Preparing The Perfect Pitch Deck

At EMAN, we review pitch decks on an almost daily basis and know firsthand that a good deck can mean the difference between getting a follow up meeting with potential investors or a rejection. A good pitch deck takes time, research and consideration — rushed decks are always apparent and rarely make it through the initial screening stage. Regardless of whether you are a founder looking to prepare your first pitch deck, or an angel investor looking to understand how to evaluate a company you are considering for investment, we have put together a simple and clear check list of what a great pitch deck should include.

How long should a pitch deck be?

The length of the pitch deck is important. Ideally, it should be no longer than 13–15 slides. If the deck is too short, founders may not be able to convey all the information investors look for when determining if a company has potential. Likewise, if the deck is too long, the key points will get lost in the detail. If you insist on having a long deck with extensive detail, make sure that you also create a shorter version which you send to potential investors first and mention that you have a longer, more detailed version, in case they would like to see it.

What should a pitch deck include?

1. Mission

You should be able to convey your company’s mission in a sentence or two — any longer and it is likely that you have not yet clarified it to yourself. A mission is your company’s high level goal and part of your brand — why does your company exist? Overall, your mission statement should not refer to financial motivations. Founders who are simply focusing on maximising the value of their company without any other underlying motivations for starting their business will be less appealing to investors.

2. What problem are you trying to solve?

You should explain clearly, and in the simplest possible terms, what problem your company and product are trying to solve. Inherently, your company should be solving an existing problem — if you are not solving a problem or not communicating it well, investors will question your company’s likelihood of success in the long term

3. How are you solving this problem?

Again, you should communicate this in the simplest terms possible — the solution must make sense given the problem you have identified. You should show how your solution is indisputably better than the other alternatives in the market — if you are unable to do so, or have a product which is only marginally better than the alternatives, you may struggle to set yourself apart from the competition which will ring alarm bells for potential investors.

4. Market size

Communicate clearly the size of the opportunity — investors may not know the specific sector you operate in and thus it is the founders’ responsibility to identify and prove the size of the opportunity. Market size should be expressed in terms of Total Available Market (TAM), Serviceable Available Market (SAM) and Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM). Make sure that your market size estimates are based on robust data and reasonable assumptions — inflated market size will always be found out during due diligence stages and may spoil discussions further down the line.

5. Competition

You will always have competition — even if you came up with something brand new that, at the first glance, no one else appears to be doing. Make sure to carefully evaluate the existing companies and show clearly how you fare against your competitors. A well thought out competitor analysis will show investors that you are realistic about your product and are thinking about what your competitors are doing.

6. Why now?

Explain why now is the right time to be launching your business and how it fits the current market/ economic etc. trends. Plenty of great companies have been unsuccessful because they entered the market too early or entered an already crowded market.

7. Business model

In the simplest terms — how will your business make money? While there is no need to include lengthy financial projections in the pitch deck, make sure to present key information i.e. if your business takes a commission, how much? What will the value of total transactions be? What are your revenue estimates for the initial 12–24 month period? You must show clearly how you will monetise your idea.

8. Marketing/ sales channels

State who your target customer is and your key marketing and customer acquisition/sales channels. Make sure to include some high level estimates for how many new customers you expect to acquire (monthly/annually) — investors want to see realistic growth projections. Investors like to also see Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC)and compare them to the Lifetime Value (LTV) — your LTV should clearly exceed CAC, otherwise your business may not be sustainable.

9. Traction

Show investors that there is a market for what you are selling. Traction does not have to be shown solely in terms of revenue — you can demonstrate it with new users, or even pre-launch waitlists if your business is in a pre-revenue stage.

10. Team & Advisors

Demonstrate why you and your team are the right people to make your company a success. Make sure to include short bios and mention any prior successful companies you or the team have built. While it may be tempting to fill some skills gaps using advisors, as a general rule, we recommend only including advisors who make a material impact on your business operations and you are in regular contact with.

11. Roadmap & Use of Funds

Finally, show your expansion plan and how investment funds will be used — investors want to know that the funds will be used responsibly and in the most beneficial way to grow the business. Founders who are unable to substantiate why they need the money they are requesting will struggle to attract investors.

Other considerations

It is important to take your time to ensure that your pitch deck is as polished as possible — you should ensure that it is visually cohesive and reflects information in the clearest and simplest way. Simple errors such as incorrect spelling could cost dearly at this stage so it is always worth asking friends or family to look over the pitch deck before sending it to investors — they may spot something you have missed! Furthermore, they may have great insights on how someone not fully familiar with your business may perceive the information contained in the pitch deck.

A good pitch deck will make it much easier to attract investors and make a great first impression — it is worth investing the time and the effort to get the deck right. Ultimately a pitch deck is a reflection of the founders and the team — pitch decks that are well thought out will reflect well on the founding team leading to increased likelihood of success when raising investment.