Writing an Eye-Catching Investor Pitch Deck
Pitching up your business idea to the investors is an anxiety-ridden task. But it isn’t essentially terrifying. All it needs is proper analysis and a careful thought process. With the right introduction, you can attract the investors’ attention to your startup idea and explain to them what the idea is and why it is a strong venture to invest in.
The Pitch Decks are repeatedly revised and refined to suit the target audience to whom the presentation is being delivered. In this write-up, an overview of what essentially should form the part of an investor pitch deck is highlighted.
Elements of an Investor Pitch Deck
1. Business Introduction
In this slide, a brief overview of the business is mentioned. Questions like what is the business and why it exists are addressed in this section. Keep the introduction of the business short and simple. Make sure the information mentioned makes sense.
2. Problem
The next section conveys the gap in the market that the business is trying to fill. Mention the problem and the reason why it is a problem. You can always present it in the form of a market opportunity your business is trying to capitalize through its product or service.
3. Why now
After mentioning the problem, the next approach would be to clarify why there’s a need to solve it. The issues related to the problem which call for immediate action are to be included. This slide covers the driving points for the business which led to the establishment of the business idea.
4. Solution
The Solution slide should focus on your offering and the reason why your proposed solution is better than those offered by the competitors. Explain the USP of your business in this slide and how your business addresses the problems and issues mentioned in the previous slides. Try to keep the presentation focused on your business idea and how it will contribute to improve the situation.
5. Products/Services
It should be clearly outlined what the business is offering its customers i.e. what are its products or services. The product features, use cases of the product, product milestones, planned features (if any) form a major part of this section. Include some visuals and infographics to make it look impressive.
6. Business Model
The most important slide of the pitch deck is where you explain your business model. After describing the product/service of the business, you need to give a brief of how it will make money. The details like whether your business is commission based or price based, the pricing model, customer acquisition costs etc. are all important considerations for this slide.
7. Market Opportunity
This slide mentions the market opportunity available to the business and how the business will capitalize on this opportunity. The current size of the target market, the projected estimates regarding the growth of the market will be included in this section.
8. Competitors
In this slide, list your major competitors and mention your competitive advantage over them. The key is to explain why the investors should choose you over your competitors. For this, mention how you are different from the current competitive landscape and how you can make a difference by introducing your products in the market.
9. Financials
The potential investors would be interested in knowing your financial perspective. Limit this slide to show the key metrics, revenue and expense figures, EBITDA, sale projections, profit and cash flow forecasts (for a period of say, 3 years) etc. Try to be realistic. Do not over-inflate the figures.
10. Team
Highlight why your business and the key members are the right people to do this business. Investors invest in your team and their dedication. Introduce the key team members, their designation, a brief summary of their experience and what they contribute to the company.
11. Roadmap
This section covers the future roadmap of your startup. Mention the current status of the business and the milestones it aspires to achieve in the decided timeline of 5-10 years or so. Do mention how you are planning to deploy the capital you are trying to raise to meet the growth milestones.
12. The ‘Ask’ Slide
This slide addresses the need for the money. How much capital you intend to raise, why you need it and how long will it last. The investors are interested to know the potential uses of their funds and how it will help the business achieve its goals.
CONCLUSION
Investors want to know that you have gone through everything important to raise funding. Your pitch deck should show your efforts and not merely present an information document. It should be an impressive interaction with the investors so that they get excited to work with you and invest in your business idea.