The Most Compelling — And Overlooked — Slide in Fundraising Pitch Decks
Are you forgetting the most important part of your pitch?
Take a moment to think about your favorite product. Maybe it’s your iPhone. Maybe it’s your Playstation. Maybe it’s your Tesla. Whatever it is, ask yourself this completely random question: could it have existed 500 years ago?
I realize that’s a ridiculous question, but I’m trying to make a point here, so bear with me.
The reason your favorite things couldn’t have existed 500 years ago is because startups don’t exist in a historical vacuum. They exist within the times and places in which they’re built because they rely on the unique infrastructures, problems, needs, and resources of their particular historical moments. For example, a Tesla would have been a great car in 1520, but the technology for Teslas simply didn’t exist back then. Heck, it would have been a great car in 1950, but the technology didn’t exist then, either.
While that’s an extreme example, it underscores a fundamental truth of startups that founders often overlook. That truth is related to timing and its outsized impact on startup outcomes. In order for startups to succeed, they have to be launched at the right time.
