We all have an entrepreneur in us, but only 5% achieve success in the journey of being entrepreneur, 95% new startup fails in first five years. One of the major factors in the success of a startup is initial funding and to get funds the startup needs a perfect pitch deck that makes investors think about your startup in terms of investment.
A perfect pitch deck should have a maximum of 10 slides and the presentation should not take more than 20 minutes. Your presentation should have a font size of 30 which gives a clear understanding to the person who is given you his precious time to learn about your startup idea.
before making your presentation you should keep following things in mind
Understand Your Audience
Understanding your audience will be the first step towards a successful presentation. Your audience might have the following characteristics
- Limited time for your pitch
- Looking at several pitches every day
- Looking for opportunities by finding clues of successful businesses
Therefore, Your pitch deck should aim to offer those clues, by answering the most important questions an investor has.
Ten slides -
1. Vision and value proposition - This is a quick one-sentence overview of your business and the value that you provide to your customers. Keep it short and simple.
2. Problem and Opportunity- Describe the problem you want to solve through your startup idea. and business opportunities by solving the same problem.
3. Define your solution - Clearly, illustrate how your business will provide the right solution and why this is awesome for your customer.
4. Why Now or The Right Time - Tell your investors that why this is the right time to start a business for solving the problem you identified
5. Market potential - Clearly identify your customer segment and the associated market size to it.
Generally, there are two approaches to find your total addressable market:
- Top-down: Start from an existing market from which you expect to take a piece
- Bottom-up: Start from possible clients willing to spend a certain amount on your product
6. Competition Analysis - Include a good overview of who your direct competitors are, what the adjacent markets are, who the possible entrants are, and what the possible substitutes are. Also clearly define in your pitch deck where you differ from others and why you should win this competitive battle.
7. Business model and strategy -This section is all about explaining why you are potentially running a hugely profitable business.
Start off by answering the following questions:
- How have you acquired customers in the future?
- What will be your customer acquisition costs?
- What are your conversion rates?
- Strategy to reach your target customers
- Competitive price for your product/ Services
- What are your customer loyalty programs
8. The Team -Investors are looking for the right team to execute. Include bullets on previous achievements and complementary skills to strengthen your point. Make sure your dedication towards the startup is playing the most important role while discussing with investors.
9. Finance Management and Strategy - Investors will expect to see your financials: sales forecast, income statement (also called profit and loss statement), and cash flow forecast for at least three years. Also, keep in mind that you should not have a detailed balance sheet in your presentation.
10. Exit strategy - If you are raising money from investors, you’ll need to show them how you plan on giving them a return. You do this in the form of an “exit strategy” slide that outlines who your potential acquirers might be if you manage to grow your company and be successful.
So, prepare your pitch deck today as per the above steps and present it to various investors with confidence and belief in your startup.
" IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE YOUR IDEA, THEN NO ONE ELSE WILL"