Make Your Startup Stand Out in the Crowd

When creating your pitch deck, the goal should be to stand out in the crowd. Why should investors put money into your startup? What makes your business special?

To succeed, you must find a way to hook investors right from the start of your presentation. Tell a compelling story. Make sure that your message is clear. Be persuasive.

It’s important for your audience to understand who your customer is and how you’re solving their pain points.

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Be Prepared to Face Challenges

A pitch deck is meant to help persuade investors to invest in a startup, but founders should be prepared to face challenges.

Investors will naturally have questions or concerns, but it’s important to make sure that they do not take control of the narrative when presenting your deck.

Investors are going to look for ways to disprove your business model. They want to make sure that they’re making a sound investment. Be prepared to address their concerns. Angels and Venture Capital firms only invest in a small percentage of the companies they evaluate.

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Pitch for Investors

Founders often make the mistake of creating their pitch deck without keeping the investor in mind. Whether you’re using a startup investor platform or pitching to a room full of investors, it is important to create your deck and presentation while keeping the investor in mind.

Investors only have a limited amount of time. Don’t waste it. Get straight to the point, and don’t share too much information. Keep your slides as simple and straightforward as possible.

Be prepared. Lack of preparation demonstrates that you’re not serious about raising funds or growing your startup.

Don’t overdo it when it comes to follow-ups. Avoid emailing investors repeatedly or being too pushy.

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Cover the Most Important Points

Mastering your pitch deck means learning how to cover all the important information without going overboard. You don’t want to overwhelm your audience, but you also don’t want to overlook key information.

First and most importantly, your presentation should explain who your startup is and what you do. Don’t forget to include your logo and tagline into the mix. Contact information should also be provided as well as your website address so that investors can do their own research.

Be sure to also briefly cover your:

• Vision: Your startup’s purpose; your vision for the world and reason for launching your brand.
• Customer pain point: What pain point(s) will your product address? Is the problem worth solving? Do you have data to back up your claims?
• Solution: Introduce your product/service as a solution to the problem. Be specific without going into too much technical detail.
• Demo: Show investors how your product or service works. This can be done through screenshots or even physical demos if possible.
• Business model: How does your startup generate revenue and make a profit? What pricing options do you offer? Share the specific metrics you need to break even or hit your cash flow goals.
• Demand: How profitable is your market? How much demand is there? How many people can you reach, and how many are likely to buy? The greater the demand, the greater the chance of securing investors and raising the funds you need.
• Competition: How much market share do your competitors hold? What makes your startup unique? What is your unique selling point?
• Traction: Discuss key metrics, revenue, growth, and customer testimonials to demonstrate traction. Investors want to see that your business model is working.
• Your plan: Show investors what stage you’re in and where you’re headed with your startup.
• Team members: Share information about key members and founders. Investors want to see that you have a solid team behind your startup.

Mastering your pitch deck is important if you want to raise funds for your startup. Just remember to keep things as brief as possible without leaving out key important data.