Pitchdesk - Sample 2022
1. STRUCTURE
• Cover
• Problem
• Solution
• Product Demo
• Market Size
• Business Model
• Competition
• Underlying Magic
• Go-to Market
• Team
• Traction / Milestones
• Fundraising Information
Problem
• No complicated jargon
• No debatable arguments
• 100% straightforward verifiable claims
• Creating Empathy with Investors
• Questionable Statement = whole premise of the pitch will be doubted
• If the problem you are trying to solve can be applied to them, then: great!
• If you are solving the problem to an entirely different audience: acknowledge it
Solution
• You and your company
• Mention 3 or 4 core functions of the product and how they address the problem
• Avoid jargon: think of benefits instead of features Product Demo
• Video Capture vs. Life Presentation
• Aha Moment in 30 seconds or less Investors
• Want returns for their investment! (It’s not about sympathism)
• Your Team and your solution can grasp this opportunity, create a sizeable and give a sizeable return on investment
Market Size
• Important for how large the company can become
• Top down market approach: Total Market Size, SoM
• Bottom up market approach: Premises, KPIs
• Scenarios: Worst, Realistic, Best Business Model
• Make-or-break for the pitch
• Must be intuitively understood Competition
• Grid (BCG-Matrix)
• Steve Jobs: comparing the iPhone to any other phone
• Product should stand far from the competitors Underlying Magic
• = Competitive advantage
• Elaborate on Technology
• Unique Product or Service
• Uber: (1) Route optimization system (2) Reputation Tracking (3) Demand Forecasting Go to Market
• Try and Fail (nobody knows how this will work out until it’s tried)
• Fake it till you make it
• Picture it as you are 100% sure: that’s the way to go
• Prove that you can figuring out ways to grow your business
• Ideas + ability to execute them
• Market Adoption: (1) Events (2) Partnerships (3) Craigslist: dual posting features (increasing traffic) Team
• Simple
• Mentioning Founders
• Why are you the right people to grow this company
• Hustler (CEO), Hacker (CTO), Hipster (Can build a high quality brand)
• Do not talk about advisors here, first employees or anybody who is not 100% dedicated to the company Traction and Milestones
• Traction might come directly after cover
• Traction is the climax of the story
• If you have revenues. Only use the revenue growth in the chart Fundraising Information
• On stage: do not add financial data
• Sending the deck to a VC: ok
• US: “Fundraising 101: A tale of two rules – Fundraising under 505 (b) vs. 506 (c)
2. 5 Pitch Mistakes Entrepreneurs make, and how to fix them (Brandon Baker)
1. They fail to tell a story
• Ingredients w/o flow
• A story arc: “Pain and response.”
• “I saw the pain firsthand”
• “There are millions like me.”
• “So we built a solution.”
• “Here is how the product works.”
• A pitch is a sequence of story arcs
• Arc 1: “Pain and response.”
• Arc 2: “It’s working.”
• Arc 3: “It’s spreading to a big place”
2. They don’t think at an investors’s level
• Entrepreneurs are good at execution, not good in how the world is changing
• How the world is changing – Company Vision – Execution
• “Why is now the only time this company could be built?”
• “Why is this the only Team that can built it?”
3. They think a pitch is rational
• Its stupid to investment I a company in the seed phase
• Investors want to be excited
• Exitement must be bigger than the Hesitation
• Exitement vs Hesitation List
4. Entrepreneurs try to hard to be credible(defening themselves)
• Be specific, be different
• Be unique
• Create room to be challenged
5. They can’t cut shit
• The more aspects are added, the worse it gets
• Take the 3 Best (vs 10 Best, vs 25 Best)