A pitch deck that wins over investors

A pitch deck is a short presentation that briefly and clearly outlines your business idea and business plan in a few, usually 10 to 12 slides. The goal is to convince investors of your plan and invite them to further discussions.

Components of a pitch presentation

The structure and components of a pitch deck can vary depending on the context and audience, but there are some basic elements you should always consider:

• Title: Briefly introduce yourself and your company. You can also include your logo, website, or contact information.
• Problem: What problem is your solution addressing? You should clearly define, quantify and emotionalize the problem. Show why it's important to solve this problem and what the pain points are for your potential customers.
• Solution: This is where you present your solution to the problem. Explain how your product or service works, what the benefits are, and how it differs from existing alternatives. You can also provide a demo or screenshot of the solution. This makes it more tangible.
• Market: Show how large and attractive the market is for your solution. Include the target audience, market size, market growth, and market share. You can also highlight key trends and drivers in the market.
• Business model: Explain how you plan to make money. Include your revenue sources, pricing strategy, cost structure, and profit margin. You can also include your key metrics, such as customer acquisition costs, customer retention, or customer lifetime value.
• Competition: Who are you competing with? And how do you differentiate yourself? A competitive matrix or SWOT diagram is a good way to visualize your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats compared to the competition.
• Team: This is where you introduce your team and show why you are the right people to solve the problem. You should highlight the qualifications, experience, and skills of your team members. You may also want to mention your advisors or mentors.
• Milestones: What have you accomplished so far and what do you plan to accomplish in the future? Include your major accomplishments, such as number of clients, revenue, awards or press coverage. You should also outline your short- and long-term goals and plans.

• Funding: This is where you say how much money you are looking for and what you plan to use it for. You should include your financial needs analysis, financial projections, and evaluation.
• Conclusion: Summarize the key points of your presentation and provide a clear call to action. For example, invite the investor to ask questions, provide feedback, or schedule a follow-up meeting.

Creating a pitch deck

To create a pitch deck, you can use several tools to help you translate your message into an engaging design. Here are a few examples:

• Unicorn Pitch: This tool allows you to have your pitch deck perfected by design experts. All you have to do is upload your rough written pitch deck and select a style.
• LivePlan: This tool allows you to create a business plan and a matching pitch deck. AI features help you along the way.
• PowerPoint or Keynote: These tools allow you to design your pitch deck with different templates, fonts, colors and effects.

A good pitch presentation is more than just a list of facts and figures. It should tell a story that engages the audience emotionally and places your company or idea in a larger context. Numbers, in particular, often hide stories that provide exciting jumping off points. Connect abstract numbers and make them tangible. Numbers can also be presented in exciting visual ways. Diagrams made of symbols or filled shapes have a more graphic and entertaining effect than classic column or bar charts.

Visual assets make your presentation more attractive, easier to understand, and help you follow the story. Use pictures, graphics, icons, charts, or video to reinforce and illustrate your message. But make sure your visuals are relevant, professional, and simple. Avoid cluttered or distracting slides with too many animations.

Common pitch deck mistakes

Avoid the following mistakes when creating your pitch deck:

• Losing sight of the problem: A common mistake is to talk too much about the product or service and not enough about the problem being solved.
• Being too sales-oriented: Investors are not interested in being sold to. They want to see that you have a solid business plan and that you are passionate about solving a problem.
• Ignoring the competition: Investors want to know that you are aware of the competition and that you have a plan to differentiate your business
• Presenting too much information: Less is definitely more when it comes to pitch decks. You have a limited amount of time to present your case. So don't try to cram too much information into your deck.
• Not practicing enough: Delivering a great pitch takes practice. Don't wait until the last minute to practice your pitch. Pay attention to your body language, voice, and timing.
• Not having a clear focus: Your pitch deck should have a clear focus and be recognizable from the first slide.
  
  

If you are looking for a software solution that makes it easier to create a pitch deck in PowerPoint and that automates many of the creation steps, contact us! With empower^®, you can focus on the story and content of your presentation instead of tediously creating complex charts or formatting slides.