THE DECK
– Keep your deck confidential;
– Keep it to fewer than 15 slides, lest you risk losing everyone’s attention;
– Make your deck visually appealing with sexy branding, consistent font types and sizes, etc.;
– Don’t include too much text.
YOUR APPROACH
– Clearly state the market problem and include a key statistic that captures that problem;
– Define how you solve the problem;
– Understand the level of detail you will need to achieve to educate the people in the room. A firm that specializes in your market won’t require as much education as one that focuses on more generalized investments;
– Send the deck beforehand or have printouts available. The last thing you want is people trying to squint to read your slides;
– Use the slides as cues for a narrative about your idea, company and market opportunity. Don’t read from them directly;
– Accurately explain your path to profitability and growth strategy, what gap in the market you fill and estimated go-to-market timelines;
– Use financial tables as a leave-behind, not as a core talking point for your presentation;
– Leave time for questions!
THE CONTENT
– Include a slide on competitive analysis and highlight what your differentiators are;
– Show the faces of your core leadership team;
– Include slides on:
– Market landscape and opportunity
– Your business model and positioning
– Your competitors
– Your go-to-market/customer acquisition strategy and related traction
– Your core team
– Timelines
– Customer testimonials, partner feedback, etc.