9 Simple Steps to a Winning Pitch deck

Posted on 3/25/2022, 10:53:26 AM

Dreaming about being your boss is not enough until you make significant efforts to bring your dream to life. Theoretically, having your own company is easier than ever with plenty of no-code tools, unlimited online marketing reach, and affordable labor worldwide. A Pitch deck is an essential aspect of business as it helps fund your business venture. Creating a winning pitch deck can do wonders.

What Is a Pitch Deck?

A pitch deck is an unbelievably valuable tool for your newly founded business. It provides a visual guide and reference to the main points of your business to potential investors. So, having the best pitch deck can help you land the funding.

9 Simple Steps to A Winning Pitch Deck

Here we will show you the secrets to a fantastic pitch deck. By following these nine simple steps, you can easily wow your investors and hopefully secure funding

Start with The Key Points

The first slide of your pitch deck should give a crystal clear picture of who you are. Why you are standing in front of them, please don’t wait for the main points, start with it. You can tell the main business ideas and visions into two attractive yet straightforward sentences to allow your audience to grasp what you are trying to do. 

Problem

This is one of the essential parts of your pitch deck. It would be best to explain the problem/opportunity in a convincing way that conveys to your audience the loophole you are trying to solve. You should also specify how that problem affects most people. Is that problem necessary to solve? Does it need a lot of money?

Solution

This is the point where your product comes into play. Tell them about yourself. Are you an app, marketplace, software as a service, or anything else? What values will your product bring to your customers? It’s essential to show your investor an unequivocal and booming position of your product. Here you can also add mockups, screenshots, pictures, etc.

Talk About Your Accomplishments

Many investors want to invest in people first and product second. So, don’t be afraid to tell your investors your team’s accomplishments, especially if those accomplishments are very much related to the purpose of the product. Tell them why you are the right people to lead this venture. Explain to them your first customers and investments into the company, media placement, signed a letter of intent (LOI) to purchase/partner, product milestones, key hires, etc. This can also help you acquire future funding for your next startup.

Team

The team slide is significant for many investors as it allows them to know the faces behind this business. This slide plays an essential role in gaining trust. Tell your investors about the team to which they would potentially entrust their money. It’s essential to demonstrate their names, functions, expertise, their years of working in the sector, and their credentials. Build strong trust by showing these things clearly. 

Competition

One of the worst things you can say is that you don’t have any competitors. This will make your investors think that you have not done proper research or something wrong with your business. It’s okay to say you have competitors, and it’s essential to demonstrate how you fit in with those competitors. Don’t forget to tell them the gap you identified in which your competitors are not giving much focus. Also, include a clear statement of how you will fill that gap. Show them how your solution is best at solving this and better than the competitors. Here a simple quadrant can work to show the landscape of competitors.

Business Model

It’s time to tell them how you make money and who do you charge? If you belong to a highly competitive market, you must highlight how your business model is better than your competitor’s. For example, you can say, “We charge a subscription fee of $49, $99, or $149 depending on needs.” 

Ask for Funds

Now comes the purpose of your pitch deck. Your presentation is incomplete without some ask. So, if you are pitching to investors, this is “money,” while sort of asks could be feedback contacts or other related things. So, tell your investors what you are looking for from them. For example, you might need $800,000 to scale your first 80,000 customers. 

Also include the use of funds. It means tell them about the areas where you will be spending this money. Are you planning to spend half of it on marketing, a quarter on developing the products, and the rest will be the operational cost? Including a pie chart for this can work perfectly.

Go-to-Market strategy

Think outside the box, then state it clearly. Be specific about your customers and how you will be reaching them? You can think of cheap yet exciting ways of getting many clients. If you have any such methods, tell your investors about them. 

Essential Tips to Make Your Pitch Successful

• Remember that investors want to fund strong teams with good traction that work on real problems. So make sure you don’t leave them with any ambiguity. Please show them your market is desirable and needs more work.
• The clarity in a winning pitch deck is essential. Don’t include a lot of acronyms, tech language, and jargon. It’s better to keep your pitch short, sweet, and to the point. 
• Tell a real customer story by including the names and real customer challenges. Please keep it simple and realistic. People tend to believe those stories which exist in real life. So, it’s good to have some mind-blowing real customer stories ready to share.
• Practice your pitch with someone outside of your company and ask for their feedback about your business model. It can be an eye-opening exercise to hear what people think of it and how much it’s easy for them to understand. 

Creating a pitch deck based on all the necessary aspects can help you get a better response and a better deal. If your pitch deck ticks all the boxes mentioned above, you are probably ready for investment. If something is lacking, then work on it and look for investors. 

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