How to Create a Pitch
See our 1-step guide below....
1. Open with a solid introduction
The first step towards creating an effective investor pitch deck is to introduce the purpose of your presentation deck. While you may leave the ultimate objective of seeking funds for a later slide, you can start by stating the basic agenda of the presentation or the investment level (Seed, Series A, etc) at which you are seeking funding.
The name and logo of your company should be displayed here, along with the date when you are showcasing the investor pitch deck. Be extremely careful to update this as it is a given that you will be pitching to multiple investors over several months.
In case you have had a prior startup or have been associated with a Company the target investor may identify with, be sure to mention it on this slide.
2. Identify the problem
Whenever entrepreneurs come up with a successful idea for a startup, their product or service is almost always solving an existing problem in the market. Introduce the pain point that your tech company is solving such that the investor can understand and recognize as being a problem worth solving which in turn will engage them with your product or service.
Merely stating the problem may not do justice. So, you can supplement your case with graphs, infographics, screenshots, videos. Use these visual tools as a means to validate your claim for identifying a specific problem persisting in the market, as highlighted in your investor pitch deck.
This slide is extremely crucial when it comes to engaging the investors. The problem must be presented in a way that the investor agrees or identifies it as indeed being a problem worth solving.
Remember, the aim is to generate funds for your product or service and the investor needs to see the value in investing in your venture.
3. Suggest solutions
Your next slide should highlight the solution to the problem earlier stated. This is crucial to gain the confidence of the investors as it will reiterate that you have come to them with a plan.
It is also crucial in that it will act as a precursor to your product or service and lay the ground for introducing what you have to offer in your investor pitch deck. The solution will need to be very concise and clear, and possibly scalable.
It should prove the time-worthiness of your product or service and highlight how it is different or evolved as compared to existing solutions in the market.
4. Describe your product or service
This slide of your investor pitch deck should carry details of your product or service. It can either be the actual working model or snapshots of the demo created by you.
In case you have existing clients, you may want to mention their names or include testimonials from them.
The description of your product or service needs to highlight how it distinguishes itself from other existing startups or is an upgrade over them.
The description should impart confidence to the investors about the uniqueness and effectiveness of your product in solving the problem it is set out to solve.
5. Describe the target market
This slide should elaborate on the categories of customers your product or service will cater to. It is crucial to have an in-depth analysis of your target market on the basis of various relevant parameters.
This will help define the relevancy of your product in a particular market segment. Doing this will also help to gauge how scalable your product or service is in the long run.
Also, it helps prove how well-researched and detailed your understanding of your product or service is. However, it is also important that you indeed research your target market and explore all the possibilities of your product being relevant.
If needed, do a dipstick study before including it in your investor pitch deck to better understand the viewpoint of your target audience.
6. Describe your competitors
It might sound idealistic to forget about what the world is doing and do what you feel is right. In business, this strategy often backfires. This step and slide are crucial as part of your investor pitch deck to make your investors understand where you stand in the market, and how your product or service fares as compared to other players.
Studying who your competitors are and what they are doing will also help you to devise a better strategy. This will prove to the investor that your product or service is a result of a thorough analysis of the market and the competition.
7. Describe your business model
When it comes to tech businesses, this slide is what the investors will look at with utmost scrutiny, so be sure that your business model is well-defined and structured.
Think of all possible avenues of impact on your business and accordingly devise and present the business model in your investor pitch deck. So, if you’re a SaaS startup looking at freemium models or if you’re looking at a one-time license fee or monthly subscriptions, be sure to mention your revenue generation model.
At times it is also advised to include an exit strategy as part of the presentation because ultimately the investors are only considering their ROI.
You may be apprehensive in thinking that an exit strategy may suggest that you are not sure of the success of your product or service, but contrarily it works in favor of suggesting that you are not making castles in the wind and have a clear strategy in case things don’t work as estimated.
8. Highlight your USP
If your product or service is very niche, it is a USP in its own right. However, if you are launching a product or service in competition with an existing market, your USP is what will help in marketing your offering.
It is important to explain to the investor about how your core offerings are unique and how this is relevant to and caters to the target market as identified by you.
9. Introduce your team
This may seem obvious, but several entrepreneurs get so caught up in getting their investor pitch deck right that they often miss out on introducing who and what goes behind their offered product or service.
In this slide, you should introduce each of the major contributors and a brief background of their professional history. Highlight only the points that will help establish trust with your team, without going too much into details of their history.
10. Specify your finances
While this can come last, it is the most important slide of your investor pitch deck. Specify the range within which you need financing from investors.
While you may be extremely specific with your demand, research has shown that it helps in showcasing a range of amount from minimum to maximum that you need for your company.
This helps you reach out to a wide range of investors who can invest a suitable amount within the investment bracket.
1. Open with a solid introduction
The first step towards creating an effective investor pitch deck is to introduce the purpose of your presentation deck. While you may leave the ultimate objective of seeking funds for a later slide, you can start by stating the basic agenda of the presentation or the investment level (Seed, Series A, etc) at which you are seeking funding.
The name and logo of your company should be displayed here, along with the date when you are showcasing the investor pitch deck. Be extremely careful to update this as it is a given that you will be pitching to multiple investors over several months.
In case you have had a prior startup or have been associated with a Company the target investor may identify with, be sure to mention it on this slide.
2. Identify the problem
Whenever entrepreneurs come up with a successful idea for a startup, their product or service is almost always solving an existing problem in the market. Introduce the pain point that your tech company is solving such that the investor can understand and recognize as being a problem worth solving which in turn will engage them with your product or service.
Merely stating the problem may not do justice. So, you can supplement your case with graphs, infographics, screenshots, videos. Use these visual tools as a means to validate your claim for identifying a specific problem persisting in the market, as highlighted in your investor pitch deck.
This slide is extremely crucial when it comes to engaging the investors. The problem must be presented in a way that the investor agrees or identifies it as indeed being a problem worth solving.
Remember, the aim is to generate funds for your product or service and the investor needs to see the value in investing in your venture.
3. Suggest solutions
Your next slide should highlight the solution to the problem earlier stated. This is crucial to gain the confidence of the investors as it will reiterate that you have come to them with a plan.
It is also crucial in that it will act as a precursor to your product or service and lay the ground for introducing what you have to offer in your investor pitch deck. The solution will need to be very concise and clear, and possibly scalable.
It should prove the time-worthiness of your product or service and highlight how it is different or evolved as compared to existing solutions in the market.
4. Describe your product or service
This slide of your investor pitch deck should carry details of your product or service. It can either be the actual working model or snapshots of the demo created by you.
In case you have existing clients, you may want to mention their names or include testimonials from them.
The description of your product or service needs to highlight how it distinguishes itself from other existing startups or is an upgrade over them.
The description should impart confidence to the investors about the uniqueness and effectiveness of your product in solving the problem it is set out to solve.
5. Describe the target market
This slide should elaborate on the categories of customers your product or service will cater to. It is crucial to have an in-depth analysis of your target market on the basis of various relevant parameters.
This will help define the relevancy of your product in a particular market segment. Doing this will also help to gauge how scalable your product or service is in the long run.
Also, it helps prove how well-researched and detailed your understanding of your product or service is. However, it is also important that you indeed research your target market and explore all the possibilities of your product being relevant.
If needed, do a dipstick study before including it in your investor pitch deck to better understand the viewpoint of your target audience.
6. Describe your competitors
It might sound idealistic to forget about what the world is doing and do what you feel is right. In business, this strategy often backfires. This step and slide are crucial as part of your investor pitch deck to make your investors understand where you stand in the market, and how your product or service fares as compared to other players.
Studying who your competitors are and what they are doing will also help you to devise a better strategy. This will prove to the investor that your product or service is a result of a thorough analysis of the market and the competition.
7. Describe your business model
When it comes to tech businesses, this slide is what the investors will look at with utmost scrutiny, so be sure that your business model is well-defined and structured.
Think of all possible avenues of impact on your business and accordingly devise and present the business model in your investor pitch deck. So, if you’re a SaaS startup looking at freemium models or if you’re looking at a one-time license fee or monthly subscriptions, be sure to mention your revenue generation model.
At times it is also advised to include an exit strategy as part of the presentation because ultimately the investors are only considering their ROI.
You may be apprehensive in thinking that an exit strategy may suggest that you are not sure of the success of your product or service, but contrarily it works in favor of suggesting that you are not making castles in the wind and have a clear strategy in case things don’t work as estimated.
8. Highlight your USP
If your product or service is very niche, it is a USP in its own right. However, if you are launching a product or service in competition with an existing market, your USP is what will help in marketing your offering.
It is important to explain to the investor about how your core offerings are unique and how this is relevant to and caters to the target market as identified by you.
9. Introduce your team
This may seem obvious, but several entrepreneurs get so caught up in getting their investor pitch deck right that they often miss out on introducing who and what goes behind their offered product or service.
In this slide, you should introduce each of the major contributors and a brief background of their professional history. Highlight only the points that will help establish trust with your team, without going too much into details of their history.
10. Specify your finances
While this can come last, it is the most important slide of your investor pitch deck. Specify the range within which you need financing from investors.
While you may be extremely specific with your demand, research has shown that it helps in showcasing a range of amount from minimum to maximum that you need for your company.
This helps you reach out to a wide range of investors who can invest a suitable amount within the investment bracket.