Venture Capital For Dummies
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Pitch decks, also called slide decks, are important tools for fundraising. You need to have many investor pitch decks when you are fundraising. Short pitch decks are perfect for times when you aren’t sure you’ll be able to hold the attention of the room. Longer pitches are great when you’re presenting to investors who’ve asked for more information or are taking a second look at your deal.

When you’re beginning to fundraise and starting to create your pitch, plan to make more than one pitch deck. You will need a deck for short (5-minute) pitches, for long (20-minute pitches), and one to use when you can’t pitch in person (the absentee pitch). Also, target your pitch deck to each different audience.

Following are a few pointers to keep in mind as you create your pitch deck:

  • When designing multiple pitch decks, start with the shortest pitch deck first. High-quality pitches are easier to create when you build from a small framework to a larger framework.

    Some of the worst pitches come from people who try to cut a 20-minute pitch down for a 5-minute presentation. Your pitch needs to have a logical progression and a great story, and you just can’t accomplish either of those tasks by cutting half of your slides out of your pitch deck. So start with your shortest pitch and build from there.

  • Keep your pitch deck’s goals in mind while you design the deck to ensure that you stay true to your purpose. Doing so is especially helpful if you find that you need to make other kinds of pitch decks, too. As your company gains traction, you’ll likely pitch to strategic partners and customers; you may even pitch to federal or state government agencies.

  • Have your backup information available if needed. Your pitch deck represents only the tip of the iceberg, if the iceberg is all the planning and research you have put into your business. Be sure that you have all the backup information readily at hand so that when a venture capitalist (VC) asks for deeper materials, such as your detailed financial pro forma, you have one all ready to go.

  • Craft your pitch and then get feedback from others. Everyone needs outside perspectives to create a stellar pitch deck.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book authors:

Nicole Gravagna, PhD, Director of Operations, and Peter K. Adams, MBA, Executive Director for the Rockies Venture Club, connect entrepreneurs with angel investors, venture capitalists, service professionals, and other business and funding resources.

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