Every startup needs a perfect pitch deck that will help attract potential investors and hold their attention long enough to explain your product, what it does and why it is worth their investment. For your fundraising dreams to come true, you will need to create a pitch deck that will secure funding for your startup and make the investors keen on being part of your startup journey.
Pitching your startup to investors can be daunting, and this article will help you understand the main elements involved in building a pitch deck.
Investors love to hear stories
How to think like an Investor?
Investors skim through many pitch decks, and your pitch deck must shine through. For that to happen, you need to change your perspective and fix your focus on how investors think. A founder focuses on the solution to a problem. Whereas an investor looks at the changing world at a macro level and where the change is creating opportunities.
Thinking like an investor will help you focus on critical elements of your pitch. It can add significant value to your pitch deck. Think about why the investors may or may not invest in your startup and the risks involved.
A Flawless Introduction
You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.— Andrew Grant.
Leadership plays a vital role in the success of your startup, and as a founder or co-founder, you need to make sure your introduction is flawless. Most investors think intuitively when it comes to investing in a startup. Any doubt about the founding team’s ability to deliver results could mean the investments are off the table.
As a founder, you must flawlessly present the team’s unique skill sets and areas of expertise. It adds to the credibility and makes the investors keener on investing in your startup.
Pitch Deck Inspiration
If it’s your first time building a pitch deck, you may be confused by the amount of information
deck. Understand how others craft their story and how they present their content and design.
Search for the winning pitch decks, preferably from the same fields as your startup and learn
from them.
Company’s Vision & Mission
Your company’s Vision statement should represent what you aim to achieve – your Vision,
and how you will go about it – your Mission. Remember that an excellent Vision statement
attracts investors as well as top talent.
Future Roadmap
Your company’s roadmap will show your potential investors how you want to grow in the future, a timeline with milestones that your company aims to achieve over time.
The roadmap will consist of a go-to-market strategy that will include a timeline that your team will commit to. You and the investors can track the set milestones together.
The roadmap should consist of the following sections:
Key Milestones: Proof of Concept, Prototype development, Testing, Product Marketability,
building an MVP, Product Soft launch, Budget allocation and more. Your results must be tied
to the milestones along the way.
Staffing: As the company grows, the headcount grows as well. Draw a plan on how the roles
and headcount will increase as you achieve product milestones.
Talk about your Product
Provide investors with an idea of your product. Explain how your product works and how it is different from the existing solutions in the market.
Talk about the X factor, your product’s unique selling points and how it is likely to succeed in the market and surpass its competitors.
Mention the technologies that will be used to develop the product. Show it with a proof of concept(POC), which will amp your fundraising journey. Read more about the Importance of Proof of Concept, Prototype and Minimum Viable Product In the Product Development Process.
The investment opportunity
The finale is the part where you let the investors know how much funding you’re looking to raise and how you will use the money.
Receive Feedback from Early Adopters
Finally, ensure that you get your pitch deck reviewed by founders who have successfully raised funds in the past. They will provide you valuable feedback and assist you towards making a perfect pitch deck. If you have a POC, prototype or MVP it is really helpful to get it reviewed by the early adopters. You will get feedback and reviews on how you can improve your product and implement change.
Conclusion
We hope this article will help you ace your pitch deck. If you’re someone looking to accelerate your startup journey. We help your startup accelerate its growth holistically and help you raise funds at an early stage. Join The GAIN. Contact us.