Pitch Matters2

THE PITCH DECK

YOUR INVESTMENT PITCH DECK CHECKLIST

Whether you’re a start-up business or looking to grow in size, when it comes to speaking with potential angel or venture capital investors, a “pitch deck” can be an invaluable asset. Typically, it is difficult and time-consuming to raise capital from investors. There are often also many other businesses vying for their attention. Therefore it’s important to create a compelling, inspiring and interesting story in your “pitch deck”.

HOW LONG SHOULD MY PITCH DECK BE?

Typically produced in PowerPoint as a presentation, a pitch deck normally includes around 15-20 slides. It should be brief but visionary, providing investors with a clear introduction and overview of your business, showcase your products/services, key USPs, your financials/what your monetisation strategy is, what makes your team so unique, how your business model works, plans for the future, and how you anticipate the investor being involved.

WHAT DO I NEED TO CONSIDER WITH MY PITCH DECK?

Often you will present your pitch deck as part of an initial meeting, whether face-to-face or over Zoom and similar platforms. Sometimes you may be required to send your pitch deck ahead of time, and therefore, it will need to do the talking on your behalf. It needs to grab the attention of your audience and get them to see what problem you are solving and why the world needs you, as well as what the market is like that you’re operating within.

Pitch Matters2

WHAT ARE INVESTORS LOOKING FOR WITH A PITCH DECK?

Investors care most about what money they will get back from investing in your business; therefore, the financials are going to be really important and will need you to put proper due diligence into them. Also important is showing what the Total Available Market (TAM) is, how much of the market you have the opportunity to access, and what this looks like in terms of return on investment. A growing, prospering industry with lots of space to win will be most enticing.

SOLVING THE PROBLEM...

In summarising, your pitch deck should clearly articulate the solution that you are providing, but also how this compares to that of your competitors. What traction or validation do you have over them? How can you make more money? What part of your business model is unique or compelling? Which KPIs do you work towards that will generate most sales?

...WITHOUT CREATING ONE

But don’t get stuck in the problem/solution dichotomy: if you are not solving a real problem, don’t just call it like that! You might very well taking advantage of an opportunity in the market, there’s nothing wrong with that! Just say what it is and don’t force your way into a standardised scenario (or you’ll end up looking ridiculous). 

At the same time don’t forget to cover all the bases: as well as showing how you make money, you also need to express what path you’re looking to take forward and what your future projections are. Why do you need investment and how will you use it? What’s in it for the investors?

GET IN TOUCH

Need more help still? At Matters2, we have put together a guidance document to work through when creating your pitch deck – you can download our Pitch Deck Structure here – or you can send us your deck for a free pitch deck review. But be advised: we tend to be brutally direct and upfront (hey, at least you’ll know the truth about your deck!).

Pitch Matters2

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
TO RECEIVE UPDATES ON NEW ARTICLES

Website's Newsletter Form
auction matters2

Who Decides Your Company’s Value?

In the past weeks we have established why valuations are helpful, when it makes sense to get your venture evaluated and what are the most common valuation methods for revenue generating companies…
Colour Matters

The Rocking Origins Of Crowdfunding

The first successful instance of a crowdfunding campaign was recorded in 1997 when Marillion, a British rock band, pioneered the internet business model used today when they funded their tour through online…
aaa/unconventional

aaa/unbranded

All you need is being unconventional! aaa/unbranded® stands for an unorthodox approach to life, for a different approach to beauty, body care and lifestyle through an unconventional take on perfumes and skincare.
Dilution Photo by form PxHere

The Dilutive Method

While the dilutive method does not provide a definitive valuation figure, it is an indispensable tool for early-stage companies seeking funding. By estimating the potential dilution that investors may require, founders can…
Stable Diffusion - a colourful yet serious stock market full of vitality Matters2

Market-Based Valuations

Many factors weigh on the valuation of a company, and for sure there are no two businesses alike. Furthermore, even similar companies find themselves at different stages of their lives when they…
Lehman Brothers in 1957

Lehman Scale

LEHMAN FORMULA So, let’s address the elephant in the room first: the Lehman Scale takes its name from the infamous Lehman Brothers that developed this method in the late 1960s to bring…
Investment Timeline Matters2

Investment Process

Closing an investment is something that could theoretically take less than a month, but this almost never happens. Normally six months is a good ballpark to start preparing your agenda, but what…

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
TO RECEIVE UPDATES ON NEW ARTICLES

Website's Newsletter Form
Karma Matters2

Karma Works

Everybody has a desire to accrue wealth – we…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.Required fields are marked *