An Investors Pitch
Deck is a brief presentation created to provide a brief overview of the
business plans and strategies to potential investors, partners or customers. These
are especially of help to the startups, professionals and corporations who are interested
in financial aid from external sources in form of investments.
The key feature of an Investors
Pitch Deck is its uniqueness.
What sets this pitch apart from the others which the investor is considering? How
does the pitch excel in convincing the investor? Does the pitch fall on the
same length as the investor’s ideas?
There are many guidelines that are provided for what must be
included in an Investor’s Pitch Deckbut
what are the points that must be avoided in a pitch at all cost? Let us look at
some pointers which will help you break the monotonous streak of Investors Pitch Deck without compromising
on your vision:
1.
Most
important is not to make the Investors Pitch Deck too long? The powerpoint presentation should
not be more than 25-30 slides, and in no way exceeding 35, after which the
investor shall start losing his attention and interest.
2.
Avoid
a text rich presentation. The Investor
Pitch Deck must be more communicative and only an aid toyour words. The
visuals keep the audience engaged and the interaction feels more personal.
Avoid long words, sentences, and paragraphs, but do not overdo on the images. Keep it crisp.
3.
Don’t be repetitive. Praising your product in every
slide shall give the impression that you are not confident in your strategies.
4.
The
Investor Pitch Deck
must not waste time on irrelevant or flattery information. Any information that
has no direct relevance to your product, business plans and the investment must
be removed.
5.
Too
many numbers can be toxic. The key financial data to be presented in the Investors Pitch Deck can be presented
in form of graphs or pie charts with a summary so that the numbers do not kill
the attention of the audience.
6.
In
an attempt to impress the investors, one may exaggerate the figures- big mistake.
Do not take your investors for being fools. They have their own experts to
verify the facts and data being supplied. Keep
it simple and keep it correct.
7.
The
Investors Pitch Deck does not
require mentioning every single detail or development of the product; it is not
a progress report. Present the big picture with the important details which
shall showcase your confidence in your product.
8.
Before
an Investor’s Pitch Deck is prepared, one
must have clarity about the product, expansion strategies and business plans. Lack
of clarity helps to elaborate on the central idea with precision.
9.
Dedicate
few slides to marketing yourself as an asset to the investor. Be subtle and
don’t glorify yourself. Instead, make the investor feel that investment in your
product must become his priority. Give him something to think for next few
days.
10.
Do
not present unrealistic goals. Keep your approach, methodand plans pragmatic
and workable.
11.
Keep
your Investors Pitch Deck grammatically
correct and scan the pitch to avoid spelling mistakes.
12.
Do
not copy your pitch from any sources. Take inspiration but be original. Tailor
your Investor’s Pitch Deck for your
product, need, and your investors.
13.
And
at all cost avoid following, they have no place in an Investors Pitch Deck:
a. Your or anyone’s philosophical
phrases;
b. Pep talk;
c. Slangs;
d. Industry abbreviations and jargon;
e. Pessimistic and negative statements;
f.
Contradicting
information;
g. Foreign language words, phrases, even
if they are popular.
By considering the above suggestions, you can improve the
quality of your Investors Pitch Deck
and take it up a notch. It should be noted that a pitch manifestsyour hard work
and belief in your product.