Kelly: What is your ideal format for a pitch deck?
The ideal early-stage pitch deck should be 10-15 pages (plus an appendix) and should tell the following story:
We have an awesome idea on how to solve a big problem. We have a great team working to do so and are building unique technology and creating a business around it. We’re going to sell in a large, addressable market and win over customers because we have many advantages over our competitors. We have made sales already but to build this business faster, we need financing to achieve certain business and operational milestones.
A typical pitch deck that tells this story is:
1. Cover – Company logo, a company tagline if you have one, and your contact information.
2. Idea/Mission – Clear and focused mission statement that is unique and achievable.
3. Team Background – Main team, prior accomplishments, any specialties, and advisors/board.
4. Problem – Nature of the problem, pain points, why nobody has solved it yet.
5. Technology - The product, how it is going to solve the problem, why it is unique, patents (if applicable).
6. Market – Describe the market/ecosystem, which part of the market you are targeting, and the addressable market size.
7. Customers – Key customers/users and how you plan to acquire them. If you have current customers, include why they rave about you.
8. Competitors – Competitive landscape and your advantages over competitors
9. Sales – Sales figures/financials. If you don’t have sales describe what you are doing today to generate sales tomorrow.
10. Financing/Use of Proceeds – Amount of financing you have raised, how much you need, and what you plan to do with the money.
11. Milestones – Key business and operational goals you have identified and hope to achieve in the next few months (can combine with financing).
12. Conclusion – Big picture, what the company may look like if everything goes according to plan
13. Appendix – As many slides as you want – usually more detailed information that may cause friction during main presentation. Try to anticipate questions you’ll receive and use these slides to supplement your answers.
Ideally, you will receive an opportunity to present the pitch deck in person or by phone. However, always assume that the presentation will be seen on a stand-alone basis without your voice-over so make sure the slides are easy to understand, concise, and compelling. Also do homework on your audience. If the VC you are meeting with has invested in a handful of prior healthcare companies, there is probably less of a need to have multiple slides on the industry – hit the key points.
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