Turned International Agriculture Pitch Deck Teardown

Turned International Agriculture Pitch Deck Teardown

Slide 1: Title Slide

The deck opens with the company name, Turned International Agriculture LLC, and a green leaf logo. The subtitle defines the scope of the business: 'Cannabis development for medical, recreational growing dispensing product branding and branded lifestyle developments.' This is a broad mission statement covering everything from agriculture to retail and lifestyle branding.

Slide 2: Introduction

This slide focuses on the US hemp market. It claims that American manufacturers are currently buying hemp from Europeans, causing American farmers to miss out on a 'money-making-crop.' It notes that cultivating fiber on U.S. soil would 'trim the price by 75 percent.' It also mentions the 4.5-million member American Farm Bureau's call to legalize industrial hemp farming. Curiously, while this slide builds a case for U.S. production, the company's actual plan (revealed later) is centered in Turkey.

Slide 3: The Big Idea

Titled 'Benefits of Hemp,' this slide lists various applications for the plant, including paper, medicine, clothing, nutrition, cars, and building materials. It also highlights environmental benefits, stating that hemp cultivation 'produces a lot of oxygen and reduces CO2.' It notes that by breeding certain varieties, THC levels are reduced to 'almost zero,' distinguishing industrial hemp from marijuana.

Slide 4: The Problem

In a departure from standard pitch deck logic, the 'Problem' slide does not address a market gap or consumer pain point. Instead, it states: 'This is a new business start-up and the company is looking for equity capital.' It explains that in exchange for funds, investors will receive a stake in the company. From a fundraising perspective, this is a significant error; investors view their capital as a tool to solve a market problem, not as the solution to the founder's lack of cash.

Slide 5: Business Location and Startup

This slide provides the first concrete details of the plan. The company intends to 'penetrate into the hemp cultivation market in Turkey.' Specifically, they are applying for a license to start a 12,355-acre (5,000 ha) cultivation plant near Antalya. The slide claims the company 'will have the ability to vegetate up to 200,000,000 plants.' No evidence is provided to support how a startup will manage a crop of this magnitude.

Slide 6: The Solution

The 'Solution' slide is also unconventional. Rather than describing a product or service, it describes a fundraising method. It states the intent to run an equity crowdfunding campaign on Crowdfunder.com. The slide includes boilerplate text about Crowdfunder's network of 12,000 VCs and angel investors. This suggests the deck may have been intended as a profile page for a crowdfunding platform rather than a direct pitch to institutional investors.

Slide 7: Market Analysis

This slide provides high-level industry statistics. It notes that industrial hemp is cultivated in at least 47 countries, with Canada, China, Chile, France, and North Korea being the largest producers. It cites 2017 acreage record levels in Canada (nearly 140,000 acres) and the EU (about 90,000 acres), estimating global acreage at more than 330,000 acres. The data is several years old relative to the 2025 projections seen later in the deck.

Slide 8: Opportunities & Size

Citing Grand View Research, Inc., this slide states the global industrial hemp market is expected to reach $10.6 billion by 2025, with a CAGR of 14.0%. It attributes this growth to rising demand for hempseed oil in food and beverages due to dietary advantages. This slide provides the 'why now' for the sector but does not link these global trends back to the specific Turkish operations of Turned International Agriculture.

Slide 9: SWOT Analysis

The SWOT analysis lists 'Knowledge and experience of stakeholders' as a strength, though only one stakeholder is eventually named. Weaknesses include being a 'small, emerging industry' and a 'lack of stable funding.' Opportunities include regulatory changes and federal cannabis discussions. Threats include foreign competition (EU, China) and consumer confusion between hemp and marijuana. The admission of a 'lack of stable funding' as a weakness reinforces the company's focus on its own financial needs over market opportunities.

Slide 10: Our Team

The team slide features a single individual: Mr. Oezler (Dino) Yildirim. He is listed as Treasurer, CFO, CCO, and Secretary. Most notably, the slide states: 'For now, no staff has been employed, this will be looked into once the business commences.' For a project requiring $20 million and 12,000 acres of land management, the absence of an agronomy team, operations lead, or legal counsel is a glaring omission.

Slide 11: Funds Required

The company is asking for $20,000,000.00 US Dollars. The breakdown is as follows: $15,000,000 for 'Phase 1, buy land and licenses'; $3,000,000 for 'Phase 1, start-up of hemp cultivation plant, peat delving and sale'; and $2,000,000 for 'Effectuation of hemp plant, final stage.' The use of the term 'peat delving' suggests a secondary business in peat extraction, which was not previously mentioned in the deck.

Slide 12: Contact Us

The contact slide provides phone numbers with a +31 country code (Netherlands), a fax number, and an info@turned.eu email address. This indicates that while the operations are planned for Turkey, the administrative or legal presence of the founders is likely based in the Netherlands. The slide includes a photo of a scientist in a lab, which contrasts with the earlier statement that no staff has yet been employed.

Slide 13: Thank You

The final slide repeats the company logo and name with a 'Thank You' message. There is no call to action or summary of the investment opportunity.

What Turned International Agriculture LLC Does Well

The deck identifies a clear geographic focus (Antalya, Turkey) and a specific scale of operation (5,000 hectares). By pinpointing a location, they move away from generic 'hemp is good' arguments and toward a specific real estate and agricultural play. The inclusion of a SWOT analysis (Slide 9) shows an awareness of the regulatory and competitive hurdles facing the industry, even if the internal weaknesses listed are primarily about the company's own lack of capital.

What is Missing from the Turned International Agriculture LLC Deck

The most critical missing element is a qualified team. A $20 million agricultural project cannot be executed by a single person holding four administrative titles. There is no mention of agricultural experts, Turkish regulatory liaisons, or supply chain managers. Furthermore, the deck lacks any form of financial modeling. There is no indication of the expected yield per acre, the cost of production, the target sell price, or the projected revenue. Without these numbers, the $20 million ask is an arbitrary figure for land acquisition rather than a business plan. Finally, the 'Problem' slide (Slide 4) is a fundamental misunderstanding of pitch deck structure; a company's need for money is a condition of its existence, not a 'problem' that an investor pays to solve for the market.

What Other Founders Should Copy

Founders can learn from the clear breakdown of the 'Ask' on Slide 11. While the amounts are high and the categories broad, the use of a simple table to show exactly where the money goes is a standard best practice. Additionally, the use of third-party market research (Grand View Research on Slide 8) is a good way to validate the total addressable market (TAM), though it should always be followed by a slide explaining the company's specific share of that market (SAM/SOM).

Final Analysis

The Turned International Agriculture LLC deck is a 'project pitch' rather than a 'startup pitch.' It is a request for a massive capital infusion to acquire land and licenses for a business that currently has no employees and no operational history. The disconnect between the U.S.-centric introduction (Slide 2) and the Turkish-based plan (Slide 5) creates confusion about the company's actual strategy. For an investor, the combination of a $20 million ask, zero current staff, and no financial projections represents an extremely high level of risk that the deck does not sufficiently mitigate.