The fundamentals

When do you need a pitch deck?

When you want to present your business plan to potential investors for funding to develop the business. You don’t need one if you are growing and funding business development organically.

What is the aim of a pitch deck?

To persuade investors to invest in your business, to move it towards its next stage of growth and development. Pitch decks can help achieve this. The optimum time to showcase your business using 10 slides is around 20 minutes, allowing time for questions.

Who is your audience?

Typically, angel investors and venture capitalists (VCs). Competition is strong. They will see hundreds of pitches each year and will quickly identify errors but also strong pitches.

Most VC investments fail, so investors want businesses that provide returns of 10x their initial investment, to compensate for losses. VCs and angel investors often specialise so target investors in your sector. Research investors to tailor your pitch to business ideas that resonate with them.

What do they want to know?

Identify in advance what questions your investor audience will ask and will want credible answers for. The fundamental question will be, ‘why is this startup worth me investing in?’

If you are aware of either current or anticipated issues, tackle them head on in your pitch. Investors will anticipate these problems and interrogate you about them anyway. Always identify the market opportunity.

A pitch to investors works best as a conversation, so don’t just talk, listen to and respond to investor comments and questions. Plan the pitch as a cohesive story that explains why your business is needed and how it will capitalise on a trend. The pitch deck should form an embryonic business plan, including a financial strategy, product details and customer analysis.

What are the specific requirements of a Seed Round pitch deck?

A seed pitch involves attracting initial investment from startup investors. Seed and angel investors typically invest between £250,000 and £1 million. Seed investors are usually small VC funds. Angel investors are often wealthy individuals, sometimes with experience in the market sector looking for investment.

Angel investors usually invest less than VCs, even for seed funding rounds, and there will often be a larger number of angel investors in one funding round. They are more likely to take a hands-on role in the early stages and a personal interest in business owners.