How to Get Your Pitch Deck Noticed By Potential Investors
Want to Wow Investors? Want Your Investor Pitch Deck to Stand Out When Angel Investors and Venture Capitalists are Scanning for Potential Investments?
Startup entrepreneurs always have great ideas and a good business plan to share with potential investors. That is when the need for a good pitch deck arises. However, these pitch decks are often not well put together enough to grab the potential investors’ attention. Common mistakes include:
- Poor readability – lettering size that is too small,
- Slides that are too short, or too long,
- Slides that are not catchy, with long paragraphs on each slide.
These things can hurt your pitch and diminish your chances of getting funded. Here at CoachKelvin.com, we will share resources on how to get your pitch deck noticed.
What is an Investor Pitch Deck?
When entrepreneurs seek funding for their start-up or great business idea, they have to prepare a pitch deck to present their company and product or solution to a business angel or venture capital firm (VC). The pitch, typically a 10-powerpoint slide presentation, showcases your company’s products, technology, and team to potential investors.
Here is a free pitch deck template from Coach Kelvin to get you started.
Do You Know Your Audience?
Before you send your pitch to an investor, evaluate what you know about them. Do they invest in the same industry as you? For example, if your company designs t-shirts, look for an investor that invests in fashion design or retail. That increases the likelihood of the target investor being interested in your business venture.
Now, assume the scenario stays the same, but the investor’s focus is on pharmaceuticals. If you target that investor, it is unlikely you will get funded. It is not a reflection on your pitch but more of a misalignment between your investor and your business, especially if your target investor is not familiar with the retail world. You could have the best killer pitch deck in the world and send it to the top 25 investors, but none of them would express interest if your pitch does not align with their core focus.
- Who are Business Angels and Venture Capital Investors?
- What Do I Need to Do Before Contacting Investors?
- What are the best ways to approach Angel Investors and Venture Capital Firms?
Grab the Investors’ Attention!
Capture the investors’ attention with the first slide. Intrigue them to keep paying attention to what you will present.
Airbnb’s pitch deck is a perfect example. Their template is structured to capture the investors’ attention with a catchy quote. It clearly states the company’s vision and is straight to the point. It is easy to understand.
Set the tone. Be very clear. Get straight to the point while you’re pitching. Keep the attention on you. Do not overdo it by overemphasizing points, but have enough detail to showcase your business idea’s value.
It’s Story Time!
As you go through your slides, briefly give the investors a feel for who you are. Show your personality. Don’t hide your ambition or your passion for your business.
Tell a story about a problem you encountered when you were younger. Share how your product could have solved the problem or made your solution better if it existed then.
Incorporate a little humor to keep them engaged in your pitch.
There is a Problem. Can You Solve It?
Address the elephant in the room. There are pain points in the industry you want to tap into, and your product is supposed to make things better.
Focus on the solutions you are bringing to the table with your product or service. Do not be a know it all, and do not focus solely on the competitors’ shortcomings, which will only turn off investors. You can show some of the good things your competitors are doing, but emphasize how you will do it better.
What is Your Product or Service?
Explain what your product or service is. Describe what it comprises. Is it environmentally friendly? Would it be safe for children? How durable is this product? How long is its life span? Is there a warranty? What is the cost of making it?
Ensure you include why your service is different from other services. Do you have a rewards program? How about your focus on customer service? Emphasize how it is quick but excellent and reliable.
When talking about your product, do not forget to mention the size of the market and market opportunity. Prove to the investors that your product or service is ahead of your competitors. Let them know you have the best “bear trap” and how it is more efficient than your competitors.
Do You Know What Your Strengths Are?
Investors want to know the good things you have to offer or what you do or did for your company. Strengths can be a degree, experience, or a great marketing strategy. It can be the revenue that is already coming in.
It can also be your management team. If you have a strong team, bringing your team with you is an excellent way for investors to know not only who you are but the people that form your team.
When presenting the management team slide, have the team speak up. Let them tell the investors who they are and what they do for the startup. Investors will be able to better ascertain your company’s potential by seeing firsthand your team’s strength.
If It Doesn’t Make Money, It Doesn't Make Sense.
Read my article to learn more about Seed Funding, Series Funding and Mezzanine Financing
Financials will determine if investors want to invest in you. Here, you have to show your business’s key metrics, market share, and business model. If these numbers are spot on, the potential investors will be interested. They need to believe they can get their money back and make a good return. It is all about making money.
Put together some projections involving your business, even if you are an early-stage startup and don’t have them yet. It supports your credibility, shows you know what you are doing, and demonstrates your business understanding. Investors like to speak their first language, “money.” They want to see if you understand it too. Investors will decide if they’re going to invest in you when you run through your business model. The key question they ask themselves is, “Can I make money off this, or will I lose money?”
You must be able to demonstrate that together, you will make a profit.
Pitch Deck Templates and Design
Not every entrepreneur is a great writer that can whip together a presentable pitch deck with all the right information to show investors.
Pitch deck templates are guidelines that help an entrepreneur present the company’s story in a proper structure that is professional and appropriate.
So, how do you build a killer pitch deck?
Make sure the slide layouts follow the 10/20/30 rule. The pitch deck design needs to hold the investor’s attention when you present it. You do not want too little on your slides, but you don’t need long, wordy paragraphs on them either.
Highlight key points on your slides for the investor to look at while you are presenting. You want them to be more focused on you than on what you have written in your presentation.
Remember! You are presenting your pitch deck. Your pitch deck is not presenting you.
With so many templates available online, you can view the pitch deck templates of startups who became big businesses like Airbnb, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
10 Steps to create a killer pitch deck
- Set up your document
- Create a visual style
- The overview
- The problem your product/service solves
- What your product is
- Your team
- Market opportunity
- Your marketing strategy
- Business model
- Financial summary
Be Unique
Once you have your required information, you have two choices: Follow the instructions down to the last detail, or think out of the box.
If you take the things you learn from this and build your unique pitch, this increases your chances of obtaining funding. Investors would pay more attention to a non-traditional approach that grabs their attention and paints your startup’s picture differently from other entrepreneurs.
Don’t limit yourself. Go through youtube videos, surf the internet. Talk to anyone you know in related fields. Get whatever information you need to a killer pitch deck that will get you noticed by investors.
More importantly, be yourself. Be authentic. Believe in the solution that your product or service offers. We will help with the rest – the advice, solutions, and knowledge on the other resources you will need to build your killer pitch deck, get noticed by potential investors, and take you to the next level in your journey as a startup entrepreneur.
