Pitch
Business ownership is not for the faint-hearted. Having a business means that at some point, you will have to meet potential investors like GhanaStartups.org to raise capital. For this big day, you will have to create a compelling startup investor pitch deck.
Sounds pretty nerve-wracking, right? After all, in that one meeting, you need to ensure that they see your vision and jump onboard with you.
This is exactly why you need to create a compelling pitch deck. A pitch deck is a tool that can help you get investment and take your startup to the next level.
Overview
• What is a startup’s investor pitch deck?
• What to include in your startup’s investor pitch deck?
• How to create a startup’s investor pitch deck: A 10-step guide
• Conclusion
WHAT IS A STARTUP'S INVESTOR PITCH DECK?
The startup investor pitch deck, also known as a pitch deck or slide deck, is a brief presentation that provides a quick overview of your business plan. You present your company to GHStartups.com Equity desk, showcasing your product, technology, and team.
The idea of making an impressive pitch deck is to get our Equity Team (and even potential investors, if applying elsewhere) excited about your product and vision. It is therefore important for you to know how to create a startup pitch deck. The aim of a pitch deck is not just to raise seed funding, but also to keep the conversation going and get the next investor meeting.
To achieve this, you should convey a compelling story through the pitch deck rather than just stating facts dully. Investors see dozens of pitches in a day, so you have to make yours memorable.
So, how do you make a winning investor pitch deck? See below...
WHAT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR STARTUP'S INVESTOR PITCH DECK?
Slides to include in your pitch deck:
• Company overview
First things first – you need to share an overview of your business. This is a detailed view of the structure of your registered business and what exactly your company does. Since this is the first slide, you need to grab the investors’ attention right from the get-go. The overview should be a good first step to convince the investors that your startup has the potential to grow big. Summarize the slide in 4-5 bullet points.
Next, explain the nature of the market and how your company can make an impact in that industry. Do not make it a long slide or give a verbose presentation. Consider it like an elevator pitch where you have to provide a detailed yet concise framework of your business.
• The Team
Next, you have to establish credibility, and you do this by talking about your team. Put up pictures of the key team members and their titles. When you talk about the team, give a summary of each team member’s work experience, domain expertise, and educational background. Note that, we like many other investors out there may/will never invest in a one-person team.
Apart from talking about their accomplishments, talk about what they bring to the table. If you have a team with diverse experience, highlight the same. This will give investors the confidence that your team can tackle various challenges.
• The problem & solution
One common question that every investor would have in mind is – what problems does your business solve? And that’s what the next slide has to convey. You need to explain why you created the product or service and how it benefits the target market.
Then, explain how your product solves the mentioned problems. This is where you can talk about the technology or science behind the product or service. This is an important stage of the pitch because this is when the investors can gauge the value of your product.
If the slide is getting too wordy, make two separate slides.
• The product
Up until now, you haven’t really mentioned your product/service clearly. So, now is the time to reveal it. Give your product a ‘grand entrance’. Instead of just writing or explaining what your product does, it would be a good idea to show them.
Make a demo video explaining what exactly the product is and how it works. This will give the investors a clear idea of your product. List the key differentiating features and how your product would benefit the customers.
You can even show the investors some of the significant product milestones. Explain what you have planned for the future in terms of product features or expansions.
• Competitors
No matter how good your product is, the investors will be interested in the competitive landscape. Tell them who your primary competitors are, the factors that give your product a competitive edge, and how exactly the product is different from the competitors.
You must be prepared to answer questions about your competitors. If you are unaware of your competition, it shows the investors that you are not familiar with the market. This would create a negative impression.
So, do as much research about the competition as you can.
• Market opportunity
Having a great product is not the end of the story. Even if the investors love your product, you need to show them why exactly your company is an excellent opportunity to invest in. This is the slide that will have all the key metrics.
Define the core market you are in and its size. Put up industry revenue numbers and how you address a large part of that market. Don’t just plop all the numbers on the slide. Make it visual – put them in the form of a pie-chart or a graph. It would be easier for investors to consume data in that manner.
You have to make this slide as accurate and clear as possible. For example, you can show how much the market is worth in terms of money. Give the investors a good idea of the market size. Based on that number, give an estimate of how much revenue you expect for a particular period.
• Marketing strategy
The next step is to give the investors an idea of how you plan to market your product to the target customers. Make bullet points of how you would approach marketing and explain each point in detail.
Talk about what channels you have used in the past and what your preliminary customer acquisition costs are. Did you promote heavily on social media, where did you advertise, how much did you spend on the same?
If you got some PR buzz in the past, don’t hesitate to mention it. Give investors a detailed summary of your marketing strategies. This will allow them to make informed decisions.
• Business model
Next, investors would like to know your business model. In simple words, this is where you explain how you will make money from your product or service. You need to show that you have a viable business model in place.
How are you pricing the product? What is the long-term value of the customer or the overall acquisition cost? These are the questions that you must answer in this slide.
If you cannot show that you have a profitable business, the chances of getting an investment are slim.
• Financials
Lastly, investors would want to know the company’s financial situation. Show them the current financials as well as financial projections for the next three to five years. Make sure you mention how much money you have raised in the past.
They would also like to know the burn rate. Burn rate is the cash loss your company will face while building the company and marketing the product. Based on those figures, you need to tell the investors how much investment you are seeking and how you plan to use that money.
Give as many details as possible and ensure that your projections and expectations are realistic.
One of the sure-shot ways of not getting an investment is by seeking an unrealistic amount of capital and not having a proper plan to spend it.
HOW TO CREATE A STARTUP'S INVESTOR PITCH
See our 10-step guide here.
CONCLUSION
There are plenty of resources available online to help you create a powerful and compelling pitch deck. However, it is important to understand how to present your startup to investors.
While creating the pitch deck, your focus should be on covering all the points that interest the investors. This is the only way of increasing your chances of getting funding from us (or them if applying elsewhere).
Good luck!
Sounds pretty nerve-wracking, right? After all, in that one meeting, you need to ensure that they see your vision and jump onboard with you.
This is exactly why you need to create a compelling pitch deck. A pitch deck is a tool that can help you get investment and take your startup to the next level.
Overview
• What is a startup’s investor pitch deck?
• What to include in your startup’s investor pitch deck?
• How to create a startup’s investor pitch deck: A 10-step guide
• Conclusion
WHAT IS A STARTUP'S INVESTOR PITCH DECK?
The startup investor pitch deck, also known as a pitch deck or slide deck, is a brief presentation that provides a quick overview of your business plan. You present your company to GHStartups.com Equity desk, showcasing your product, technology, and team.
The idea of making an impressive pitch deck is to get our Equity Team (and even potential investors, if applying elsewhere) excited about your product and vision. It is therefore important for you to know how to create a startup pitch deck. The aim of a pitch deck is not just to raise seed funding, but also to keep the conversation going and get the next investor meeting.
To achieve this, you should convey a compelling story through the pitch deck rather than just stating facts dully. Investors see dozens of pitches in a day, so you have to make yours memorable.
So, how do you make a winning investor pitch deck? See below...
WHAT TO INCLUDE IN YOUR STARTUP'S INVESTOR PITCH DECK?
Slides to include in your pitch deck:
• Company overview
First things first – you need to share an overview of your business. This is a detailed view of the structure of your registered business and what exactly your company does. Since this is the first slide, you need to grab the investors’ attention right from the get-go. The overview should be a good first step to convince the investors that your startup has the potential to grow big. Summarize the slide in 4-5 bullet points.
Next, explain the nature of the market and how your company can make an impact in that industry. Do not make it a long slide or give a verbose presentation. Consider it like an elevator pitch where you have to provide a detailed yet concise framework of your business.
• The Team
Next, you have to establish credibility, and you do this by talking about your team. Put up pictures of the key team members and their titles. When you talk about the team, give a summary of each team member’s work experience, domain expertise, and educational background. Note that, we like many other investors out there may/will never invest in a one-person team.
Apart from talking about their accomplishments, talk about what they bring to the table. If you have a team with diverse experience, highlight the same. This will give investors the confidence that your team can tackle various challenges.
• The problem & solution
One common question that every investor would have in mind is – what problems does your business solve? And that’s what the next slide has to convey. You need to explain why you created the product or service and how it benefits the target market.
Then, explain how your product solves the mentioned problems. This is where you can talk about the technology or science behind the product or service. This is an important stage of the pitch because this is when the investors can gauge the value of your product.
If the slide is getting too wordy, make two separate slides.
• The product
Up until now, you haven’t really mentioned your product/service clearly. So, now is the time to reveal it. Give your product a ‘grand entrance’. Instead of just writing or explaining what your product does, it would be a good idea to show them.
Make a demo video explaining what exactly the product is and how it works. This will give the investors a clear idea of your product. List the key differentiating features and how your product would benefit the customers.
You can even show the investors some of the significant product milestones. Explain what you have planned for the future in terms of product features or expansions.
• Competitors
No matter how good your product is, the investors will be interested in the competitive landscape. Tell them who your primary competitors are, the factors that give your product a competitive edge, and how exactly the product is different from the competitors.
You must be prepared to answer questions about your competitors. If you are unaware of your competition, it shows the investors that you are not familiar with the market. This would create a negative impression.
So, do as much research about the competition as you can.
• Market opportunity
Having a great product is not the end of the story. Even if the investors love your product, you need to show them why exactly your company is an excellent opportunity to invest in. This is the slide that will have all the key metrics.
Define the core market you are in and its size. Put up industry revenue numbers and how you address a large part of that market. Don’t just plop all the numbers on the slide. Make it visual – put them in the form of a pie-chart or a graph. It would be easier for investors to consume data in that manner.
You have to make this slide as accurate and clear as possible. For example, you can show how much the market is worth in terms of money. Give the investors a good idea of the market size. Based on that number, give an estimate of how much revenue you expect for a particular period.
• Marketing strategy
The next step is to give the investors an idea of how you plan to market your product to the target customers. Make bullet points of how you would approach marketing and explain each point in detail.
Talk about what channels you have used in the past and what your preliminary customer acquisition costs are. Did you promote heavily on social media, where did you advertise, how much did you spend on the same?
If you got some PR buzz in the past, don’t hesitate to mention it. Give investors a detailed summary of your marketing strategies. This will allow them to make informed decisions.
• Business model
Next, investors would like to know your business model. In simple words, this is where you explain how you will make money from your product or service. You need to show that you have a viable business model in place.
How are you pricing the product? What is the long-term value of the customer or the overall acquisition cost? These are the questions that you must answer in this slide.
If you cannot show that you have a profitable business, the chances of getting an investment are slim.
• Financials
Lastly, investors would want to know the company’s financial situation. Show them the current financials as well as financial projections for the next three to five years. Make sure you mention how much money you have raised in the past.
They would also like to know the burn rate. Burn rate is the cash loss your company will face while building the company and marketing the product. Based on those figures, you need to tell the investors how much investment you are seeking and how you plan to use that money.
Give as many details as possible and ensure that your projections and expectations are realistic.
One of the sure-shot ways of not getting an investment is by seeking an unrealistic amount of capital and not having a proper plan to spend it.
HOW TO CREATE A STARTUP'S INVESTOR PITCH
See our 10-step guide here.
CONCLUSION
There are plenty of resources available online to help you create a powerful and compelling pitch deck. However, it is important to understand how to present your startup to investors.
While creating the pitch deck, your focus should be on covering all the points that interest the investors. This is the only way of increasing your chances of getting funding from us (or them if applying elsewhere).
Good luck!