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A template created by Dr. Virginia ChaOctober 2012Go ahead, copy the text. But attribute the photos.

The Pitch DeckKit

You have a great idea…You have a great team…You have a great strategy …You have a great plan to execute…

but how do you get attention?

Basic PPT Pointers for a Pitch Deck:

Audience

Structure & Content

Visual Appeal

Delivery

A pitch is not a lecture. Be brief, bold, and clear

Audience – Design your presentation from your audience’s perspective.

Keep answering for your audience “so what”

Structure & Content

Limit yourself to the most important content and lay out your pitch in a logical sequence

You have only 15 minutes to tellyour story – do *not* clutter it bytrying to show everything in your bag of tricks

12 slides maximum.

Do a Demo!

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Answer for the audience – why are we here?

Start with “This is what my company does…”

Your first slide is utmost important! You lose or gain their interest right here.

Describe your idea effectively: What problem do you solve? Who has this problem?

Tell about a use case, not “how it works”

Company Overview

(Brief Pitch)

+So What?

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“We provide a widget to easily setup an e-commerce site and allow it to be embedded in 7 different social media platforms.”

Does the job, but does not answer the so-what question

“Any one can setup an e-shop in less than 5 minutes and leverage their social network to sell .”

Better

“You can resell your hard-to-get concert tickets to your friends even though you can’t go last minute!”

Personal appeal imprints the message

Typical pitch So What?Make it personal

So what?

Get people nodding that this is an important problem

Describe a pain point in a way people connect with

Don’t go overboard with charts and analysts data!

Problem Statement (include market and

opportunity size)

Describe your solution

Use familiar references (“we enable everyone to be their own amazon.com”)

Describe how you are positioned amongst your competitors

Describe your targeted market and why your offer is differentiated/superior

Your Solution & Competitive Landscape

So what?

A demo is better

Supplement if necessary a slide on what’s superior about your technology and any IP protection

TechnologiesSo what?

Describe your customers (if any); if none, describe how you are going to get the first 100 customers

Describe alliances and marketing strategies you need to achieve this

Describe how these strategies will help you scale

Avoid the “better mousetrap” answer on why people will use your innovation

Go-to-MarketSo what?

Can consider putting this slide in front

Include your advisors, mentors, coaches, angels

CV of previous work/startups important here

Remember – your purpose for describing you and your team is to de-risk this deal for the investors!

So, don’t drag out all of your accomplishments – just those that matter for this venture. This pitch is not an ego trip for you.

Your TeamSo what?

Very important content slide!

Who pays you?

How do they pay you?

Margins, etc.

Can consider using the Business Model Canvas by Osterwalder and Pigneur – a one-picture framework to describe your business model.

How you make money aka business

model

So what?

In Asian context – we tend towards nuanced communication.

But to be blur is not the right approach at a pitch.

Remember – BBC: Brief, Bold, and Clear.

Tell them what you want – how much $$ for what valuation (e.g. “We need $100,000 in exchange for 10% equity.”).

What do you want?So what?

Visual Appeal

Use large size fonts; no clutterGuy Kawasaki’s Font Size Rule*

*age of oldest person in the room/2

DeliveryDeliver it with passion and conviction! Remember – they are investing in you and your ability to deliver the dream.

+What is the #1 Reason for Investors to invest?

You are the message. Keep your PPT simple!

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Practice! Practice! Practice!