22 winning techniques for creating presentation materials revealed by 9 entrepreneurs who have successfully raised funds and VCs

Kim Taylor, founder and CEO of Cluster, a recruitment site for engineers, recommends creating three types of pitch decks.

Specifically, there are three types: a simplified version sent in advance, a face-to-face presentation version, and a follow-up version sent at a later date.

3. Always check before sending confidential information

Taylor cautions against including financial information in the pitch deck you show to investors for the first time, saying, “Don’t just blindly send confidential information to investors without doing your homework.” He also recommends DocSend for secure document sharing.

4. Visually express your brand identity

When creating a pitch deck, ideally you should have a firm vision of what kind of brand you want to create and be able to visually express that brand, says a children’s clothing brand. Christina Carbonell is the co-founder of Primary, a company that works with

Carbonell said that many of the pitch decks he’s seen are “poorly designed, generic, or lacking in personality.”

Taylor advises that you carefully design your title slide, rather than choosing it on a whim. This is because “first impressions are important!”

5. Don’t include too much information

Keep your pitch deck concise.

The pitch deck template provided by Sequoia Capital was used by several of the entrepreneurs featured in this article. The slides are 10 slides long, with only one important point written on each slide.

Taylor uses author Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 rule as a reference, and says he keeps his pitch deck to 10 slides, presentations within 20 minutes, and font size at least 30 points. .

The biggest mistake entrepreneurs make when creating a pitch deck is being anxious, says Russ Heddleston, co-founder of DocSend, a secure file sharing platform. )is. He is so afraid that people will think that he is not qualified for the job that he ends up explaining things in unnecessary detail and adding technical details, making it difficult to understand what he wants to say.

Heddleston personally examines pitch decks sent by startups and introduces them to VCs, but he says that he often declines pitch decks because the content doesn’t make sense.

“I have no idea what kind of business this is,” says Heddleston. “I don’t know why blockchain would come up in a dog-walking service. That’s not the kind of entrepreneur I want to meet.”

6. Don’t forget the story

A pitch deck conveys the most important points about a company, not every detail.

According to Galyn Bernard, who co-founded the children’s clothing brand Primary with Carbonell, a pitch deck must “tell a story and help investors understand the direction of the business.”

The numbers and indicators that are important to different investors differ, so it is important to understand them first. “Putting all the numbers into a pitch deck doesn’t tell the story very well, and it distracts investors from the things they should be focusing on,” Bernard says.

Jen Rubio, co-founder of travel brand Away, says entrepreneurs should “describe this huge opportunity and focus on how to approach it.” He advises and adds the following.

“If you don’t narrow down your theme, you won’t be able to properly convey your purpose or your unique strengths.”

DocSend has analyzed thousands of pitch decks sent to investors through its platform over the years and says there is a common sequence to successful pitch decks. The recommended order is below.

• Business purpose:What is the reason for the company’s existence? Some startups include this in their title slide.
• assignment:What challenges is your startup tackling?
• why now?: Explain to investors why they should invest now.
• solution:Explain how to solve the problem.
• market size: Clarify the market you will enter and its size.
• product:Explain what kind of things you are making. Make sure everything in this section ties into the solution.
• Traction (growth potential):Show evidence that your idea will be successful.
• competitors: Present the competition and point out what makes your company unique. Keep this section brief.
• Team composition:Explain how the expertise of key members contributes to the business.
• business model: Explain how to increase sales as simply as possible.
• Financial information: Some startups omit this item. If included, state cash flow, profit and loss, etc.
• Funding target amount: State the amount you want to raise, the amount you have already raised, and how it will be used (planned).

7. Create it with the intention of presenting it to your parents.

“Create a pitch deck as if you were going to present it to your parents,” Carbonell says, is one of the most helpful pieces of advice she’s ever received.

Your parents want you to succeed, so a little bragging rights are nothing to be afraid of. It’s also important to “add some background information,” since your parents may not have as much expertise as you do.

Carbonell says that by creating the pitch deck with this in mind, he realized that there were insufficient expressions.

8. 1 point per slide

When creating a pitch deck for an in-person meeting, resist the urge to cram all the information onto slides.

Megan O’Connor, co-founder of tutoring platform Clark, says, “Each slide should have one clear, coherent point, with short supporting explanations. ” he advises. Because if she’s giving an oral presentation, she doesn’t “need to put all the same content on slides.”

According to DocSend’s analysis, pitch decks sent to investors that lead to funding are often less than 50 words per slide. The only exception is the slides introducing key members, which are often over 80 words long.

9. Introducing your team in one slide

“In the early stages of a startup, VCs invest in people (or teams), not companies. They have to convince investors that they are the only ones who can accomplish their mission. ‘ says O’Connor.

O’Connor recommends introducing the main members, including their work history. In your presentation, it would be a good idea to tell a story as a leader leading the members.

10. Include your business and relevant background

“People are more likely to remember you if you tell them a story and explain the background and motivation behind your business,” says Taylor. If your personal background or work experience is relevant to your startup, include it in your pitch deck.

Taylor himself grew up in Wisconsin, a state that is a center for advanced manufacturing, so he mentions that in his presentations when pitching Cluster, a job site for engineers.

11. Show challenges and solutions

Andrew Parker, founder and CEO of senior care startup Papa, says that at the beginning of his pitch deck, he presented investors with a specific problem that Papa was trying to solve. .

Visualize challenges using relevant data such as market costs and show Papa’s business opportunities. For example, “There are 50 million seniors in the United States, and social isolation costs them $70 billion annually.”

“Dealing with loneliness and isolation is costly, and at first glance you can see that it’s a hugely costly challenge,” Parker says.

In his presentation, Parker outlined how Papa plans to tackle this challenge.

12. Don’t forget to tell them what your company does.

It’s all so obvious. But Primary’s two founders say some people get so focused on the details that they forget to communicate the company’s purpose.

“I think sometimes we get so wrapped up in what we do and the products and services we offer that we forget to mention it,” Bernard says.

13. Create a grand vision and concrete actions

His advice is to incorporate two points into your pitch deck: “A grand vision of where the company is heading and why this initiative is important, and a narrow action plan that will ensure that this one thing is accomplished.” , MacLeod from the matching service Hinge.

When promoting Hinge, MacLeod emphasized its global vision of changing dating culture, while also touting the growing acceptance of its dating app.

14. Describe the market situation and competition

Avoid mentioning competitive information. Not understanding the market situation. These are common pitch deck mistakes, says Anu Duggal, founding partner at Female Founders Fund, which invests in early-stage tech companies run by female entrepreneurs.

“It’s great to have an interesting idea or to find a business with potential, but when we’re considering investing, we want to know more than that. What kind of companies are entering the market? I want to know,” Dougal says.

15. Explain why now is the best time

Carbonell says it’s not enough to just state the problem and the solution; it’s also important to answer the question “why now?”

“You’ll be more successful in persuading investors if you can not only say you have a good idea, but also explain why now is the time to implement it and why it hasn’t been done before,” Carbonell says. speaks.

Masha Drokova, general partner at early-stage investor Day One Ventures, advises:

“The pitch deck is a place to highlight the company’s significance and the entrepreneur’s ability to execute, but at Day One Ventures, we also use the pitch deck to assess communication and PR skills. It can also help you grow your business, increase your valuation, and hire top talent.”

16. Provide cost per customer acquisition

According to O’Connor, investors are always concerned about cost per acquisition (CAC). “We need to gradually lower the cost per customer acquisition,” says O’Connor. “It would be better if we could at least show a plan for how we are going to achieve this while expanding our business.”

17. Show data as much as possible to give credibility.

In the early years of a company, “there may be a lack of data that truly reflects the company’s performance,” says Steph Korey, former CEO of travel goods brand Away. In that case, other metrics can be used instead, such as qualitative evaluations obtained from initial research.

“Even if you don’t have the data to prove it yet, there are other ways to demonstrate your drive to build a business and drive toward success,” Corey says.

18. Clarify how the proceeds will be used

Investors want to know how their invested funds will be used.

“It’s not enough to just tell investors you’re starting a company. You need to be more specific and explain the major expenses the business will require, such as the number of employees, office space, vendor contracts, and research and development. ‘ says O’Connor.

19. Explain the long-term business plan

Anu Duggal of Female Founders Fund says every pitch deck should include a five-year business plan.

20. Communicate payback period to investors

The period it takes for investors to recover their invested funds is called the “recovery period.”

“Investors invest in your company because they think they will eventually make a profit.In addition to clearly communicating how you plan to make a profit, you also need to know when that will happen. It would be nice to have a concrete timeline,” O’Connor said.

21. Fine-tune with investor feedback

After presenting to investors, Primary’s Carbonell and colleagues realized they needed to make their pitch deck simpler.

Carbonell revealed that “there were some points that I didn’t get across as well as I had hoped,” and he later revised his slides before presenting to another investor.

22. Leverage tools

There are many tools available to help you create a pitch deck that makes a good impression. Depending on your own design skills, you can make your pitch deck stand out by making use of a variety of services.

You’re probably familiar with basic software like Google Sheets, PowerPoint, and Keynote, but here are six online services that are even better.

All are free or offer free trials, and some offer optional design and technical support.

• DocSendPitch Deck Analyzer(free): Analyzes the user’s pitch deck based on pitch deck data that has successfully raised funds and suggests improvements.
• Slidebean($96 to $228 per year[approximately12000to29000yen]): AI automatically creates slides based on the user’s content.
• Canva($120 to $360 per year[approximately 15,000 to 46,000 yen]): Provides a set of tools for creating brand logos and marketing materials.
• Haiku Deck($120-360 per year): There are thousands of templates, and presentation materials can be connected and shared on any device.
• Pitch Deck($199 per year[approximately 25,000 yen]): A platform that allows you to measure viewer reactions to published pitch decks.
• Prezi($240 to $720 per year[approximately31000to92000yen]): Dynamic “Canvas” software that is more like a whiteboard than a slide.

Whichever tool you choose, make sure you’re prepared to make quick edits, move back and forth between slides without rushing, and have a smooth presentation.

Also, having a backup copy of your pitch deck on hand will protect you in case a technical glitch occurs.

*This article was first published on April 26, 2022.