Pitch Deck For Startups: A Comprehensive Guide

pitch deck for startups
Presentation Material and Design

Introduction –

A pitch deck for startups is necessary for any early-stage enterprise or venture‘s success and growth. It is a presentation of their business model that should impress investors in order to secure financial capital fundsCapturing the interest of investors in today’s competitive world is vital for startups which require funds to get started. It will allow you to make your innovative ideas become a successful business venture. In this article, you can go through the significance of funding deck presentations, overview of its detailed key components, guidelines for the preparation of a successful pitch deck presentation, and many more.

pitch deck for start-ups

Pitch Deck for Startups – Definition

  • A pitch deck for startups is a visual representation that outlines the key aspects of a business. It is an essential tool well-crafted by startups or entrepreneurs that acts as a comprehended presentation of the key elements of their early-stage venture. A pitch deck for startups will highlight the problem statement that you have found in the market and your innovative idea to implement its solution.
  • This will be the process through which you’ll raise capital funds for your startup to create a financial pillar for developing your service/product and growing your business. The challenge lies in having to impress venture capitalists or angel investors and make your business model stand distinguished among the different types of business models they are meeting each week. This can be made easy with the help of a startup pitch deck, and you will find yourself becoming a shining star in achieving your business goals.
  • A pitch deck for startups is a presentation that highlights the business idea and has its business model, management team, marketing strategies, financial projections, and market opportunities. It is aimed at seeking investment and support from investors. It is not just presentation but strong tool that tells your startup’s business idea, vision, and strategy. They are important to attract investors, form key partnerships, and acquire funds. 

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Key Components of a Pitch Deck –

Each startup will have different unique business ideas and models. But the investors would expect a well-established and formatted pitch deck. It is very important to match your startups identity and goal with the pitch deck you prepare.
Although there are numerous ways to create a pitch deck for startups, most of the pitch deck will look the same. It will have 10 to 20 slides presentation with visuals representing a business idea and implementation of a product or service.

Here are the key components required for a pitch deck for startups: 

Cover Slide

This is the first slide of your pitch deck presentation. It must attract the attention of investors and give a snapshot of your business idea. It should be eye-catching in a way that should create curiosity for the upcoming slides in the presentation.

Make your cover slide memorable – Always use simple, compelling, straightforward, eye-catching taglines that will show who you are, what is your idea, and what you do.
Simple – Try to make all the details small and simple. Shortlist to your businesss name, slogan, and slogan.
Aesthetic appeal design – Make your slide cover professionally designed and well composed. Use clear and professional formatting for the slides.

Summary/Introduction Slide

It will give a brief overview or introduction to your business idea and the entire presentation. It will contain the outlines of – why your idea is unique, what will your startup do, and the implementation plan. This is the slide where you place your startup’s vision and mission.

Key Differentiators It should show how your startup will stand out from other startups. Show your Unique Selling Point, target market and competitive advantage to the investors
Clarity Speak in language that is plain and simple but not too technical so it does not make the investors look confused.
Keep it interestingmake it informative firstbut compelling as well.

This is the slide where you state the problem in the market that you have identified and intend to solve. This problem statement must emphasize your solutions need in the market.

Specific – Clearly state the problem to the investors with evident data and examples.
Highlight the intensity of the problem – Usage of statistics or real-time situations will highlight the intensity of your problem and show its significance in the market.
Illustrate your understanding of the problem – Show how much you have researched in the market and gained an understanding of this problem.

Solution

In this slide, you would describe the solution that you have developed for the problem that you posited in an earlier slide in your presentation. This is a unique answer to the need for your startup. Explain in detail your service or product; show how it addresses the problem, and meets the needs of your target industry.

Use visuals – You can make use of various images, diagrams, and prototypes to make your presentation much more understandable for the investors.
Competition – You can also state a competition company in the market and show how you will be different from them concisely.

Market Opportunity

Here, you can provide a synopsis of the market research that you have carried out and the market opportunity you found. Use statistics, market trends, and market insights to showcase the market opportunities and the growth potentialThe presentation should give assurance to investors on the relevance of investing in your start-up and the return that will be acquired.

Solid Data – You can brief the Total Addressable Market (TAM), Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM), and Serviceable Available Market (SAM).
Visualize – Make use of graphs, charts, and other statistical models for a better understanding of the market.
Market trends – Investors will look for the future growth of the industry you are pitching into. Make sure to highlight the future aspects of the market and show the opportunities and growth ahead.

Business Model

Showcase and highlight your service or product. This will give an understanding to the investors about your service or product and its operation, unique selling point, and features.

In this slide, you must explain how your business workswhich includes revenue streams, pricing strategy, and partnerships. It‘s your chance to show the investors how your business model will gain sustainable growth with financial investment returns for them.

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Traction

This slide depicts the current growth scenario of your business. You can highlight statistics that show your businesss market acceptance and how it is gaining traction in the market. It can be conveyed in terms of sales, press coverage, partnerships, and user engagement. Include the milestones and achievements that your business has made to date.

Key metrics – Include numbers like user count, growth rate, revenue, and other relevant metrics in the slide.
Customer testimonials – Successful testimonials and case studies will increase the chances of getting an investment.

Sales and Marketing Strategy

A structured sales and marketing strategy will make your pitch presentation more compelling to the investors. Show your strategies and plans of how you intend to attract customers to your business. Include the sales, pricing, and marketing methods and strategies.

Marketing techniques – Describe and explain your marketing channels and strategies that you place in the market.
Sales strategy – Explain how sales are going to be managed and how you are going to scale it as a successful growth process.
Competition

This slide can articulate the competitive advantages of your business, besides educating the market situation. You need to come up with strategies and show how your business is different from other businesses in the market. You need to analyze the features, market position, as well as pricing that your competitors have.

Be honest – Tell who your competitors are. Avoid not telling the key players in the industry and which will have an effect on your credibility.
Unique Selling Point – This is the most important part of your business. It tells how your product or service differentiates from others and what’s unique in your business model. This can be devised in any factors like business model, technology, target market, or other factors.

Financial Projections

Forecast the financials of your business with cash flow projections, balance sheets, and revenue projections for the first few years. This is important because the investors will anticipate looking into the future growth of your business and calculate their investment returns.

Use proper numbers – The number should be honest and credible for future projections. Assess all the potential outcomes, risks, challenges, and other factors while formulating your projections.

Investors are not only concerned with business ideas and returns on investment but also want to know the capability of the founder and team members in that business. The level of experience, success rate, dedication, and skills of the entire team should be reflected.

Showcase your and your team’s past achievements in business, specialized technical skills, and industry experience. You can also demonstrate how the team will work collaboratively in an efficient manner.  Long-lasting partnerships and old collaborations will show the investors about your team’s efficiency and attract them to invest in your business with confidence.

Funding Ask and Call to Action

This is the slide in your pitch deck presentation where you specify directly how much investment you are seeking from the investors. You can also show them how you are planning to use this fund in the business. This concise call to action will make investors feel like they have a part in the success of your early-stage business venture.

Justify your fund ask – Show numbers on how you have evaluated this fund requirement with factors like revenue projections, market comparisons, etc. Explain how the asked fund will be used in your business like product or service development, marketing purposes, etc.
Indicate investment returns – You can calculate the return on investments that you ask from the investors. This might also attract them to your venture.
Summarize and Call to Action – Summarize all your key points, vision, and impact of your venture. Also, engage the investors by encouraging them to ask questions or additional information about your business model.

Types of Pitch Decks –

Different types of pitch decks can be created based on the type of audience and at which stage the business lies. Each type of funding deck explained below is tailored for a special purpose and they focus on different business aspects.

  • Investor Pitch Decks for Startups

This type of funding deck is most commonly used by startups to get capital funds from investors. This presentation focuses on business models, market opportunities, traction, team, and financial projections. The audience for this pitch deck can be angel investors or venture capitalists.

  • Sales Pitch Deck

This presentation is prepared to show the value of your product or service in front of potential customers. It includes product features, problem statements and solutions, case studies, and success stories of customers. The audience for this pitch deck are clients, partners, and potential customers.

  • Partnership Pitch Deck

As the name suggests, this pitch deck is used to acquire beneficial partnerships with another company. Potential collaborators and business partners will be its audiences. The presentation will include potential benefits from the partnership, harmony between the companies, and their strategic goals.

  • Product Pitch Deck

These are mainly used in product launches to highlight the features and benefits of newly launched products or services. It will contain product features/details, use cases, market potential, and its USP (unique selling proposition). Customers, investors, and media will be the set of audiences for this deck.

  • Visionary Pitch Deck

It is presented to investors, employees, partners, and other stakeholders for understanding the company’s long-term vision and engaging them in the company. The presentation will include vision, mission, long-term goals, and future market trends.

  • Elevator Pitch Deck

It is a quickly presented funding deck used to convey the concise version of your start-up in front of investors, network events, and partners. It will have problem solutions, business models, and market opportunities.

  • Internal Pitch Deck

This type of pitch deck is used to convey any newly devised strategy, initiative, or project to the stakeholders, board members, and employees. These slides will have details about strategies, objectives, potential outcomes, etc.

  • Customer Pitch Deck

Potential customers and early adopters will be its audiences. The purpose of this funding deck is to validate the idea of your business with certain potential customers by collecting feedback from them. Problem solutions, hypotheses, and feedback questions must be included in the slides.

  • Competition Pitch Deck

The audiences can be partners, investors, or even customers. It is used to show how your business differentiates from others in the market. Highlight the competitive analysis, market positioning, and unique selling points in its slides. 

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Conclusion –

In short, we can tell that the preparation of a pitch deck for startups is an art in business. This article has provided you with a comprehensive guide to preparing a pitch deck and even customizing it according to the specific audience of investors. These guidelines will increase your startup’s chances of getting secured investment from investors. You can make a strong impression in front of investors and get the required capital to thrive in your business in this competitive market.

FAQs –

1. What are the essential tips to create a pitch deck for startups?

A detailed format and explanation of each key component for a funding deck are comprehended in the article. However, there are some essential tips and techniques that will enhance your pitch deck.

  • Simple Presentation – Avoid untidy disarrangements and make sure to keep every slide focused on key points.
  • Visual Appeal – You can make your funding deck presentation more visually appealing and engaging by adding graphics, images, and charts.
  • Tell a Story – Prepare your presentation in a story’s structure, which can lead the audience to go through your journey.
  • Honesty – It is always appealing for investors to hear honest and realistic business projections. You can be transparent about the business risks and challenges. 
  • Practice – You must rehearse your pitch presentation several times before going in front of the investors. This will enhance your confidence, ensure easy presentation, and confidently answer the investor’s questions.

2. What is seed and series A/B/C pitch deck?

  • A seed pitch deck is the presentation that you use to secure your first capital fund from the investors. It will be short and focused on the business idea. It should be an answer to the question of why should investors invest in your business idea. 
  • The series A/B/C are more heavy and financially elaborated than the seed pitch deck. You present this deck after one year of running your business. It will contain the current financials, traction, and potential for future growth validated with financial projections. 

3. Which software provide the template for a pitch deck for startups?

  • Let it be a pitch deck for startups or any other level of your business, a variety of templates are available nowadays. This will help you in the process of making the deck more professional and engaging. Some of the prominent software and tools include Slidebean, Google Slides Templates, Canva, and Microsoft PowerPoint Templates.  
  • You can also get examples of successful and real-world pitch decks from platforms and websites like Medium articles by startup founders and investors, Pitch Deck Hunt, TechCrunch, and SlideShare.

4. Why do pitch decks for startups fail?

The failure of pitch decks can be due to different reasons. Some of the major reasons are:

  • Lack of clarity and focus
  • Poor Design and Visuals
  • Inadequate Market Analysis
  • Poor Business Model
  • Insufficient Financial Details
  • Poor Presentation Delivery
  • Weak Team Presentation or Coordination
  • Ignoring Investor Needs
  • Ignoring the Competitive Analysis

5. Are both the business plan and pitch deck the same?

No, both are not the same even though they look similar and are used to present the business idea to stakeholders.

  • A business plan is a document with every detailed aspect of your business like market analysis, marketing strategies, company positioning, organizational structure, operation plans, competitive edge, and financial projections. It is usually 20-40 pages long or more.

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