How to find startup investors
How to find startup investors… one of the most common questions we get asked at SeedLegals. So, here’s the c...
A good pitch deck gets you out of the inbox and into investor meetings. But itâs no easy feat to create a pitch deck convincing enough to grab a busy investorâs attention.
You have just under 20 slides to distil all the incredible work youâve already done and paint a picture of the potential you see for your business. You need to convince strangers youâre the right destination for tens or hundreds of thousands of their pounds. And all you have is the very limited amount of time an investor will spend scrolling through the pitch deck you send them.
In this post, we explain how to make your pitch deck as impactful as possible:
The investment deck is your sales pitch to investors for startup funding. Itâs not the place to overwhelm readers with market research or rows and rows of numbers.
A startup pitch deck should include high-level information about how your company solves a real problem and why investing in your company now is the right opportunity.
To hook investors, these are the questions you need to answer in your pitch deck:
James ChurchYour solution needs to be clear and concise â this is where many startups fail. Often the explanation of the solution is too complex and long-winded, or it uses industry terminology that the investor doesnât know. Instead, briefly describe what your idea is in a sentence and boil it down to its core benefits. Focus on the reasons the customer would want to use it â rather than trying to overexplain the technology involved.
Co-Founder and COO,
Build a visually compelling, concise pitch deck with the SeedLegals pitch deck template.
Find inspiration for your pitch with:
đ¨A customisable framework for an investment-winning pitch deck
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Create an investment-winning pitch deck with our customisable template.
SeedLegals CEO Anthony Rose sat down with pitch coach Claire Macmillan to explore how to use the power of a good story to win over investors. Watch the webinar recording below for the full conversation – and to see Claire give constructive feedback to a handful of submitted pitches.
People remember stories much better than plain facts. Put that to your advantage by using the slides in your pitch deck to unfold a compelling story about the opportunity youâve identified.
Claire MacmillanThe pitch is all about storytelling, particularly when youâre early stage. You donât have the traction yet or the metrics to prove your success. Instead, you need to make the investor see the opportunity in the same way you do – by bringing your vision to life. Your insights about the market and the expertise of your team are parts of the puzzle that fit together to make a strong story.
Pitch Coach,
So how do you turn the deeply technical information of your B2B SaaS product into a compelling narrative?
Of course youâre excited about the incredible tech youâre developing. But for your pitch deck you need clarity of message, not to dazzle readers with your genius.
Claire advises that you make sure your pitch deck passes the 15-second test. Imagine your potential investor swiping through your deck in only 15 seconds. If at the end of that time, they donât understand what your company does and why they should be interested, your deckâs going straight in the bin.
Thereâs no room for wasted space in your pitch deck. Donât just label your slides âThe problemâ and âOur solutionâ. Use that prime real estate to unpack a bit more of the story youâre telling about the opportunity youâve spotted.
Add specifics into your headings so that, when put together, they make a convincing case to investors. The heading on your âproblemâ slide or slides could state exactly why thereâs a need for your product. Your âsolutionâ slide could pick out the USP that makes your company stand out from the competition.
With headings as signposts, you thread a strong message throughout your pitch deck. Not only does it stop your deck looking like a random assortment of slides, each slide will reinforce the message of the one before – and help set the scene for what comes next.
By the end, youâll have a holistic story with a beginning (problem), middle (solution) and end (investment ask).
Claire MacmillanThe problem has got to really grab you. Itâs ok to start high level, but you need to immediately dive a little bit deeper into the specific problem youâre addressing.
If you lose the investor at the problem stage, then itâs over.Pitch Coach,
If an investor doesnât understand the need for your product or service, they wonât care about the solution you present.
Donât assume the investor has all the knowledge or context you do. For example, itâs simple to say youâre going to fix an existing process thatâs too hard. But spell out why itâs so hard. Try to get the investor invested in the problem – that way, theyâll be more motivated to help solve it by funding your solution.
One way to do this is to create a customer scenario that gives a human face to an abstract problem. By fleshing out a customer persona – essentially creating a character for your pitch story – you can bring the problem you’re describing to life for your audience of investors.
This might sound obvious. But any disconnection between what you said the problem is and how you present your solution will dilute the power of the story youâre telling.
Emphasise how the features of your product or solution have real benefits to the users. If you link those benefits to specific aspects of the overarching problem, you construct an investor-proof narrative about the need for your exact solution.
Visuals help to give your content clarity. Itâs not engaging for investors to read through slides and slides of bullet points in small text. Bring the story youâre telling to life by putting emphasis on the most important points through design.
Experiment with content visualisation elements like:
But donât let beautiful design get in the way of good messaging. Remember that your pitch deck has to be functional, so avoid small fonts in light colours and busy backgrounds.
Will investors assume youâre trying to break into an already crowded market? Get ahead of their objections and tell them early on why the opportunity is there for you to take. Donât leave it until the market competition slide. If you have a convincing edge over your competitors, put it front and centre in your problem slides.
Remember, investors need to understand why your product will be in demand over the long term. Anything thatâs an obvious threat to that longevity should be dealt with upfront.
Feedback is valuable, but you canât please everyone. Remember that your goal with your pitch deck is to leave your investor with a strong impression. Your message will be muddled (and much less memorable) if itâs made up of too many threads.
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Sign up to newsletterWeâre always on the hunt for ways to help founders get funding. As well as the pitch deck template, weâve created a startup starter kit of free ebooks to help you run and grow your business.
And to help you create your pitch deck, hereâs a shortlist of helpful articles:
â Create your free page in minutes
â Add your pitch deck, a video, team bios
â Send the link - no more huge files over email
â Track page views and investor interest
â Add interested investors directly to funding docs