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How do you create a persuasive compelling pitch deck?
To create a professional pitch deck, you'll need to distill your business down to its essence and include key information such as your company's history, mission, team members, financials, and more. Be sure to practice and clock your presentation beforehand so that you can deliver it confidently and with conviction.
The 15 questions you need to answer in your pitch to raise in 2024
Front page: Don't forget; name logo date and recipient company name and contact details. Might sound basic but there is nothing like a first impression.
1- Q: What are you offering and who is it for?
A: Start with your elevator pitch. preferably in one sentence. In one sentence, say what your product is, what it does and who it is for. Include your logo or a powerful image.
2 - Q: Introduction. What is your vision?
A: This is your introduction and executive summary page which convinces your audience to read on, and WHY NOW. Write max 5 bullet points about your company, the first things you want someone to know, that show how brilliant you are (expertise, partnerships, milestones or metrics achieved, ambition).
3 - Q: What is the problem you are solving? Who are you solving it for?
A: Outline here the problem you are solving. Map out your ideal customer. Talk about any professional or personal experience you have of the problem.
4 - Q: How you are solving the problem?
A: How are you solving that problem? How are you solving that pain point better than anyone else? What’s new and unique? What is different and gives you an unfair advantage? And make it real - show pictures or even include a demo.
5 - Q: What is your current traction?
A: Describe your current sales, any partnerships you have, any press coverage, any interest from big brands. Anything that shows that a lot of people are talking about you, like and want to use your product.
6 - Q: What is your revenue model?
A: How are you customers going to pay you? How do you make money? What are your gross per unit costs, revenue and profit. Is it scalable? Consider presenting this as a table.
7 - Q: What is the opportunity and market size?
A: Give numbers on your target market and be specific. Really focus on your target audience, rather than a global industry, or “mobile users” as whole.
8 - Q: Whats your ESG approach and KPIs?
A - Communicate your ESG narrative. Describe the Environmental (E), Social (S), and Governance (G) metrics that you are evaluating your KPIs and why. Explain how your ESG Approach supports the business. I.e easier to enter new markets or expand their operations in the existing? To read up on ESG and how to tackle it as a startup you can read up on it here.
9 - Q: What's the competition like? Who is the competition?
A: How is the problem currently being solved? Remember, competition is a good thing! And even if you don’t have direct competitors, the problem you are solving is still currently being solved in some, albeit sub-optimal, way. Include all of these here (direct & indirect). A table, quadrant or a matrix (price and quality) work best. You need to know your space inside out.
10 - Q: What are your financial projections?
A: Include here a table of financials with top line figures, for the next 3 years at least. Some prefer a growth curve, but make sure you are very clear on what it is you are showing and where the numbers are coming from.
11 - Q: Who and what competence do you have in your team?
A: Describe your superstars and why they are perfect for your business. Describe any gaps in the team or anyone you have lined up to join, pending your raise. Include any advisors that validate your business. Feel free to include photos, but they need to be high quality, and in the same style. They can be fun and show your personality, but make sure they are appropriate.
12 - Q: What is your route to market and growth strategy?
A: It’s not enough to show the size of your market, and the potential of your product. You need to explain your strategy around how you are going to reach your customers. How will they hear about you? How are you going to go from 10 to 10,000 customers, in the timeline you have set out? Consider including a table of your channels showing money spent on these channels, success rates and cost per user acquired (so far or anticipated). You need to show your business is scalable.
13 - Q: How much are you asking for and to what evaluation?
A: How much money are you raising? This slide may vary depending on who you are pitching to. Generally though you are pitching for investment. So this slide should include the amount you want to raise, your pre-money valuation, how much you have raised so far, and what your future plans are for raising and for an exit. You could do this as a timeline.
14 - Q: How will you use the investment?
A: Make sure you talk about what the funds raised would be spent on, so the investor knows what you will do with their money. Is it for investing in stock, expansion, internationalisation, doing marketing or hiring a team? A pie chart or a timeline here works well.
15 - Q: Routes to exits?
We see a trend that investors will expect entrepreneurs to have thought through their best suited funding path as well as potential exit scenarios, even at an early stage. Our experience is that the earlier that founders and investors discuss and align goals the better, as this enables them to strategically position and prepare the business effectively. It's about maximising value and what you can control, as much as possible.In an exit slide you can include potential exit scenarios and exit strategies (e.g. potential acquirers or strategic partners), and if applicable examples of relevant previous exits within your market to illustrate potential benchmarks. By including these elements you can show your understanding of the market and also how to create value for stakeholders.
A: potential routes to exits, potential acquirers and strategic partners to get you there. Adress exit scenarios and examples of relevant previous exits within your market to illustrate potential benchmarks. Support your arguments and insights wiith data to show your understanding of the market.
Create a professional pitch deck - putting it all together
- A well-crafted pitch deck is essential for convincing investors to invest in your startup
- An investor decks should be clear, concise, and visually appealing.
- Do your homework, practise your pitch beforehand and research the VC and persons you will pitch to
- Your pitch deck should include information listed above about your business model, market opportunity, competitive landscape, and team etc. Add other slides to the appendix and be prepared to present them should the question arise.
- Use stories and data to make your case and avoid using jargon.
- Ask for feedback after the pitch what ask what the VC has most if any concerns about.
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