Writing a winning Pitch deck

If raising funds from angels is on your mind, you cannot ignore putting together a great pitch-deck. A pitch deck is generally the first piece of interaction with your potential investors and it will leave a long lasting impression only if it is well designed and articulated.

While some founders do a great job in putting the information together, some do not emphasize the information that matters. Which is why we believe that it makes sense to share a thorough guide to help you out before you reach your next potential investor.

The Pitch-deck should be prepared in the following format & must include 11 slides mentioned below:

Your First and foremost slide should clearly state the problem being addressed. Highlight the following:

1. The problem (that you are solving)
2. Its magnitude with your target group
3. Useful numbers or percentages to support your statement. e.g. 31% of the working millennials do not take care of their daily nutrition needs.

This slide is really important as it helps the potential investors to understand your scalability and vision for the startup.

The next slide should specify the solution being offered for the problem statement defined in the first slide. It’s important as it builds the context of why is your product/ service needed in the first place.

Mention the below things in particular:  

1. The outline of the product or the service
2. How is it going to solve the pain points (keep the text as limited as possible)

The next important slide is about the market opportunity and your target customers/ users. Just try to think as big as possible while researching your market opportunity. It gives a clarity to the investors on whether or you can scale or not.

The market opportunity slide should be followed by information about your business model. It should broadly cover the below aspects:

1. How will you make money?
2. Who will pay?
3. You can choose to cover a bit of mathematics here if you like.

While evaluating the opportunity at hand, these details are of huge significance to investors and analysts.

As this is one of the most important slides that gives relevant information on the market validation/ traction, pay extra attention to it. It is important because it clears the air around whether or not you have a sellable proposition proved by the numbers. A vast majority of angel investors and angel networks want to see a proven business model before seriously considering the opportunity. Make sure you have something to show here before approaching the investors, it helps.

Traction can be put together by using the following terms (pick whatever is relevant):

1. Users & Stickiness (total users, weekly active, monthly active etc.)
2. Financials: Revenue, sales, GMV, gross profit, EBITDA etc.
3. Growth: CAGR (Current annual growth rate), CLTV (Customer lifetime value), Virality etc.

Competitive landscapes are usually based on the research undertaken to find the competition. Make sure you compare the right metrics and horizons with competitors and have valid grounds to prove if asked. Include the competitive advantages that make you better than others.

This is probably one of the most important pieces that are often ignored by the founders. The investors want to know about the dark horses who are building the business. It’s important to mention the valid experience of the founders, their skin in the game and the strengths that impact building the business.

Last but not least, write about the amount that you are raising, the proposed allocation of raised money and cap table (if possible). You can also mention about your past fundraise in this slide.  

The last slide may specify the milestones achieved, media coverage, key partnerships and any other achievements.

The ending slide should specify the presenter’s name, designation and contact information. Include your Startup’s logo and tagline to glam it up.

• On the whole, the data added in each slide should be precise, that is, it should be explained in limited words and should not be cumbersome, so as to avoid confusion and complexities.
• Also, usage of pictures and visuals is highly recommended over a lot of text for better engagement.
• Ensure there are no flashy transitions, spilling colors and flying fonts packaged in your slide deck.

What are you going to include in your next pitch deck, let us know in the comments section.

– Team CAN