Over the last few weeks, I’ve had a few conversations with entrepreneurs looking to raise funds. It seems the prevailing feeling is that "winter is coming."
Apart from the obvious need to have a compelling set of numbers to show traction, I've seen a lack of 'narrative' and flow in the pitch decks I've reviewed. The story you tell about your company is almost more valuable than the numbers. Almost. I shared some key points and a simple template in each one of those conversations so I thought I'd share here.
First, I’ll share some general feedback (mainly aesthetics) and a template with a suggested flow for your pitch deck. Many thanks to Hiten Shah for some feedback (and the suggestion on the basic flow) on my deck a while back.
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Only make one point/slide: provide the reader/listener a takeaway from each slide.
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Maintain consistency with your font type, it makes for a more professional look/feel (and the sad truth is that investors feel if you’re sloppy with stuff this little you probably will be with their money)
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Ideally maintain icons or images (not a combination of both) in your presentation. It's Another example of consistency/professionalism.
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Don’t fill the slides with text, you can support your simple clean deck with a one-page summary where you include the text you left off the deck. I suggest a one-pager because folk don’t like to read.
All these points above suggest you should simplify your deck, I promise it'll help you as no one (most especially investors) wants to work hard to understand what you’re selling. Click the image below for a slideshow.
- Slide 1 = PAIN that customers are feeling
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Slide 2 = SOLUTION you provide
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Slide 3 = TRACTION you’ve seen getting your product out
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Slide 4 = TEAM that’s helped you get the traction
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Slide 5 = PRODUCT can be excluded if you’ve covered in slide 2
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Slide 6= GO-TO-MARKET the nitty gritty of how you’re getting customers
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Slide 7 = Total Addressable Market and MARKET SIZE
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Slide 8 = FINANCIALS. Keep financials simple. Expenses should be higher than revenue to start with and stay higher for a while, that is the case with most businesses. Show that you know what it takes, financially, to build this business (which also shows you understand business generally). You can make the assumptions slide for your financials a separate one. (tweet @Seyi_Fab if you want a template)
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Slide 9 = COMPETITION and why you are better than they are or what you do differently
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Slide 10 = WHY YOU ARE BETTER if you didn't cover in slide 9 and the 'future'.
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Slide 11 = ASK how much do you need?
This only works if you have a business worth investing in and you are prepared to go down the path of building a venture scale business (a binary decision between huge success and shutting shop). Be intellectually honest with yourself about whether venture backing is right for your business.
Remember, there is a lot of success between failure and Facebook.
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