. Great visual inspire and engage people emotionally.
5. Don’t Come unprepared
Try to anticipate the kinds of questions they might have and be prepared with answers.
6. Don’t use small fonts
Always use a font large enough to be seen by all audience members. Use 32- to 44-point for titles and no smaller than 28-point for the text or bulleted items.
