This video discusses the deadly signs of a bad pitch deck, emphasizing the importance of creating a compelling pitch to engage investors and secure meetings. It aims to help founders identify and rectify common mistakes in their pitch decks.
What this video covers
There’s, obviously, a lot of noise out there. There are terrible pitch decks that are floating that are going toward investors that are really capturing some of that size in their inbox, and you do not want to have your pitch deck being one of those that is terrible, that people are opening and closing right away. You want yours to be open, that it’s going to be enrolling the investor and getting them excited about giving you a meeting.
So how do you know if you have something that is worthy or not, or perhaps, you can really find some of those bad signs that are letting you know that it’s time to go back to the drawing board. In today’s video, we’re going to break down what some of those deadly signs are so that you know when it’s time to get some work more and more, and perhaps tender love and caring into that pitch deck. So with that being said, let’s get into it.
The first deadly sign is an NDA, a Non-Disclosure Agreement. Basically, what you’re doing here is you are putting friction in order for people to see you’re there. I hate, for example, when I get someone that is reaching out, and they tell me, “Oh, my gosh. I’m going to send you my pitch deck, but I need you to sign the Non-Disclosure Agreement.” And then, it’s like, “But we’re just going to have an introductory meeting. Why do I need to sign anything just to say hello?”
The next thing is the pitch deck just being ugly. Here’s the thing. The first impression is everything. So you want to at least put a little effort into the design.
Your pitch deck lacks information. This is another critical issue. Many, many times, I find, and I come across pitch decks that don’t have a problem slide, a solution slide, a market side slide, or perhaps the competitive landscape slide, so you always want to be sure that you are following the right type of structure and the right type of flow that investors are used to seeing at your current financing cycle whether you’re at a seed round of financing, Series A round of financing, or perhaps Series B round of financing.
There are too many slides. This is another issue. You always want to try to compress and capture the essence of what you’re of what your business is about, and don’t try to give them absolutely all the data, all the features, all the things that are part of more of the details of it. You want to give them the 30,000-foot view, and if they’re interested in learning more, then you can give them that information.
Not being crystal clear about the problem or the solution. In those pitch decks, where there’s not just one slide or that it’s focused on one single problem.
Then, on the solution slide is the same thing. You want to introduce the solution that you’re bringing to market with a punch so that really clearly, they see the problem, the problem that you’re addressing, and then they also see very clearly the solution that you’re bringing to market to really address that problem.
Overstating claims. The last thing that you want here is for people to think that you’re lying, that you’re making stuff up because you’re going to lose credibility. The thing is that fundraising is all about trust; it’s all about integrity; it’s all about being your work and delivering on your promise.
When you’re going in with grandiose claims, with things that are maybe very hard to back, also with a blanket statement, you are going to put yourself into trouble. Also, the other thing that you want to be very careful with is when you’re showcasing a potential roadmap, and you’re making promises on that, you’re going to be shooting yourself in the foot.
Not acknowledging the competition. So many different times, I’ve seen slides. We’re talking about the competitive landscape, or you see the competitive landscape of a certain company that has put your pitch deck together, and there, you see a few competitors, three or four, and it’s like a crowded space.
