The Perfect Pitch Deck - The Key Features of an Outstanding Pitch Deck

If you are a startup owner you have probably heard about “pitch decks” several times, or maybe you have already prepared some of these presentations for the investors you wanted to impress.

Although pitch decks are essential for startups to introduce themselves to capital investors, it is not easy to design and create them. What is more, if you are not familiar with writing a pitch deck, this process can be very time-consuming and painful for you. In order to make your job easier and help you create the perfect pitch deck, we collected some useful ideas on how to write a pitch deck that will impress your future investors. So without further ado, let’s quickly check what we will cover in this article:

1. What should you do if you want to create an excellent investor pitch deck.
2. What shouldn’t you do if you want to write a great pitch deck.
3. What are the key slides of an investor pitch deck.
4. Pitch deck ready? Apply for free for funding with Pitchdrive.
   

1. What should you do if you want to create an excellent investor pitch deck

A pitch deck usually consists of 15-20 slides in a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation and its goal is to present your startup’s products, business plan, technology, and your whole team to the investors. In most cases, these investors don’t have much time and because of this, it is crucial to create and show a well-built and unique pitch deck that tells the story behind your big idea and grabs the investors’ attention. Furthermore, your presentation must contain some elements that show your startup’s professionalism. These elements are the following:

• Telling a story of your product or idea is crucial for a successful pitch deck. Don’t forget to make it memorable and interesting in order to grab the investors’ attention. 
• Convince the reader of the excellent and huge market opportunity. Additionally, include some interesting graphics and charts in order to support your written content.
• Create and include a demo of your product in the in-person presentation. Additionally, convince your audience that you have more than just an idea by showing them your clear business plan and product features.
• Consistency is the key to an outstanding pitch deck. Don’t forget to use the same font type, colour, and heading stiles throughout the slides.
• Include the following wording at the bottom left of the pitch deck cover page: “Confidential and Proprietary. Copyright © by (Name of Company). All rights reserved.”
• Save and send your investor pitch deck in a PDF format. With this, you can be sure that it can be opened easily.

2. What shouldn’t you do if you want to write a great pitch deck

There are some other points you should keep in mind if you don’t know how to write a pitch deck. In the following listing, we collected all of these points:

1. First of all, don’t make your investor pitch deck more than 15-20 slides long and don’t create too many wordy slides.
2. Don’t use a lot of jargon and terms that the investors might not immediately understand.
3. Always keep your pitch deck up-to-date. Make sure that the information you present and the images, graphics, charts, and the cover page you use are all updated according to the latest results or goals your team achieved.
4. Make sure, that your pitch deck looks amazing and it has a look that presents your startup, product, and your team’s personality as well. If you are not able to produce a visual look that meets all of these above-mentioned requirements, hire a graphic designer and let him or her do this work. With this, you can be sure that your pitch deck will have a professional look.

3. What are the key slides of an investor pitch deck:

If you want to learn how to write a pitch deck that catches the investors attention this paragraph is perfect for you. We listed all the slides that should be included in your presentation in order to stand out from the crowd.

Create a great overview of your company

The first slide after the cover page should be the “Company Overview”. In this slide, first of all, you should shortly introduce your business. Secondly, the problem your business or product solves, your business location, the experience and the background of your management team have to be included in this little summary as well. Make sure, that you don’t write a long essay, just summarise this information in 4-6 bullet points. 

Present the Mission and Vision of your business

In this slide, you need to present the Mission and the Vision of your team. Make sure that you make this part of your presentation personal and present your Mission and Vision in first person. 

A great example of a mission: “We are an Uber-like solution for house cleaners”.
A cool example of a vision: “Our vision is to create workplaces where people love to work”.

Introduce your team

Many investors believe that human resources are the most important part of a business. Because of this, it is crucial to introduce your team members in your investor pitch deck. Make sure you include the name and the title of your team members with great pictures of them into your presentation. Furthermore, highlight their professional experience in a short summary or bio.

Highlight “The Problem” you want to solve in your pitch deck

Define clearly and highlight the problem you want to solve with your idea or product. Don’t forget, that on this slide you have to answer the following questions:

• How big is the problem?
• Why did the problem catch your attention and why is it important?
• Who is the target audience you are solving the problem for?

Introduce “The Solution” of the problem

In this section, you have to show the investors that you are capable of solving the problem and you have a well-built strategy for that. Here you can mention some details of the product you are working on but pay attention that you highlight the solution itself and the product will be presented in “The Product” slide.

Here comes “The Product” slide of your investor pitch deck

In this slide, you have to clearly present your product or service to the investors. Make sure that you highlight all the important information and you answer the following question at the same time:

1. Why is this product interesting for the users and what kind of problems can be solved by using this product?
2. What are the key features of your product? 
3. What are the differentiated features of your product? 
4. What kind of additional product features do you plan?

Show the “Market Opportunity” to your investors

In this section present briefly the size of the market you are in and highlight the financial possibilities on this market. Don’t forget to show up-to-date and real data to your investors about the current state of your market. Use visuals (charts and diagrams) in order to present big data in an easy way.

Show the investors your already existing customers 

If you have any already existing customers, don’t forget to show their logos and names to your investors. With this, you can be sure that you generate trust and you can present yourself in a more professional way.

Highlight your underlying technology in your pitch deck

Present all of your existing assets your startup has and don’t forget to mention those that are under development. This part of your pitch deck should contain the basic technology backbone and the key intellectual property rights you have.

Who are your competitors?

Show the investors that you have done deep market research and you know well your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. Create and present a strategy that will clearly highlight where is your place on the market and how you are planning to beat your competitors.

Show your business model in the investor pitch deck

Create and show your business model for the investors. If you don’t know how to write one, either use a Business Model Canvas or look for someone who can create a health report of your business and can help you to develop a professional business plan. Don’t forget to include the financial state of your startup and the marketing plan of your new product into your business plan.

4. Pitch deck ready? Apply for free for funding with Pitchdrive.

Are you convinced that you already have a perfect pitch deck and it will surely grab the investors' attention? Or did you follow the steps above and feel ready for the next step: seed funding? Why not give your project a chance and sign up for free with Pitchdrive? We will analyze and qualify your application and your pitch deck and see if you're ready for funding. Try it today! Click here to get started.