A successful startup pitch isn’t just about reports and numbers; It is about telling your story.  Looking at some of the successful startup pitches, you will see one thing in common: storytelling. Your story around the idea and future ambitions (backed by data) convince the investors to fund your startup.

Having a successful pitch isn’t about what you are presenting but about why and how you are presenting.

In this piece, we are covering just about that and help you get a sense of what makes a good pitch.

Finding the right investor for you:

One of the reasons why Startup Pitches don’t work out is the lack of chemistry. It might seem strange; “what does chemistry has to do with pitching your idea?”, But you will be surprised. The approval or rejection of your pitch is determined even before you have met the investors. If your idea doesn’t resonate with the investors, they won’t move forward with your startup, no matter how brilliant it is.

Save your time and do your due diligence in searching for the right investors. Don’t waste time pitching your idea to investors who don’t share your vision. Also, make sure you are going to the correct type of investors for funding, and if you aren’t sure about the investor type, read our blog on how to find the right investor for your startup.

The importance of storytelling for startups:

Investors will be biased towards numbers, but they see data and numbers in all the pitches. You will have to figure out how to portray your numbers to make your startup stand out; this is where storytelling comes in.

How to frame your story?

There are three aspects of structuring your story::

• Setup
• Struggle
• Solution

You can look at it as the three-act structure of a movie. You first reel the audience in, introduce the problem of the characters, and then finally, the solution.

1. Setup:

You might have seen a few presentations; TED Talks is an excellent example of experts presenting their ideas. One common aspect among speakers is they begin their talk with a question directed to the audience. So start with a question and continue from there. This will help you build a connection with the audience, the investors.  This question can directly relate to the problem that your startup is trying to fix.

Prepare for your pitch by knowing how much the investors already know about the subject involving your startup. Don’t try to cover everything because if you do, your pitch will get lost in abstract language. Instead, let the investors draw out their conclusion. It’s deeply dissatisfying for the investors to listen to random pontification without any narrative. Henceforth, you must find the balance between analytical data and the narrative of your startup.

An important aspect to consider while starting with your pitch is not to be a drag; if you keep the investors guessing for too long, they will lose their interest.

“It has to be something that gets investors to lean in right away, wanting to hear more,” Don’t wander into the pitch and take forever to get to the point.”

2. Struggle:

Usually, people use “I” whenever they are telling a story about their struggles but replace “I” with “You” as it’ll help in engaging the investors.

Describe your journey in the present tense; it will create urgency. Please don’t be vague about the details; it can make the investors lose interest. To make your story interesting, mention specific locations, dates, and money details.

Show your passion for your startup and how you were willing to overcome the past hurdles. It will ensure the investors that you are ready to fight for your startup despite any future obstacles you might face.

3. Solution:

Before showcasing a solution, you first have to address the solution objectively without your product. After you have established the premise of the solution now, you will present your product and where it fits in. Every aspect of their product is very exciting to any Founder or Entrepreneur, but that isn’t the case for the investors.

Therefore you need to draw the line where you might be sharing too many aspects of the product and losing the investor’s interest. Keep it precise and effective.

Glitch-free Demo:

When you are showing a demo for your website or any product, you need to automatize it. You can lose a winning battle if your product starts to glitch while you are pitching. An impromptu live demo can fail anytime in an unfamiliar environment, jeopardizing any potential investment.

To make your demo disaster-free, you can use these three ways; Using voiceover in a video to describe your product, demonstrating via wireframes the product, and showing a screen recording or screenshot of the product’s functionality.

Types of Startup Pitches:

Here are some key components or aspects that will help you nail the pitch.

There are several types of Pitches when it comes to Startup Pitches. However, the two main Pitches we will focus on today are Elevator Pitch and Investor Pitch.

The idea behind an elevator pitch is to convince an investor for a meeting in the time duration equivalent to an elevator ride, which varies from 15 seconds to some minutes.

Elevator pitch helps pique Investor’s interest leading to a meeting for an Investors Pitch. Of course, to get a good idea, you can always watch Shark Tank; it has elaborate examples of Elevator Pitches.

Elevator Pitch:

Follow the process to achieve a thorough elevator pitch:

1) Start with Who you are? In a sentence, introduce yourself briefly.

2) What does your startup offer & what are its goals?

Incorporate your mission statement in this step and write in a sentence what your startup offers and what problems it works to solve.

3) How is your startup different?

Thousands of Startups are registered daily, so you have your competition cut out for you. To have an appealing pitch, you must show the investors how and why your startup is unique.

4) Call for Action:

After you have pitched your Idea, give them a business card to let them know how they can contact you for the next step.

Use the following sentence to make a precise elevator pitch:

My company (Name Of the Company) is developing (Company’s Idea and offering) to help (Target Audience Solves the problem) with your solution.

Can we put some real examples here?

Use this sentence to Pitch your Idea and get the attention of Investors. Practice as much as possible before your Elevator pitch because you won’t get a second chance to entice your Investor’s interest.

Investor Pitch Deck:

In the following, we will discuss some core elements of a compelling investor pitch deck.

1.   Product:

There are three critical questions your product section should cover.:

1. What is your unique value proposition?
2. How is your product/solution different from those of the competitors?
3. What market gap is your product fulfilling?

Showcase the problem your startup will be attacking. Investors need to comprehend the idea for the startup pitch to succeed thoroughly. They should believe your vision is worth it, will benefit the consumers, and is profitable to them.

After letting the investors know the problem, now come to the solution. In this section, you will showcase the benefits of your solution, such as saving money, your product being faster, easy to use, etc.

2.   Market:

You should address these questions in the market section:

• Addressable Market
• Go to Market Strategy.
• Product-market-fit

Don’t oversell the product; if you do, you will lose your credibility. Tell the investors how it is. You can’t fool the investors; they know more than you. Overstating the addressable Market will make you lose the investment.

Investors also want to know some critical metrics for any Startup, which include:

• Customer Acquisition Costs.
• Lifetime Value of Customer.
• Payback Period.
  

Add these factors to your Go to Market Strategy to show your investors about customer acquisition, customer retention, and product innovation.

In addition, you should show that you will be able to continue the product’s success with decreased acquisition costs and increased profitability.

Use key metrics to illustrate traction, show the rate of change, and highlight trends.

3.   Team:

To prove to the investors that you can deliver what you are committing, you should introduce your team members. The people behind the work and how they will be contributing to expanding the startup and making it a success. Explain why the members of your teams are the right fit and mention if there are any gaps you will be filling in the future.

4.   Financial plan:

In this section, you will provide the investors with the financial aspect of the startup, your income, expenses, revenue, forecast, etc. If your startup hasn’t been launched yet, you will have to show the expected financial analysis.

With the help of a financial model, you will help investors look at the prospects of your business. Investors decide by keeping a close eye on the financial model and assessing if your startup has a chance of success or not.

This is also the slide where you justify to the potential investors why you need a certain amount of funds for your startup and what your plans are once those funds are in your startup’s bank account.

It is an overwhelming process to get the perfect financial model for Startups. Therefore, expert advice on how to pitch your startup financially is essential. Here at Numberly, you can always sign up for a free consultation with our specialist financial advisors and us.

After that, demonstrate the funds you need and the final revenue objectives to the investors.

5.   Closing

After you have finished your presentation, get ready for the Q&A part of the pitch. Answer the questions the best way you can, take in the criticism, and actively listen to the investor’s insight. A well-organized investor presentation can go a long way in helping you secure the investment.

Pitch Deck FAQs

Q: How many slides are enough for the pitch deck?

There is no perfect size, but a deck should have between 15 to 20 slides at max. It isn’t about the quantity; it’s about quality. Keep it precise with the information the investors want.

Q: How much detail should the slides have?

You should make two pitch decks – one that has the visuals and precise information you will use to give the presentation, and another that you will send to the investors with all the information. You can add detailed information to the presentation you will send to the investors. But in both presentations, remember always to keep the bigger picture in mind.

Q: How important is the design of the pitch deck?

There should be a balance between the design and the information provided by the deck. It should be clear and should grab the attention of the audience. You need all the tools to keep the audience engaged; these slides will represent your startup, so they should be up to par.

Q: Who should give the presentation?

This is an essential aspect of the pitch because the person who will pitch the startup will have all the responsibility. Therefore, this decision shouldn’t be taken lightly, and the absolute best person for the job should step forward for this job, such as the founder or the co-founder of the startup.

Q: Should I include risk factors in the slides?

This is a sales pitch for your startup; you must show the investors that your startup is flawless. Every startup has a risk factor; the investors already know that, and they don’t expect you to add this in your presentation. If they have any queries regarding that, they can always ask you after the presentation, and you can tell them how you will tackle the problem if something goes wrong.

Every Startup pitch is different, but you can always use tools to help you succeed. With the help of the Startup Pitch Guideline, you will achieve the pitch deck that works for your investors.

Most of the components in the pitch deck are pretty straightforward, but when it comes to the financial model, it can be a little tricky. Professional advice is highly recommended if you aren’t sure how to make a suitable financial model.

At Numberly, we are committed to helping founders build suitable revenue models and streams. Please book a free consultancy session with our experts for questions and advice.