How to build a good pitch deck to raise private funds
The idea here is to give the main keys needed to build a good startup pitch deck, in order to raise funds from Business Angels or VC funds.
The general format: about 15 slides (let's say between 10 and 20), rather light in text, with just clear, impactful messages and key figures.
- Slide 1: a large, beautiful image with your company's logo and a one-sentence pitch (this can be your business slogan, but usually it's a pitch created for the occasion, for example "the Uber of driving lessons").
- Slide 2: a summary slide of the whole deck, which gathers the main figures and facts to remember. To be done last.
- Slide 3: the "team" slide, with the associated managers in the foreground (with any diplomas and professional background) and the key men below.
- Slide 4: the "problem" slide, which begins by summarizing in one sentence the problem in your market and detailing why and how it is a problem. Example: "Transferring money to Africa is complicated and/or expensive because...".
- Slide 5: the "solution" slide, which explains how your company provides a coherent and relevant response to the problem previously presented. Example: "Thanks to our marketplace, customers can compare prices in the blink of an eye and order in a single click.
- Slide 6: the slide that details the concept, the product, the service...
- Slide 7: the market slide, with the number of potential customers for your service or product in France and/or Europe and/or the world. Example: "There are 12,000 driving schools in France and 1 million driving test candidates each year, each of whom spends an average of €1,000,000, representing a market of €1 billion per year in France.
- Slide 8: the "business model" slide, which explains very clearly and precisely how the company's revenue is generated. Example: "On an average transaction of 100 euros, we take a 15% commission, i.e. 15 euros, and we also charge a fixed subscription fee of 50 euros per month to the supplier".
- Slide 9: the "KPIs" slide, which shows in a few figures (5 or 6 max) how the business is virtuous. Example: "Our CAC (customer acquisition cost) is 30 euros, our average basket is 300 euros with a gross margin of 50%, 150/30 = 5, so the gross margin / CAC ratio is 5". And then "A customer orders on average 3 times a year from us, or remains a subscriber for 7 months"...
- Slide 10: the "actual" slide which shows the evolution of the turnover and the number of customers in monthly or quarterly over the last 6 to 18 months.
- Side 11: the "forecast" slide, which shows revenue and customer forecasts for the next 24 to 48 months, with key milestones such as breakeven, opening new markets, recruiting key people, launching new products, etc.
- Slide 12: the "competitive positioning" slide, which shows precisely how you are better than your competitors. The goal is to show who your competitors are and how strong your value proposition is compared to them. Example: "In terms of customer processing speed, we are better than our competitors B and C with a processing speed of X days versus Y days".
- Slide 13: the "use of funds" slide, which shows how much money is raised and for what purpose. Example: "We are raising €600k in equity + €400k in debt, for customer acquisition on Facebook or SEO (40%), strengthening the tech team (40%) and building the customer service team (20%).
- Slides 14 and following: the appendices, with all the interesting data of your business: the key figures of your traffic and your conversion rates, the market data, a zoom on a particular customer...
These elements constitute a base, a skeleton, which allows to answer 80% of the crucial questions that an investor wants to see in a deck. Don't forget: the goal is to make them want to meet with you to discuss the subject further! You have to be clear and impactful in order to get the key messages across in a few minutes: "we are growing, our market is big and/or fragmented, how we bring something new to the market, our team is legitimate to address this issue and we know where we are going and how we are going to get there"...
Corentin Orsini - Founder of Super Capital and Angel investor
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