Startup founders often get more advice than necessary about their investor pitches. There are innumerable posts on the subject. (For my contribution click HERE.)
However most of this advice comes from a personal perspective. ie the advice is really what “works” for the person giving the advice or what they assess as working more broadly. (Which is likely to be pretty much the same thing as what works for them. Being objective is really hard.)
I have recommended founders use docsend when they share their pitch materials so they can track who opens them, what they look at and for how long. It’s a great tool.
I was really interested to see a report docsend prepared recently that uses the higher level data they have collected. It presents some fact-based conclusions about pitch decks. You can see their full analysis and discussion HERE.
There are lots of interesting insights, but three stood out for me:
- Pitch deck order is pretty standard with one exception – the team page.This appears either at the front or back (more often the latter) of pitch decks. [The key decision here is whether you lead off with your “creation story” in which case the team page at the front is part of the natural flow.]
- If you include a financials slide it will be the most viewed part of your deck.Readers will likely spend more time on it than on your team slide. [So if you do include it, which is not a total prerequisite, it better be good.]
- Don’t list your deal terms in the deck if they are not baked– because what you discuss verbally can vary by investor. e.g. you might suggest a deal size face to face with a big fund that is higher than you might outline to a smaller fund. [Of course, if you have a term sheet, then including the terms does make sense – they are a matter of fact at that point.
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