Dr. M.A BABU, Editor

Sealing the Deal. How do you pitch a startup?

The most important element of
creating a perfect pitch deck is to make
it clear, concise, and to the point. If
you find that any of the imagery or
information on the slides that you create
is not wholly essential towards your
primary goal, you should excise this
information or imagery.
In most cases, you’ll want to include
enough information to stimulate interest
and convey the core idea or concept
with the most pertinent information.
For instance, when Youtube presented
a pitch deck to a venture capital firm,
the first slide focused on the company
purpose of Youtube, which was a short
sentence that stated they wanted “to
become the primary outlet of usergenerated
video content on the internet
and to allow anyone to upload, share,
and browse this content”. There’s no
reason to provide more information than
is necessary in a pitch deck. Doing so
can distract your audience from the main
point of the presentation.

When it comes to the number of slides
that you should use within your pitch
deck, everyone has their own magic
number for the perfect amount. Pitch
decks typically contain about 10-12
slides, which is considered to be the
ideal number for a successul pitch.
Venture capitalist and marketing
specialist Guy Kawasaki believes that
you only need 10 slides in your pitch
deck, which include everything from
the title of your company to your go-to
market plan. The slides that you should
consider including in your pitch deck are
described in detail below.

1. Company Vision and Overall Value
Proposition

This should be a one-sentence
explanation of what your business
is and the kind of value you want to
provide to customers. This sentence
should be around 150 characters or
less. Many startups describe their value
proposition by making a comparison to
other successful but similar companies.
If you go this route, this comparison will
need to be within the same industry or
interests of your startup.
Start out with a brief explanation of your
business idea that immediately conveys
your vision and purpose. Explain the
problem that your startup is attempting
to solve and why your business offers
the solution. Outline how your business
plans to generate revenue. Above all,
avoid getting bogged down in details
that distract from your message.

2. The Problem You’re Solving

No matter who you’re presenting this
pitch deck to, it’s important that your
business is actively looking to solve a
problem. As such, you need to mention
which customer faces the problem and
how your product or service solves that
problem. Many startups will use this slide
to tell a relatable and engaging story. If
you can show that the problem is a real
one that customers face, you’re going to
have a much easier time convincing firms
that they can successfully invest in your
company.

3. Primary Target Market

Use this slide to go into detail about
who your primary customer is and how
large the potential market may be. Try
to find quantifiable data that supports
the information you give on this slide.
Investors will also want to see consumer
spending data and similar metrics to
determine current market demand.
Some businesses will even divide this
slide into several sections if they expect
to reach multiple markets with different
forms of advertising. Be specific and
realistic with this slide. While being
vague with your targets will likely make
your potential market seem much larger,
an investor or potential partner wants
to be confident that you can reach the
primary market and a realistic target will
show that you understand your intended
market.

4. The Solution

Use this slide to go into greater detail
about your service or product and how
it provides a solution to the problem.
Explain how the product or service
solves the problem that customers are
facing and how your startup offers a
better solution than existing incumbents.
Imagery and storytelling can be very
effective with this slide!

5. Your Business Model

Now that the prospective investor or
partner knows what your product or
service is, you will need to tell them
how this product is going to generate
revenue for the business. If you’re
creating a content site and expect to
make the brunt of your profits from
advertisers, you should go into detail
about why these advertisers will want
to partner with you, how you’ll acquire
these relationships, etc.

6. Basic Roadmap & Milestones

This is the slide where you talk about
what your startup has already achieved
and where you intend to go. If you’ve
released your product to early adopters,
this information should be noted on
this slide. You could also list out some
milestones that your company has
reached and the ones that you expect to
reach in the near future. This slide should
be used to validate your product and
vision for growth.

7. Market Plan

Explain on this slide how you’re going
to reach the target audience and gain
traction within the industry. If you’ve
been working on a marketing plan and
sales strategy, this information must be
included on the slide and you should
detail out any specifics about your plan
of action to validate your approach in
the eyes of your intended audience.

8. Management Team

Use this slide to explain how you and
your management team are going to
grow your company. Describe how the
members of your management team
bring unique skills to your startup and
why they make great team members.
Use this opportunity to mention any
major investors, board of directors, and
board of advisors that may be involved
with your business.

9. Financial Projections

This slide is designed solely to highlight
your financials, which includes your sales
forecast, cash flow forecast, and profit
and loss statement for at least several
years (or you can display projected
financials). Try to limit this information to
easy-to-read charts that makes the data
easier to digest for your audience.

10. Competitive Analysis

Even if you believe your company to
be wholly unique, there will be some
competition that you will need to
contend with. Use this slide to show how
your idea or product stacks up against
the competition and why customers will
choose to go with your product. Try to
illustrate where your brand positions
your product or service and what
differentiates your product or service
from the competition.

11. Use of Funds

This final slide is likely the most important
of the group. If you’re trying to raise
money, use this slide to detail how much
money you need and what this funding
will help your startup accomplish.
Investors need to know that their funding
will do for your business and how it will
help you reach your business goals.
A pitch deck can be an invaluable tool
to any startup. Make sure that you do
your research and you’ll be on your way
to preparing the perfect pitch deck and
increase your odds at success for you
and your business!