2 min read Congratulations: You’ve landed a meeting with a prospective investor. It’s now time to prepare for your first meeting where you’ll present your pitch deck and hopefully convince the investor your startup is worth a gamble. To do this successfully, you’ll need to know what investors are looking for and how to prepare a solid pitch deck presentation. Continue reading below to learn more about how to do just this.
What Investors Want
One of the most important things to understand as an early-stage startup is this: The investor doesn’t care about the side of revenue. What they do care about is the predictability of the revenue. Investors look for systems in startups regardless of the size of the company.
As a startup, ask yourself:
- Do you have a process for finding customers?
- Does that process introduce them to your product?
- Does that process also include closing?
If you have a sale funnel, it is helpful to share that with the investors. This is key because the investor can then see the traction you have in your sales prospecting process. Use the funnel in multiple investor updates to show how prospects are moving through it.
Purpose of the Pitch Deck
A pitch deck is a brief presentation that provides your audience with an overview of your business. Ideally, the deck should answer any questions an investor might have.
The basic goal of the pitch deck is to introduce your deal to an investor. Additionally, the pitch deck should also serve as a way to show exactly what is essential to an investor who may be considering an investment in your startup.
Tips for Pitch Deck Success
An ideal pitch showcases the proposed outcome of the business is going to happen with or without the investor. In other words, your pitch deck should show that the outcome is inevitable.
Ideally, you want to use your pitch deck to show the potential investors that the results are there. Put those results up for everyone to see and show, what you have accomplished so far. The slides of your deck serve as the presenter, not the other way around.
When pitching, avoid discussing multiple scenarios. Investors will find it difficult to keep track of what you’re trying to accomplish.
Most importantly. focus on the core message.
Read more on the TEN Capital Guide: Presenting Your Pitch Deck
Hall T. Martin is the founder and CEO of the TEN Capital Network. TEN Capital has been connecting startups with investors for over ten years. You can connect with Hall about fundraising, business growth, and emerging technologies via LinkedIn or email: hallmartin@tencapital.group
