Introduction
A pitch deck is the primary visual and verbal tool used to convey your business idea, strategy and goals. It’s a concise representation of your startup that you can use during presentations to potential investors or clients. A pitch deck presentation is typically shown in slide format with an accompanying narrative that describes how you’ll achieve success with your product or service.
Definition
What is a Pitch Deck Presentation?
A pitch deck is a presentation that is used to convince investors to invest in your company. It is typically 10-15 slides long, and it should be presented in 20 minutes or less. The idea behind this structure is that if you can’t present your business well enough to get an investor interested in just 20 minutes, then chances are they won’t invest.
The goal of the deck is to highlight your company’s value proposition and demonstrate how you will capitalize on it by focusing on three main areas: Vision (future), Value Proposition (now), & Execution Plan (how).
You’ll also want to include some investor materials at the end of your presentation—things like financial projections, executive bios/talent lists, and testimonials from customers who have already bought from you before.
Purpose
A pitch deck is a presentation tool used to persuade someone to invest in you or your idea. A pitch deck can be effective at raising capital, selling your idea to investors, or even convincing new employees that your startup is going places. In short: a pitch deck is meant to get people excited about what you’re doing.
Pitch decks can vary by purpose and audience, but they generally include the following components:
- Introduction (who you are and what makes you special)
- Problem statement (what problem does this solution solve?)
- Solution overview (how does it work?)
- Features and benefits list (what does it do?)
Components
A pitch deck is a presentation used to describe and persuade investors. It’s usually a short, concise presentation of your business idea, team, market potential and financials. Because you only have so much time to present the information in your pitch deck, it’s important that your content is organized.
The basic components of a pitch deck are:
- Title slide – use this space to introduce yourself briefly and display relevant credentials as needed (e.g., years of experience or degrees)
- -3 Introduction slides – these slides define what you’re pitching and why it matters. Use these slides as an opportunity to explain why you’ve chosen this particular idea/project/business venture over others in your portfolio (if applicable).
Audience and Presentation Flow
- Who is the audience?
- What is the purpose of your pitch?
- What’s the flow of your presentation? How long should it be, and what are you planning on covering?
- Best way to present it: In person, over Skype/Facetime, via email as a PDF file or a link to a web version (if they don’t have PowerPoint installed).
Here is what you need to know to create a great pitch deck.
A pitch deck is a presentation that helps you to sell your idea, product or service. It’s the first impression you make on investors and stakeholders when trying to get funding for your company.
A pitch deck should be short; between 10 and 20 slides long. The shorter it is, the more concise it will be and the easier it will be for people to digest what you have to say in an effective way. A good rule of thumb is no more than 5 minutes per slide – this gives you enough time to talk about each topic without getting bored or losing their attention!
The purpose of all of these components is to help put together a great presentation that covers all aspects of who you are as an entrepreneur. Why people should listen to what you have planned for your business. How they can benefit from investing in what you do right now rather than later on down the road when things may not go as well as expected due to unforeseen circumstances (like competition entering into new markets).
Conclusion
Creating a pitch deck is not as simple as throwing together some slides. It requires careful consideration of the audience, content and flow. In order to create an effective pitch, it’s important to understand who your audience is. What they need from you. The best way to do this is by asking questions such as What problem am I trying solve? or How will this help them? Once you have an answer for those questions then developing your pitch becomes much easier. Everything else falls into place around them.