By Vikas Agrawal, co-founder at Infobrandz, an elite team of visual communication experts taking content marketing to the next level.
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Having problems grasping the fundamentals of selling your concept to investors? You’re not alone. According to Tech Crunch, in 2022, venture capitalists spent on average 2 minutes and 42 seconds reviewing a pitch deck—24% less than they spent in 2021. They spent slightly more time on successful pitch decks—2 minutes and 46 seconds—but still less time than the previous year. Unsuccessful pitch decks took a real hit (down 46%), with investors giving up on decks that were unable to secure finance in just 2 minutes and 13 seconds. In other words, you have mere seconds to make a good first impression. That’s why you need the best pitch deck for raising money in this jungle of startups.
What is an investor pitch deck?
An investor pitch deck is a brief presentation document that fully outlines the advantages, background, future potential and worth of your company and its products. When entrepreneurs need capital to launch their company or expand it, they prepare pitch decks to present to potential investors.
Why does your company need an investor pitch deck?
Here are some ways in which investor pitch decks can be beneficial for your company:
A pitch deck provides an executive summary of your business. With a pitch deck, you can summarize the key aspects of your company, the team’s operation, the marketing and distribution of your service or product and the operation of your revenue model.
A pitch deck helps you build credibility. A professional and well-designed pitch deck can help to build credibility for your company and demonstrate that it is a serious and well-thought-out business. Investors receive a large number of pitch decks and are likely to pay closer attention to those that are visually appealing and easy to read.
A pitch deck highlights your prospects in your target market. This may be achieved by carrying out a thorough investigation and study of your sector, your rivals and the primary market trends. This will make it clear to any potential investors how favorable the market conditions are for you to enter.
A pitch deck ensures your financial forecasts are constructively highlighted. The pitch deck not only gives investors a clear explanation of how your company plans to address specific market problems, but it also fully depicts your company’s financial prospects after receiving funding, including how you intend to use the money to expand your firm.
What are the most important characteristics of an investor pitch deck?
Here are some things you need to keep in mind when preparing an investor pitch deck:
Don’t make it too lengthy or too wordy. Since investors have a finite attention span, the goal of your presentation is to quickly engage them with your company idea. Try the 10/20/30 rule: 10 slides, taking no more than 20 minutes to read, with a font size of no less than 30 points.
Begin with a problem statement. According to Startups, the problem statement slide is the most important slide in an entire pitch deck. Make sure the issues you highlight are not only from the perspective of the intended customer but also from that of the targeted investor so that they can readily see why the issue is important to address.
Make your pitch deck visually appealing. In order to make the presentation more aesthetically pleasing and engaging for the audience, try to depict the facts as diagrammatically or graphically as you can. Utilize graphics, illustrations and images.
Adhere to the tone of corporate storytelling. Use narrative techniques to craft an effective storyline for your pitch deck so that it evokes emotions in your audience and contributes to the development of your brand’s credibility.
Add a strong value proposition. The pitch deck should clearly articulate the value that the business will provide to its customers. This is critical because investors want to understand the problem that the business is solving and how it is uniquely positioned to solve it.
Clearly communicate your market potential. While discussing your internal strengths and efficiencies is necessary, it’s equally crucial to define your market prospects in detail. Define your market prospects by employing relevant data and meticulously evaluated facts, such as significant growth drivers, competitive advantages and the most recent industry trends.
Include financial projections and how you plan to use the funds. The deck should clearly outline how the funds will be used and how they will contribute to the growth of the business. It is helpful to break down the use of funds into categories, such as marketing and sales, product development and hiring, and to provide details on how each area will contribute to the growth of the business.
Incorporate a team slide. Keep your team’s profiles focused on essential details like their accomplishments, job experience, former positions held and educational background. This slide is intended to boost the potential investor’s confidence in the capabilities of your team.
Remember to add your contact information. Finally, investors need a way to get in touch with you. Therefore, be sure to provide all necessary contact information for your business, including the company website, email address, phone number and commercial address.
Lastly, in order to create the ideal pitch deck that makes you stand out from the competition, you must be committed to and enthusiastic about the vision of your business. No matter how many rivals and external threats there may be in the market, your vision will always be unique.