Most startups do not fund themselves and raising money from investors is challenging and requires a great pitch deck, even for the experienced founders. Therefore, it is important that a new venture perfectly nails its investor pitch deck and expresses an interesting and compelling story.
Here are several ways that successful fundraisers use their pitch deck to capture the investor’s attention:
Get Intro
Many capital investors often want to ‘discover’ deals, but not getting pitched a deal by the startup founder. Ensure you seek out a direct intro to investors. One of the best ways of capturing the attention of active investors is by using quality referrals. When asking for intros, give the person a brief email ‘blurb’ for them to use. Ensure the blurb has a single call to action or link. The single link to your startup allows people to pass along the pitch and all your important company information with a single URL.
Once a potential investor clicks on your link, they access the pitch and the message you have crafted for them online in a powerful and dynamic environment than just a PPT attachment.
More Story, Less Info
Bullets and data on a pitch deck do not sway potential investors. What takes a pitch deck from good to great is definitely the story you tell. The story should be able to properly engage the imagination of potential investors. All great pitch decks have a ‘meta story’ which is emergent from your overall pitch.
Regularly Update Your Pitch Deck
Successful entrepreneurs who are good at fundraising treat pitch decks like the most important piece of advert or content that they’ll ever write. If you are using your deck successfully, you will find out that it reflects a rapid growth of your startup
Ensure you also spend time pitching potential investors in person to get feedback and learn how to improve your pitch.
PDF Your Pitch Deck
Do not leave yourself only to the formatting pitfalls of the PowerPoint. Turn your PowerPoint pitch deck into a PDF. This ensures that potential investors see the pitch deck the way you intended and designed it. A PDF also ensures your deck displays well in an online equity.
Do’s and Don’ts For Pitch Decks
A lot of startups often make a number of unnecessary mistakes when creating their pitch decks. Here is a roundup of do’s and don’ts you should know:
Do’s
- Convince the investor why the market opportunity is huge
- Have a demo of your product for a compelling presentation
- Tell an interesting and compelling story
- Include visually intriguing images graphics
- Use a consistent color, header, and font size throughout the slides
Don’ts
- Don’t have a lot of wordy slides
- Don’t make your deck more than 20 slides
- Don’t state excessive financial details
- Don’t cover everything in your pitch deck
- Don’t have unappealing layout and bad graphics
- Don’t have the pitch deck look outdated
Conclusion
A great deck can overcome the challenges of obtaining financing for your startup. However, for it to be successful, you need to ensure the story is interesting and compelling. You must also address the crucial topics that potential investors expect to read.
For more information about making great pitch decks, visit www.pitchbook.in.