Key takeaways:

1. Early-stage founders need to pay heed to the business performance along with the story
2. Be honest about the challenges and obstacles you overcame to get to where you are today
3. Talk about the unique advantage you and the team bring to solving the problem at scale

A pitch is a very powerful way to contextualize the problem and the opportunity that a startup is solving for. Pitch decks tell the story of the startup, the problem statement and its significance, the approach, and most importantly why this team is the right team to be backed by investors. Early-stage investing is a calculated process of weighing the risks of investing in businesses at the formative stages and supporting founding teams to embark on an accelerated growth trajectory. And a pitch deck needs to provide the necessary information for an investor to take this calculated decision on the potential opportunity for the business.

Typicaly, a pitch deck outlines the key elements of your business, including your product or service, target market, competitive advantage, and financial projections. All this information should be laid out in a simple and easy to digest format, that captures the attention of an investor. On average, a venture capital investor or private investor may see hundreds of startup pitches every year. And typically, an investor spends between 5-15 minutes to review the opportunity and conduct a quick assessment of the viability of the idea and the approach taken by the business. Given the short time span that potential businesses have to make an impression, a well-executed pitch deck has greater chances of getting a first meeting over a badly constructed pitch deck.

As with any material, there will be nuances that will need to be factored into the pitch and the story. We have put together a short guidebook with the key elements of a compelling pitch, safe in the knowledge that founders have not missed out on anything yet not made the document too tedious to go through (Which is likely to not be read at all!).

As a quick recap, here are a few tips for crafting a well-defined pitch deck:

• Keep it concise: Your pitch deck should ideally be no more than 20 slides, and each slide should contain only the most important information.
• Start with a strong introduction: The first few slides should grab the attention of your audience and clearly articulate the problem your business is solving.
• Clearly define your target market: It is important to show that you have a deep understanding of your customer and can effectively reach them as you scale.
• Explain your competitive advantage: Why is your product or service better than what is already on the market? How can this advantage be sustained over the long term?
• Provide financial projections: Investors will want to see that you have a clear plan for generating revenue and achieving profitability.

By following these tips, you will be well on your way to creating a pitch deck that captures investor interest and gets results. Good luck!