how to make a great pitch deck - frog valley...what is a pitch deck? • series of words and images...

- FROG VALLEY

HOW TO MAKE A GREAT PITCH DECK

@frog_valley

WHY US?

• Collectively looked at 100’s if not 1000’s of pitch decks

• Great relationships with VC’s, investment funds, accelerators, etc

• Organised pitching events

• Strong team • LBS Alumni • M&A • Startup founder (raised money) • HELPED OTHER STARTUPS RAISE MONEY

AGENDA

• What is a pitch deck

• Different types of pitch decks

• Fundraising process

• Contents of a pitch deck

• Order of the deck

• Q & A

WHAT IS A PITCH DECK?

• Series of words and images that illustrate a ventures story and business model

• Pitch decks do three things • They get people to understand

• They get people to care

• They get people to take action

*raise money*

TYPES OF PITCH DECK

• Presentation deck –12 TO 18 slides max

• Reading deck –35 TO 42 slides

• 10 / 20 / 30 CHALLENGE – IF YOU REALLY WANT TO IMPRESS YOUR POTENTIAL INVESTORS (NOTE - ITS HARD)

STATS FROM AVERAGE RAISE OF £1M ($1.3)

CONTENTS OF A DECK

• COVER

• OVERVIEW (15.3s)

• PROBLEM (11.3s)

• SOLUTION (10.6s)

• WHY NOW (16.3s)

• MARKET SIZE (13.3s)

• PRODUCT (13.9S)

• TEAM (22.8S)

• BUSINESS MODEL (14.9S)

• COMPETITION (16.6S)

• FINANCIALS (23.2S)

• CLOSING

IS YOUR DECK INVESTOR READY?

COVER

• Clean logo

• Inviting picture

• Descriptive title • This is the first impression of you and your company • Does the visual communicate what the company is?

OVERVIEW

• Small taste of your company (15 SECOND PITCH) • Clarity • Swagger • Passion

PROBLEM

The fundamental point of your problem slide is to illustrate that you are able to solve a huge problem that will be supported by customers with the money to pay for your solution

Feel free to break it down into two or three slides if you need to

Keep it simple

DON’T DO’S FOR THE PROBLEM

• Go into detail on the limits of the current technology

• Make the problem oddly specific

• Your technology is in search of a problem

• The problem is big but poorly supported by capital

SOLUTION

• Solving something painful

• Surprise

• Beautiful

• Visual aid (screenshots, demo, even a video)

• Repeatable and scalable

WHY NOW

• Trends and market conditions

• Demonstrate research carried out

• How big is the market

• How big can your company be

• Macro and micro trends the company will be riding

MARKET

• Detail on your products space

• Demonstrate - • You understand the customer • Numbers for who fits in your customer description • Revenue / customer etc

PRODUCT

• What makes your product different from others

• Detail of how the product works

• IP

• Patents (pending)

• Workflow

TEAM

• Who is going to be pulling this off

• Why are you the right people for the job

• Demonstrate • Expertise • Passion

• Is the current team sufficient to achieve the mission?

• Key hires that need to be made

BUSINESS MODEL

• How will you make money?

• Customer acquisition costs

• Customer life time value

• Pricing

COMPETITION

• Every venture has competition

• Think of direct and indirect competition

• Different ways to demonstrate • Form of a table • X & Y grid

• DON’T MAKE INVESTORS DO THE HARD WORK AND MAKE THEM LOOK FOR IT

FINANCIALS

• Financial forecast

• What are you asking for

• What are you offering in return

• How will you be using the funds

• IF YOU HAVE TRACTION / REVENUE / GROWTH – THIS IS THE TIME TO WOO THEM

CLOSE

• Contact details

• Closing statement

• Press coverage

• Competitions won

RISKS IN BUSINESS

• Why someone shouldn't’t invest in your business • Great to disarm the investors • Shows you can acknowledge risks in business • Puts them on a backfoot

ORDER OF THE DECK

• Make sure the deck flows

• Make it impactful

• No specific order but can recommend looking up sequoia, DOCSEND

• If you have great traction – Lead with that one

DESIGN OF THE DECK

• GOOD DESIGN MAKES GREAT DIFFERENCE

• Well-designed deck shows you know how to communicate clearly

• Improves clarity

• Shows you care about image of your company

• People are insulted when you send them trash

• IF YOU ARE RAISING A £1M YOUR DECK SHOULD LOOK WORTH A £1M

STORY

• Important for every venture

• WHY ARE YOU DOING WHAT YOU ARE DOING (NON TECHNICAL)

• SOCIAL BENEFIT PRODUCT – ORIGIN STORY

• COMPLEX PRODUCT / SERVICE – CUSTOMER STORY

• DISRUPTIVE PRODUCT / SERVICE – INDUSTRY STORY

THANK YOU

• Pitch deck workshop for 6 companies • 3 hours long • Group review / feedback • Free beer and Pizza

• Facebook group – Startup investments, pitch decks & fundraising

• Email harsh@frogvalley.net for slides • Subject – pitch deck slides