For those who are not familiar with the term, a pitch deck is a presentation that briefly summarizes the company and its product, accompanied by visual aids. It’s an essential tool for entrepreneurs and other business leaders to communicate their vision, goals, and strategy. A pitch deck is typically used by startups to present their idea to investors. But also by established companies to present their strategy to potential partners or buyers. Stay tuned, ELR12 helps you create a good pitch deck for your startup in 3 simple steps!
First, what should a pitch deck contain?
A pitch deck is a presentation that summarizes an idea, product, business model or startup in a compelling and concise way. The content of a pitch deck should be tailored to the audience you are pitching to, as well as the type of product you are pitching and the stage of your startup’s lifecycle. But it typically includes the following information:
- Overview of your company: What is the company’s mission? What are its values? Why does the world need it?
- Product or service: What does the product do?
- Market opportunity: Who are your competitors and why do you have an advantage over them?
- Financials: How much money does it take to get started and what is your break even point (if applicable)?
- Funding needs/goals: How much money do you need to grow this business and what are your goals for next year?
- Team/experience: Who are the founders ? Who is the team behind the project and what relevant experience do they have?
- Customers: What is your target customer and customer journey?
- Marketing: What are the goals for marketing (sales, revenue growth, etc.)?
- Competition: Who are the top competitors in this industry and how does your company compare to them?
- MVP timeline: How long will it take to launch the MVP?
- Product roadmap: What will be the next steps for your product after launching the MVP?
- Business model: How do you make money and what is your revenue model?
How to create a pitch deck for you startup in 3 steps
Pitch decks are used as a visual representation of the entrepreneur’s idea, company, and why they are qualified for the investment. The process of creating a pitch deck for your startup is different for each person. But there are some general steps that can be followed:
Step 1: Understand your audience
The first step in designing a successful startup pitch deck is to understand your audience. You need to know who you are pitching to and what they want. The more specific you can be, the better. Know their background and how they will perceive your idea. This is what we call audience research. It will help you tailor the content of your pitch deck to match their needs.
If you’re not sure where to start with your research, then start by finding out what kind of content they publish on their website or social media channels. It’s important that your content is relevant to what they want. Otherwise it won’t be compelling enough for them to invest in your idea too!
The key to understanding your audience is knowing their motivations and needs, as well as their pain points and challenges. This will help you create a compelling story that resonates with them and convinces them why they should care about what you have to offer.
Step 2: Create a strong and compelling narrative
The second step in building a pitch deck is to create a strong and compelling narrative. This narrative should be specific and concise. It must tell both the audience what you’re trying to accomplish, but also why they should care. If you don’t have an interesting or surprising story to tell, your pitch has no reason for being. A strong narrative can help bring together all of the different ideas that are in your deck so that they are easier for your audience to follow.
The narrative of your pitch deck will depend on the type of investor you are targeting. For example, if you are pitching to a venture capitalist, you will want to focus on how your company will grow exponentially in the next five years. If you are pitching for an angel investor, then you would want to focus more on how much revenue your company has made so far and how it plans to make money in the near future.
A good narrative should be compelling enough that it gets investors hooked from the start. The goal of this section is not only to inform investors of your company. But also to make them believe in the potential of your business. You have to make sure that you have a clear story and the content of your deck needs to align with it. So you want them to be able to get a sense of who you are and what you do without having to go through every slide of your deck.
Step 3: Pick the right presentation format
The presentation format is a vital aspect of your pitch deck. Not all presentations are created equal, so choosing the right format can make or break your pitch. There are many formats to choose from, but the most popular one is PowerPoint.
A PowerPoint presentation is a great way to present your ideas in a visual and compelling way. But the challenge is how to make it look professional and engaging. In order to create a good pitch deck, you need to know the best design tips and tricks that will help you get started.
- Use a clear, consistent theme throughout your presentation.
- Keep your slides simple and easy to read with minimal text.
- Add pictures or diagrams where appropriate for better understanding of your idea.
- Make sure that the font size is big enough so people can read it from far away in the audience.
- Make sure that there are no spelling mistakes or grammatical errors in your slides – this will show lack of attention to detail which is not acceptable for any business proposal or presentation.
- Don’t use too much color. The three colors that are universally recommended for presentations are black, white and the company’s logo color.
- To ensure that your slides are easy on the eyes, make sure you vary their font and size.
A great way to create your own startup pitch deck is to first look at some of the successful startups and their pitch decks. You can also search for “pitch deck templates” or “pitch deck examples” and see what kind of layouts you like.
Bottom line
The first impression is often the most important one. Therefore, you need to present yourself in a good light. If you want to make a good impression on potential investors or partners, then it’s important that your presentation leaves them impressed with your product or service and wanting to do business with you. A well-designed pitch deck can help create that all-important first impression. However, a poorly designed one can leave an investor or partner feeling confused or even worse, uninterested in what you have to offer.
The goal of your pitch deck is to convince whoever you are pitching to that your company has what it takes to succeed. You want them on board and invested in the success of your company. This means that you need to take time out of everything else you’re doing and put together the best possible presentation.
A pitch deck is not just about the words you say. It is what you show and how you show it that make the difference. Visuals are essential because they convey ideas and messages more effectively than written text. It’s also how you present your information, how you interact with your audience, and how much time you take to make a point. It’s about telling a story in an interesting way that makes people want to invest in what you have to offer.