No two businesses are the same, so there’s no single answer for what should be in your pitch deck. The contents will vary depending on the stage your technology and business is at, the types of customers you’ll be targeting, the sectors you operate in and the types of investors you’ll be speaking to.
However, there are some clear guidelines that you can follow, once you consider what exactly investors are looking for: a short, coherent story about an innovative solution for a real problem.
Large investors, such as Sequoia and Y Combinator, have prepared rough templates for startups to follow, but the core elements your pitch deck must contain are:
- Problem
- Solution
- Why now?
- Roadmap
- Team
- The ask
Start with the problem and why it matters
Successful decks begin with a concrete problem that actually exists in the real world. Ground the rest of your story in the reality of what your potential customers experience today. The best problem statements are specific, relatable and easy to understand, even for someone without deep domain knowledge.
For deep tech founders, this usually means resisting the urge to lead with the science. Make sure you contextualise your work for investors first, and communicate how essential it is that someone solves this problem.
Explain your solution in plain language
Luckily for them, someone has solved this problem, and it’s you. This part should be straightforward enough, but communicating what you do can be difficult for technical or scientific founders, particularly if you are having to cater for a more generalist audience.
A key thing to remember is that the goal is not to make the investors in front of you understand your solution. It is to enable them to accurately explain what you do to their colleagues and partners, in as pithy and interesting a way as possible.
Show why now is the right time
Like it or not, investing is affected by hype cycles. Great ideas can fail if they’re too early or too late. You need to show what has changed to mean this company will succeed now; why customers will buy now, what technical or regulatory breakthroughs have occurred, or what new industry trends have emerged.
Investors want to know if this could be a fund returner. They will see through inflated numbers, but most investors will want to see a best case scenario for your potential market. At the early stage, you can worry less about calculating perfect SAMs and instead focus on demonstrating that you understand who your customers are, and the economic potential of solving their problem.
Outline your roadmap
Give a high-level view of the product, from what exists today to your upcoming milestones. For deep tech startups, early progress might be measured in technical validation, pilots, or certifications rather than revenue, but investors still want to understand how their risk might be reduced over time.
Your roadmap should include a clear model of how the business will make money, even if you haven’t hit that stage yet. Who will buy your product, how much for, and how will you scale?
Evidence beats ambition, even at the early stage; small signals of progress and validation go a lot further than first-party projections.
Introduce the team
This should go beyond just who you are, and cover why your team is the right team to be solving this particular problem. As with everything in your pitch deck, if it isn’t relevant that you used to work at Company X, don’t include it!
Finish with the ask
Be clear about how much you’re raising, what the money will be used for, and what milestones it will help you reach. Investors want to understand how their money will move the company forwards, both technically and commercially.
Starting your first pitch deck can feel daunting, but it’s a good litmus test for whether you’re ready to stand in front of investors and pitch for their money. If you don’t have answers to any of the above questions, you need to find them before you begin prospecting.
Our team are experts in crafting complex scientific and technical concepts into clear and compelling investor narratives. If you’re planning a fund raise in the next 6-12 months, contact us to see how we can help: info@commplicated.com
