Creating a pitch deck that wins investors can be a daunting task for many, but it doesn’t have to be that way!

If you are a startup owner or an entrepreneur who’s looking to secure some funding for your business, you will need to impress some potential investors and persuade them into coming on board. It’s crucial to deliver an impressive elevator pitch and effectively use your pitch deck for leaving a solid impression on them. There are no second chances!

So, how do you create a pitch deck that doesn’t just grab their attention but also wins their trust and investment? If this question is on your mind, you have come to the right page! In this article, we will share with you some tips and expert advice on pitch deck design and how to best pitch your product or business idea in front of potential investors. But first, let’s understand what a pitch deck is and how you can create an impressive pitch deck that will make potential investors seriously consider the investment opportunity.

What is a pitch deck?

A pitch deck is a set of presentation slides that provide potential business partners or investors with a detailed overview of your business vision, product and service offerings, market opportunity, high-level financials and funding requirements. It’s supposed to give the investors a clear idea of the problem you’re planning to solve with your products or services, in addition to your business model and how you plan to utilise their investment.

How To Create A Pitch Deck That Wins Investors

To ensure that your presentation design has got the right balance of financial, business and psychological aspects of your pitch and that your pitch deck delivers the expected impact on the investors, keep in mind the following points when designing the pitch deck.

Cut to the chase with your elevator pitch slide

Most investors are presented with countless pitches on a daily basis and they usually decide whether or not to invest in an idea or business opportunity by looking at the first couple of slides. Instead of gradually building up their curiosity till the last slide of your presentation, start directly with your main point and cut to the chase. Try to boil down your vision and business idea down to a couple of short sentences that allow your potential investors to get an idea of exactly what you are planning to do, clearly highlight the problem you are trying to solve and why your intended solution could be the best possible option available in the market.

Follow the 10/20/30 rule

This interesting rule was first introduced by Guy Kawasaki, the famous marketer, business expert and investor. According to it, your pitch deck shouldn’t be longer than 10 slides, not take more than 20 minutes to go through and use a 30-point font or larger. If you follow this rule, not only will your audience appreciate it, but you will also be able to hold their attention till the end of your presentation, which is more likely to result in a favourable outcome for your business.

Present a captivating story

Use your storytelling skills to present a powerful narrative to your potential investors sharing with them your journey so far, why you’re passionate about what you do and why you think your business idea will be successful. Tell them why the problem you are aiming to solve with your products or services really matters to the customers and how your approach can make you a market leader. Try to support your story with statistics, data and numbers, if possible. Most importantly, make sure it’s persuasive and compelling enough for them to consider investing in your business.

Mention your target audience

It’s crucial to specify what your target audience is. Tell them exactly who would be interested in purchasing your product or service and why. Make sure you have data to support your claims and share only real-world use cases. Also, share with them the reasons why your target audience would prefer to use your product or service over the competitors.

Highlight your value proposition and USP

The potential investors would like to know about your unique selling point and value proposition. Describe the technology behind your proposed solutions, your unique approach to the existing problem, what kind of frameworks you intend to use and what the expected impact of your solution is on the market. Highlight your strengths and use schematics, diagrams and flowcharts to present the roadmap for how you aim to capture the market with your unique approach.

Present your analysis from the market research

Now that you’ve shared things like your vision, target audience and value proposition, it’s time to share some insights from your opportunity analysis and market research. This section of your presentation should answer their questions about the market size, why your product or service is needed in the first place, how you plan to turn your business idea into a real investment opportunity for them and the kind of financial outcomes you are expecting from your business. The insights should include the expected number of customers in the market, the amount of money the customers would be willing to pay for a solution like yours and the projected market growth.

Talk about your competition

If you have a viable business idea, you are sure to have some competition in the market. The question is “how will your business distinguish itself from the competition?”. This is exactly what most potential investors would be curious to know about. In this section of your presentation, tell them about your potential competitors, how your product or service offerings compare to theirs, the kind of competitive advantage you have over them and how it will place your business amidst the competitive landscape.

Describe your revenue model

Needless to say, your potential investors would like to know how you plan to make money from your product or service offerings. So, make sure you describe your business model, revenue model and pricing model in detail. It should describe whether your product or service is a one-time purchase or a regular subscription, apart from mentioning what your sales funnel would look like and your expected customer acquisition cost.

Talk about your current financials

Potential investors would like to see some proof that can validate your goals, plans and vision. This is why it’s important to share your current financials including your current expenses, sales, profits and the revenue coming in from the existing customer base, among other financial data points. In this section, you should frame and highlight the success you have had so far with your business and also talk about the kind of traction you are seeing currently. It’s also a good idea to include customer testimonials or any words of praise about your business offerings that can demonstrate that your service or product is valuable to your customers.

Introduce them to your team

When pitching your business idea to potential investors you must persuade them that your team is qualified enough to make your vision come to life and achieve the established goals and objectives. In this slide, you should not only highlight the founders and their expertise but also talk about other talented individuals in your team who can be relied upon throughout the early stages of growth.

Summarise your presentation

Now that you have put together a decent pitch deck and answered through it most of the questions investors usually have in their minds, it’s time to showcase an actionable and concise summary of your entire presentation. It should answer any further concerns or doubts they may have and also present the most important facts and figures that can help them make a decision. Most importantly, it should end with a call to action or a question that tells them you are anticipating their decision.

Tips for Delivering a Pitch that Wins Investors

Creating an impressive pitch deck isn’t enough. You need to deliver a pitch that leaves a strong impression on potential investors and persuades them to invest in your business. This is where your presentation skills will get tested. To ensure that you deliver the best pitch possible, take note of the following key points.

Keep it short and simple

Investors are busy people. So, keep in mind that you will be allotted only a limited amount of time for meeting with an investor and you have to make the most of it. It’s also important to keep your pitch short because you can’t afford to bore your potential investors or lose their attention. Plus, you will need to leave some time for a round of questions and discussions, or if they want to go through some parts of your pitch deck once again.

Don’t narrate from your pitch deck

The pitch deck is only there to support your presentation and highlight the key points. So, don’t make the mistake of reading from your pitch deck. Not only will it make you look unprofessional, but will also waste the time of everyone involved. Instead, you should focus on sharing your story and refer to the slides only when required.

Make it interesting and informative at the same time 

It’s important to strike the right balance between sounding like a subject matter expert and being a good storyteller. While it’s important to highlight the facts you also need to keep the presentation light and interesting for your audience.

Practice your pitch

It takes plenty of practice and presentation training in order to become a natural, confident and charismatic presenter. Even if you like the required training or experience when it comes to delivering presentations, you can still improve a lot by practising. Find time with your peers, colleagues or people from outside your organisation to practice your presentation in front of them. Let them ask you questions and highlight anything that’s worth improving upon. This will not only help you polish up your pitch but also go a long way in improving your presentation skills.

Demonstrate passion and enthusiasm

Perhaps you have put together a stunning pitch deck, but without demonstrating excitement in your presentation, all that effort could go for a toss. The investors would like to see that you have the kind of passion, enthusiasm and fortitude required to make it through the tough times that might come on your path towards business success. They should feel like they’re dealing with the right person and their money is going to be in safe hands. So, make sure your tone and body language give them the right impression.

Final Thoughts

Pitching your business idea to investors can be intimidating. However, if you try and follow the advice we have shared above, you will do just fine.

If you lack the required experience when it comes to presentation design, it’s best to hire a presentation designer who can not only design graphics that will make your pitch deck look sleek but also help you organise your ideas. It’s also a good idea to brush up on your presentation skills by attending presentation training. To get help with these aspects of your presentation, contact our team of presentation experts today!