If you're an entrepreneur, you'll know how difficult it is to pitch an idea to investors and seek Funding. We've pulled together a list of the top 10 things your startup pitch deck must have to help you get Funding for your project.
What is a pitch deck?
A pitch deck is a visual tool to communicate your company's product or service and its value to investors. It's intended to be concise and easy to digest so that an investor can quickly understand what you're doing and why it's unique.
Problem
When you're putting together your pitch deck, one of the most important things to do is identify the problems your target market faces and how your company aims to solve those problems. If your business idea doesn't solve an actual problem, what's the point?
Start with storytelling from the very beginning. It's even better if you have a story about this problem. Use it to hook your audience. You can also tell your audience about your situation.
Include data that supports how many people are experiencing this problem, how much it costs them in time or money, and why the problem is so essential for them to solve.
Solution
Your solution statement should follow up on your problem statement and expand upon how you plan to solve it. This section could include details about how you plan to solve the problem and why your solution will work better than others currently available.
Make sure to include information on how your product or service will solve those problems for your market.In designing a solution, your goal is to provide one that is simple enough for everyone to understand but specific enough so they can see how it will benefit them personally.
Product
If you are a product-based startup, then take your product to the investors. Give them a chance to see your product in person. Sometimes, the presentation is more important than the pitch itself. Create some samples or models of your product, so they can use it and get to know it well. If you still need to develop a product or if it's still in development, don't worry. Investors will still be interested in what you're doing as long as they can see progress from where you started.
Marketing Opportunity
Investors are deeply interested in knowing how big the target market is, so they can assess the potential return they might see on their investment. Highlight your value proposition—why your product is better than others for solving this problem—and show why it's unique. Cover your competitors and highlight how your product differs from theirs. Include a timeline of market growth, showing how the industry or market has developed and grown over time.
An excellent way to do this is to include a chart or graph showing market size and growth over time and the number of competitors in the space. This will help investors understand how big the market opportunity is for your product.
Competitors
Competition is one of the essential elements to include in a pitch deck. Knowing your competitors helps you understand your business better. Since every competitor's action can directly impact your success and survival, study them closely. If you don't know them well, you haven't done a proper market study. Investors won't invest in a startup that doesn't know its competitors inside-out. So include detailed information about your competitors in your pitch deck.
Investors might think your business isn't viable if there is no competition. If you don't have any competitors, it's a good idea to explain why this is the case. If there are competitors, but they don't threaten you, then include information about them anyway. It will show investors how much work you've done on your business.
Business model
Explain how you plan to make money. Investors want to see that you have a solid strategy to monetize your product, attracting and retaining users. If you plan on using a freemium model, flat up-front fee, or free trial and monthly subscription, explain why this will attract users. Investors also want to see that you're familiar with pricing tiers and can price your product accordingly.
If your product is free, explain how you plan to monetize it. If you plan to sell advertising space, include information about the ad network you're using and its pricing tiers. Include any other revenue streams in mind, such as marketing data or premium features (if applicable).
Traction
Project a future growth path for your company by considering the current market situation. It could be anything in terms of profit, revenue, sales, awards, and so on. If you are a startup already existing, then you should describe your future growth trajectory in the pitch deck. You can also point out the benchmarks you have achieved or the milestones you have reached. This encourages investors and makes them feel less reluctant to invest their money.
The pitch deck should also include a financial projection of your company. You can use the revenue model you created in the previous step to show how much money you expect to make over time. This will help convince investors that your startup has the potential for growth and return on investment.
Leadership Team
Investors place a lot of value on the team behind a business. Without a dedicated, skilled, experienced, and intelligent team to execute it, there's no such thing as a great idea. Introduce the people leading your startup and what makes them qualified to achieve your vision. Add biographies and photos of your co-founders, key employees, and strategic partners to your company profile. Show examples of your team's relevant experience to demonstrate why it's the right one to tackle your project.
You can also use the description to highlight your team's achievements like awards won or projects completed. This can be helpful when trying to attract investors who prefer startups with a track record of success.
Financials
If you're building something new, you and your investors will have to make educated guesses about how much Funding you'll need. There are ways to provide meaningful data in this situation. It is wise to back up your projections with customer counts, conversion metrics, and average sales. Your mission is to demonstrate the financial health of your business to investors. Share any initial funding that indicates that others are confident in your project.
Ask: Funding round details.
Let investors know the level of investment you're looking for. Present this level as a range to make it more understandable. Explain how you will use the Funding to achieve specific outcomes. You'll also let investors know how much equity in your venture they will get in exchange for their investment and when and how you expect to pay back the investment.
A pitch deck is the foundation of any business plan. Having a solid pitch deck can make or break the endeavor. While it may be tempting to throw together a simple PowerPoint, this isn't enough in most cases. Before you get your idea across to others, you must understand it yourself. If that means building a prototype or mock-up of your product, then do so. The more prepared and confident you are, the easier the process will go for everyone.
