essentials of a seed pitch deck

Investor pitch deck 101

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Get their AttentionPassionately&clearlycommunicateavisionDon’toversell- investorscaneasilyseethroughcrapFocusonyourstrengths&remaincandid

Show Growth, Opportunity & Passion, But Don’t Oversell It

Sendoneortwohigh-levelmembersofyourteam,notthewholecrew

Stay Intimate

Anexceptionalentrepreneurorteamwhohasexperienceanddrive

Largeenoughandinterestingenough marketopportunities

Asmart,differentiated,anddefensibleproduct/servicethatwillstandoutinitially initsmarketandbeabletoprotectitsmarginsovertime

Investment Readiness

Level9.Plausibleexit8.Cashtoexit7.Uniteconomics– marginvalidated6.Reimbursement5.Regulatorycertainty/difficulty4.IP:Patentability,FTO&block3.Attractivesolution&IDofMVP2.Compellingclinicalneed+largemarket1.Effectiveteam

Conversational

• Regurgitationofbusinessplanortechnologyroadmap• Asalespitch• Abrainstormingtoolorawaytocollectyourthoughts

What a pitch deck isn’t...

• TheBigIdea• TheProblem• TheSolution• TheMarket• MarketAdoption• BusinessModel• ProprietaryTechnology• Competition• CompetitiveAdvantages• Traction/Validation• Milestones

• Regulatory&ReimbursementStrategy

• WhoWeAre• Press/Testimonials• Financials• TheAsk• Summary

10-15 Slides Choose Wisely!

0.Cover Slide

TaglineThink about including key information like name, title, email, mobile phone number

1.The Big Idea

Bold,declarativestatement.Ambitious.

Big.

2.The Problem

• Frustration?Whatisbroken?• Whyshouldyourproductexist?• What’stheopportunity?

Current Pain

3. The Solution

Your Product• Showhowyourproductworksin3easysteps– Describeyourproduct,includingkeydifferentiators– Describethenon-confidentialmechanismofaction– Secretsauceormagic?

• Breaktodemoifitsshortandworthemphasisingoneortwokeyinsightsorfeatures– Tellastory– futureclientoranexampleofacurrentclient

Whatmacro-trends,newenablingtechnologies,etc.giveyouachancetosucceedwhenotherswhotackledthispainpointhavefailed

Only Possible Now

4. Proprietary Tech

• Statusofanypatentfilings(issued,applications)• Detailsofanylicenseagreements• StatusofanyotherIP(e.g.trademarks,tradesecret,etc.)

Intellectual Property

5.The Market

• Massive(butrealistic)market• Data/statsonmarketsize,existingproofpoints,etc.

The Opportunity

TotalAddressableMarket

ServiceableAddressableMarket

ServiceableObtainableMarket

TAM

SAM

SOMTypi

cal

Top-

Dow

n

MarketTop Down – USA only

$36Billion

TotalSkinCancerDiagnosticMarketSource:SomeReputableSource

$4Billion

TelehealthSkinCancerDiagnosticsSource:SomeReputableSource

$50Million

MyProductOpportunity

$10peruse

MarketBottom Up – USA only

Numberofatriskpeople Somethingbig%withsmartphones SmallerPriceperreport $10.00_____________________________________________Opportunity/Yearatx%penetration Impressive$

6. Competition

• Directvsindirectcompetitors– Potentialentrants

• Competitiveadvantage

• Barrierstoentryfornewplayers?(money,time,expertise,relationships,patents)

Market Fit

FeatureA FeatureBFeatureCYOUCoACoB

Competitorlogo• Bulletpointsummaryofmodel,traction,limitationsMarketshareCompetitivedifferentiationDefencefromcompetitiveresponse

Types of diagrams/charts

Market landscape comparison

Feature List Comparison

7. Business Model

8. Marketing strategy

• Listapproaches/tacticsyou’regoingtousetogetcustomers.Initialsetplusovertime.– Howlongissalescycletogetaclient?– Expectedconversionrate?– Averagecosttoacquireacustomer?– Lifetimevalueofcustomer?

• Keyexpenses/time-efforts• AUS,USorEUfirst?Why?• Directsalesvsindependentrepsvspartner?

Getting Customers

9. Go to market strategy & Milestones

Go-To-MarketTotal Addressable Market: [$XB industry]Distribution Strategy: [Your unique advantage + channels you plan to test

Launch[Dates]

Traction[Dates]

Growth[Dates]

Main Focus:

Priority Tasks:

Target Results:

[X]

[X]

[X]

[X]

[X]

[X]

[Launch web & iOS app]

• [Improve signup flow• Finalize user referral process• Accepted to App Store• Drive initial signups• Measure DAU totals]

• [X initial users• Convert X% of existing email list• Understand DAU & optimize] 5

Timeline

10. Traction, Validation

• Currentproductdevelopmentstatus,whatnearfuturelookslike

• Statson,orplansforgetting,initialcustomers

Traction

Customer Overview“By2020,over85%ofgeneralpractitionerswillusecloud-basedpatientmanagementsoftwaresolutions”

LiveCustomers Implementing Pilots Prospects

Logo Logo Logo Logo

Logo

Logo

Logo

Logo

11. Regs & reimbursement

• Describetheregulatorypathwayforyourproduct(ifapplicable)

• Describethereimbursementenvironmentforyourproductorsimilarcategoryproducts(ifapplicable)

Red Tape

12. The team

Who We Are• Listpics+shortbiooneachfounder/seniorteammember• Includeinfoonboardmembers&advisors– StateverballyifBoardisinvesting(bigpoints).Ifno,don’tbringitup,haveareasonforwhynotifasked.

• Includeinfoonfuturehires• Outlinedivisionofresponsibilities

13. The ask

4 key questionso Howmuchareyouraisingnow?o Howmuchhaveyouraisedpreviously?o Whatwillyouusethemoneyfor?o Whenandhowdoinvestorsgetareturnontheirinvestment?

What Do You Need?

14. summary

Key Takeaways• List3-5ofyourstrongestpoints,distilleddowntomemorablesoundbites• Whatisyourcalltoaction

z. outro

[email protected]

<Impactfulquotefromcustomerorsimilar>

Ω. appendices

Executive SummaryWhat We Do:• ExampleCo is a [zero-jargon description

of product] used by [broad but addressable market] to [benefits].

• We are focused on the [$X billion target niche] market.

Current Status:We are [company stage, e.g. pre-revenue, pre-launch, etc.].

Traction to date includes:• (Month or Quarter 1): X key metric, Y key

metric• (Month or Quarter 2): X key metric, Y key

metric

Currently Raising:• [$X-Y million] seed round.• Previously raised [$X million] from

[investors].

Team Experience

Pilot Customers/Partners

Logos of Past Companies & Top Schools

Logos or Other Proof of Early Traction

BorrowedfromNextView Ventures

Detailed Financial Projections($000)

Milestones Month Expenditures Customers RevenuePrototype Jan16 $150 0 $0ClinicalTrial Jun16 $100 0 $0Reg Approval Jan17 $100 0 $0Launch Jan17 $100 10 $100

Feb17 $100 100 $1,000Breakeven Mar17 …

2016 2017 2018UnitSalesConsumablesRevenueGrossProfitOPEX

• Sales&Marketing• CustomerService• ProductDevelopment

EBIT

Detailed Start-Up Capitalisation

Amount %ofTotalFounder’sInvestmentsAngelInvestorsVCBankLoansNon-Dilutive

o Grants_______________________________________TOTALCAPITALISATION

Tactic

Tactic

Tactic

# C

usto

mer

s

Time

TacticTactic

Tactic

Tactic

[X]Customers

Tactic

Tactic

12

Path to [X] CustomersMarketing Deep Dive


Growth Strategy

Headshot

Headshot

Logo

Logo

“Quote.”

“Quote.”

Test Customer Logos

• Proof of concept data point• Proof of concept data point• Proof of concept data point• Proof of concept data point

17

Customer Validation


Startup

Buyer

acq. by

[$X]

VC

VC

Startup

Buyer

acq. by

[$X]

VC

VC

Startup

Buyer

acq. by

[$X]

VC

VC

Public Co

[market cap]

Public Co

[market cap]

Public Co

[market cap]

• Startups in the [industry niche] space are acquisition targets for companies such as [Examples], at valuations around [N] times price/sale.

21

Exit Comparisons


Explainhowyouhavetakenriskoutoftheproject,listtheremainingmajorrisks.

o TechnicalRiskoMarketRisko ExecutionRisk

Risk Mitigation Strategies

SpecificRisk

SpecificRisk

SpecificRisk

MitigationStrategy

MitigationStrategy

MitigationStrategy

• Detailedvaluepropositiontoclients/users/partners• Pipelineofpotentialclients,%likelihoodofclosing,revenuepotentialfrompipeline• Partnerships/agreements/structures• Proprietaryaspectsnotdiscussedincoredeck• Additionalstrategyslides:ex)howtoavoid/limitcircumvention

Additional Appendix Slides

• Competitorscapitalraises/investors• Headcount(#employees)projection/keyhiresneeded

• Additionalscreenshotsfromdemo• Testimonials(keyopinionleaders,potentialfuturepartners,potentialfutureacquirers)

• Uniteconomicsanalysis• Detailsonresearch,publications(withoutbeingtooacademic)

Additional Appendix Slides

If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well

enough. - Albert Einstein

• http://www.buzinga.com.au/buzz/startup-pitch-videos/

• http://thepitch.fm/• Interestingwaytoexplainapivot:

http://www.slideshare.net/fabulis/fab-2011-timeline

Some Examples

• Ifyouregularlygetaspecificquestion,addressitheadon• Leaveroomforquestions,thisiswhendecisionsaremade

aboutwhether&howmuchtofundyou• Eachslideshouldstandonitsownwithoutexplanation– use

clearfigurestoconveyalotofinformationwithoutalotoftext• Don’treadslides– connectwithyouraudience• Don’tuseindustryacronyms/terminologyorreference

companiestheywon’tknow• DONOTaskthemtosignanNDA– mostwon’t

• Retitleyourslides• Minimizebullets&text• Addvisuals– butNOTstockphotos

• Removeredundancy• Reducephrasestowords• Omitgratuitousintensifiersandqualifiers• Expungeexpletives• Negatenominalisations• Deletesuperfluousphrases• Avoidclichés• Watchforwordslike

o Thato Absolutelyo Veryo Always/Never

Be Precise and Concise

• Thisestimateisconservative• Won’tneedfundingafterthisround• Deviceworks,we’vetesteditinourlab/inpigs/inChina

• We’llbeonthemarketinXyears• We’llgetacquiredbeforeexpensivetrials/commerciallaunch

• We’llcapturex%(e.g.<40%)oftheaddressablemarketin<5years

• Theaddressablemarket(orworse,revenue)opportunityis$1B+

Don’t Lie

• Getintroduced– theydon’trespondwelltorandomcalls/e-mails• Reviewinvestmentcriteria• Reviewportfoliocompanies

Before Sending Your Deck

1First things first.

• Arriveearlytosetupcomputer,projector,getaccesstowifi,etc.• Askinvestorstobeintroduced,provideaquickbackgroundonthemselvesandthefund(youmaylearnsomething!)• Onejoke– makeaudiencelaughatleastonce,butdon’tdoacomedyroutine• Keepdetailednotesoftheinteraction–whowasatthemeeting,theirspecificcomments

At the Pitch

• Ifrequested,sendafollow-upmeetingPDFwithadditionalslides(theymayhaverequestedyoutocreate)andsomeappendixslides• Stayontheirradar• Guidelinesforfollowingup:

After the Pitch

o Besubtleo Beconciseo Bepersistento Usemultiplechannels

o Lettimepasso Begraciouso Accept“no”foran

answer

You Got Told No

storyboarding notesCorestory:

Highlights:

Hesitations:

Notes:

1.Draftyourslideorder2.Drafteachslide’smessage3.Stepbackandseeiftheyworktogether.Ifnot,changethemessagesormovethemaround.

4.Addeachslide’sroughcontent5.Nowconsiderflowbetweenadjacentslides

6.Iterate,test&rebuild

WANT TO KNOW MORE?GET IN TOUCH!

www.monash.edu/[email protected]/monashGENERATOR

7InnovationWalkAG01-04(ClaytonCampus)[email protected]