Deck your pitch with slides to impress

We’ve all been there: sitting in on a presentation where all the presenter does is read line after eye-wateringly miniscule line of text off overly cluttered PowerPoint slides. Perhaps we’ve even been guilty of such design heresy ourselves. When the future of your nascent startup is at stake, however, one sloppily assembled slide presentation can prove fatal. The slides you use to pitch potential investors (i.e. the pitch deck) are quite literally your best – and in many cases only – shot at obtaining the funds you so desperately need.

While snappy design can never hope to be a substitute for true substance, a well-designed pitch deck can help to communicate concepts, clarify details and cut to the core of what really matters. With that in mind, here are a few essential dos and don’ts to ensure that you’ll always be pitching with a full deck.

DOS

• Construct a powerful narrative around your product. The classic problem-solution dichotomy never fails, provided you articulate it clearly and concisely. It also wouldn’t hurt to inject a sizeable dose of passion and commitment into the mix.
• Make use of visual aids. Charts, illustrations and photos epitomise the mantra of ‘show, don’t tell’, and your deck will be all the more compact with their presence. Pictures are worth a thousand words, after all.
• Include a short demo, or at least screenshots of your product. This reassures investors that you’ve already done some work rather than coasting along with merely an idea.
• Limit your deck to about 10-15 slides. Any longer and you risk losing the attention of the investors.
• Look at previous examples of successful pitch decks. These will give you a clearer idea of what to include and how to grab investors’ eyeballs.

DON’TS

• Oversell your product’s prospects. Investors love the smell of opportunity, but not to the point where they’ll be fooled by weakly supported claims of massive profit.
• Use out-of-date figures or statistics. Investors will expect you to be apprised of the latest developments in your chosen field, and the same applies twice over for data reflecting your own progress.
• Annoy investors with huge chunks of text and/or reading off slides. These are elementary mistakes made by hapless students, not visionary founders of groundbreaking startups.

Pitch deck essentials

So what does one actually include in a pitch deck? Opinions vary on some of the outlying details, but there is remarkable consensus on a core set of information you cannot do without. The following outline contains the slides that investors will most certainly be looking out for during your pitch, arranged helpfully to attain maximum flow.

1. Company Purpose – Your mission and vision. Keep this slide short and punchy
2. Team – Introduce your key personnel and their track records
3. Problem – What problem are you trying to solve?
4. Solution – How your product or business solves the problem
5. Opportunity – Why the iron is hot and investors should strike now
6. Target market & distribution – Define your target consumers
7. Total addressable market – Show how you calculate the market
8. Product – Key features and the all-important demo
9. Business Model – How you’re going to make people give up their hard-earned money
10. Competition – A perceptual map on how you are positioned compared to your rivals
11. (a) Seed & above: Traction – What progress you’ve already made
    (b) Preseed: 5-year plan – Include strategic plans for your startup
12. Fund usage – How much are you raising? What will the funds be spent on?
13. Exit strategy – Identify companies that may be interested in acquiring you in the future

To top it all off, our trusty designer has also put together a pitch deck template based on this outline, which you can download for free below. Let us know if you have any comments on how we can improve on our first pitch deck template!

Bring your A-game

Want to test out your new and improved pitch decks? We have just the avenue for you. Tech in Asia Tokyo 2017 is coming up on September 27-28, and our wildly popular Startup-Investor Speed Dating sessions will be making a comeback! Here’s where you can pitch directly to participating investors of your choice – over 50 to choose from!

To qualify for Speed Dating, simply purchase a Startup Pass (USD147). Alternatively, a special Startup Exhibitor Booth Package is also available at USD397, and is inclusive of two exhibitor passes and a one-day booth at the Bootstrap Alley exhibition.

What’s more, if you purchase now, you will be eligible for a 20 percent discount on all passes and exhibitor packages! Just key in the promo code ‘tiatokyo20’ (till 28 July, 2359hrs GMT +9) and you’re all set.

Now you’ve got the tools and avenue, you just need to show up. See you at Tech in Asia Tokyo 2017!

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Simply fill in the form below to download your free pitch deck template

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