Your investment pitch deck is a piece of content that needs to capture the imagination of investors and help persuade them to put money into your early-stage or growth business. A great deck builds a compelling narrative about your vision and plans, highlights investment history and needs, and explains what makes your business the one that will win.<\/p>\n
Before we leap into the sections of slides you should include in your pitch decks, we’re going to look at the key considerations for an awesome pitch deck.<\/p>\n
When it comes to investment pitch decks, one size doesn\u2019t fit all.<\/strong><\/p>\n Before creating your pitch deck, think carefully about the audience who will be viewing it. For example, will they understand your market opportunity and the pain points that your product or service solves? This will determine how much detail you\u2019ll need to go into when setting the scene. And the tone and content will differ for different audiences, for example, angel investors and more institutional investors. Just remember, this is a pitch deck, not a full business plan.<\/p>\n You may end up creating a master pitch deck that you then tailor a number of times to cater for the needs of different audiences and how they will receive the deck, so:<\/p>\n Use the right tone for your audience<\/strong><\/p>\n Determine the correct tone of voice for your product\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0your audience. This doesn\u2019t mean being dull. Let your personality shine through and demonstrate your creativity.<\/p>\n Keep it relatively short<\/strong><\/p>\n The average time spent reviewing an investment deck is just 3 minutes and 44 seconds, so try and keep your deck to no more than 15-20 pages. \u00a0And try to use visuals instead of pages filled with text so that it helps the reader understand the story you\u2019re telling. Take a look at some legendary\u00a0pitch\u00a0<\/a>decks<\/a>\u00a0from companies that went on to grow into giants if you could do with a little inspiration.<\/p>\n Sometimes founders also create a one-pager or \u2018executive summary\u2019. This really helps to capture the attention of the busiest investors.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what we recommend, but the order can depend on your story and USPs.<\/p>\n Include your company\u2019s name and who you are\/title.<\/p>\n Start the deck with one or two slides that sum-up the main highlights of your business. Imagine you only have a couple of slides to tell your story and emphasise the main points you\u2019d want to make. What is the purpose of the company?<\/p>\n What\u2019s broken\/not working at the moment? Explain why there\u2019s a market opportunity.<\/p>\n Who are your biggest competitors? How do you compare?<\/p>\n Highlight the\u00a0key\u00a0successes so far<\/em>, including milestones and\u00a0achievements<\/em>, such as sales, key hires and awards.<\/p>\n Describe how your product\/service answers the problems you described earlier. Detail how your solution is different to what\u2019s already out there. Explain any unique selling points (USPs). Why is your solution better? What\u2019s the competitive advantage?<\/p>\n Think particularly carefully on these slides \u2013 they will probably be the focal point of the pitch deck for many investors.<\/p>\n How much is the market currently worth? \u00a0Use realistic numbers and don\u2019t be tempted to inflate the market size.\u00a0 When you unleash your product\/service, how much of the market are you likely to take with your superior offering?<\/p>\n Include the total addressable market, also known as total available market or TAM, This is the revenue opportunity that\u2019s available for a given product, service, or solution. By calculating the TAM, investors can quickly understand the potential of an opportunity.<\/p>\n Make sure you highlight the value of your predicted slice of the pie and validate it with as much data as you have access to.<\/p>\n By the time your potential investors get to this section of the deck, they should be excited by your product and business model. You may not be ready to roll out your product\/service just yet, but it would be good to demonstrate that you\u2019ve thought about how you plan to sell it and start capturing market share: How are you going to acquire users? What will be the distribution channels?<\/p>\n Investors don\u2019t just invest in a product, they invest in the people in your team. Highlight the team\u2019s strengths \u2013 highlight previous successes on similar projects. Explain how passionate and dedicated the team are to making this thing succeed and soar above the rivals.<\/p>\n You might also want to include details of board members or significant backers.<\/p>\n If your business is fairly mature and already has created a track record for selling to customers, display these and talk about your expected business growth.<\/p>\n For early-stage businesses, it may be difficult to make accurate projections but be realistic.<\/p>\n Either way, outline how much you are raising and how you intend to use the capital. How much will it take to get to the various milestones along your anticipated roadmap?<\/p>\n (NDA) \u2013 Don\u2019t be tempted to include an NDA, as you\u2019ll end up irritating potential investors. Worse still, you may even attract ridicule that will detract from your pitch! Besides, the chances of someone stealing your idea are slim as it\u2019s all about execution.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Try running through the investment pitch deck with people you trust. Do they see issues with any of it? Does it all sound reasonable and sensible to them? Have they raised any unwanted questions? And is there a way to tweak the deck so that they probably won\u2019t come up in a pitch?<\/p>\n Is any part of the deck likely to be pounced upon by a sceptical potential investor? If so, address the issues.<\/p>\n Now, consider your first audience for the pitch deck and tailor a set especially for them and the way they\u2019ll receive it\/view it \u2013 see \u2018One size does not fit all\u2019 above.<\/p>\n Finally, once you\u2019re ready to send your pitch deck to your potential investors, remember to send it as a PDF. This is so that your presentation\u2019s \u2018locked\u2019 and can\u2019t be revised by the recipient.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve created a\u00a0pitch deck template<\/a>\u00a0to help get you started. Feel free to tailor to your own company\u2019s story and circumstances.<\/p>\n\n
What should a pitch deck include?<\/h2>\n
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Title slide<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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An overview\/summary that outlines the company\u2019s purpose<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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Explain the problem\/pain points your business solves<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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Compare the competition<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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Milestones and accomplishments<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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Sell your solution<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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Highlight the size of the market and explain the market opportunity<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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Outline your marketing strategy<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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Introduce your \u2018Dream Team\u2019<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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Go through the financials and projections \u2013 if applicable<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
What\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0to include in the deck<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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A non-disclosure agreement\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n
Test your deck on friends and advisors<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Pitch deck template<\/h3>\n