Pitch Deck: Use this template to write your business summary and pitch deck.
The business summary should have DETAILED information on each slide. It will
have more information than a typical PPT presentation.
• Cover Slide
• Introduction/Elevator pitch
• The Market
• Market Problem/Current Solutions
• Your Solution
• Your Team
• Go to Market Strategy
• Competitive Landscape
• Competitive or Technological Advantages
• Milestones/ Company Timeline
• Business Model
• Revenue Projections
• Exit Strategy
• Raising Capital / Use of Proceeds
• Summary and Closing
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[your company here]
Date
Purpose of the presentation
(maybe) name & title of the presenter
Include a one line company slogan
The Market
On this slide, you are setting up your market so that immediately after, you can
discuss the pain points and why your company can solve this! Demonstrate that
you understand the market and customer
Total Addressable Market
What is the Overall Market?
• What is the size and definition of the market? Units?
Revenue? Is it growing? Are you entering an existing
market or creating a new one?
Define your Total Addressable Market
• What’s Your Target Market? How can the Overall
market divided? Geographic, Demographic, Behavioral,
psychographic
• What are the attributes of each customer that makes
them unique, and how can you extrapolate on those
features to define a market segment?
Define your target customer and key characteristics
• Who has the problem you are trying to solve? Ex. Small
vs. Large businesses, independents vs. agencies,
examples of ideal clients or individuals
Potential Customers/Clients
What are the current needs of your customer?
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The Introduction/Elevator Pitch
Your front slide is important in order to grab the attention of your audience as
well as give an introduction to your company. Briefly and succinctly cover:
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What is your vision and your ultimate solution for your
customers?
What is the business? Service? Product?
What is the core problem you are solving for the customer?
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Market Problem / Current Solutions
This is where you define the customer’s problem and show that there are existing
solutions in the marketplace that are just not cutting it . . .
Industry reports and news articles
Customer quotes
What is the Big Market Problem or Big Unmet Need?
Are the Current Marketplace solutions solving the existing unmet need or
problems? Are they causing additional headaches?
Clearly demonstrate the pain of the problem – how much pain and money is this
costing the customer
Convey the strong desire that is being unfilled, it’s not enough just to say it
The market has either changed or the existing solutions do not fulfill or solve the
big needs or problems of the customers – this is the opportunity
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Your Solution
Present the solution. This is your value proposition and why your company can solve
this problem more elegantly, more effectively, less expensively or more quickly
Describe your Solution and convey its core value proposition to the client
• Brief and centered around the customer who has the identified problem.
• Discuss the benefits of the solution to the customer (and detailed technical info IF
APPLICABLE) and how it provides value based on the problem you’ve identified.
Demonstrate or illustrate your solution by bringing it to life
Live Demo
Screen Shots
Video
Tell a Story
About a future
client or an
example of a
future client
Convince people this is a “MUST HAVE” solution, not a “nice to have” solution
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Your Team
Describe your current (and planned) management team and advisors
Team Members: current, planned
•Current team members
•Assess and acknowledge skill gaps & future needed hires
Accomplishments, Experience, Education
•Describe experience, education, and accomplishments that
are meaningful to the proposed venture
•Be realistic
Advisory Boards, Outside Directors
•Important to establish credibility
and connections
•Actual contributions are needed not just names only
Why are you the right team to execute on this business plan? What is your
particular expertise and passion?
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Go To Market Strategy
How will you launch the product and quickly gain momentum and market share?
Targeting
Strategic
Partnerships
/ Channel
Marketing
Customer
Retention
•
•
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What segment will you target first and why?
What does the sales cycle look like and how will you obtain your
customers?
What is your potential to leverage, scale, and grow quickly?
•
•
•
Channels: How to reach / market to customers?
Strategy: How to convert, acquire or close clients?
Unique Strategic Relationships / Partnerships?
•
Describe your marketing, communications and advertising
strategy?
What sort of time/energy/expenses do you need to expend to
generate revenue?
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How to keep clients and build recurring sales?
Average cost to acquire a customer, average revenue per
user/customer
What is the lifetime value of a customer?
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Competitive Landscape
This is where you characterize your competition and who already is addressing
this problem in the marketplace. Make sure you are thorough in your research.
For example, don’t miss Apple, Google, or Microsoft as a competitor!
List any direct competitors
and competing alternatives
(including the status quo).
•Do your research here. Who are
they? List them.
•How are you different? Describe
it.
Your Company
Feature 1
Feature 2



Company 1
Company 2
Feature n






•What gives your company an
advantage? Make sure you
highlight.
If possible, show the
competitive landscape
graphically
•Depict any specific features that
add substantial value compared to
your competitors.
Company n




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Competitive or Technological Advantages
On this page, describe how your solution works without revealing proprietary
information and in language a non-technical investor/advisor would understand
•What makes this solution
effective, unique, and/or
defensible from competitors?
•What are the competitor’s
advantages or weaknesses?
•What is your current competitive
advantage, and why is it robust and
scalable? Why does it translate into a
sustainable business model?
•What is your “Moat” or barrier to
entry (e.g. money, time, expertise,
unfair competitive advantage)? Is
what you are creating difficult to
duplicate?
•Is there any IP protection? Do you
have any patents?
•Are there any key relationships
or partnerships you have?
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Milestones / Company Timeline
Milestones are important to trace company development as well as to signify
accomplishments to investors. Each milestone should be compelling enough for
an investor to know the company is progressing
Q1 2014
Q2 2014
Q3 2014
Q4 2014
Q1 2015
Q2 2015
Q3 2015
Q4 2015
Raise Angel Round
of Financing
Proof of Concept
Prototype Developed
and Completed
Product Refinements
Product Launch 1.0
Complete
Business Plan
1st Customer
100 Customers!
Cash Flow
Positive
Develop a meaningful timeline for the stage of your company. You don’t need to cover every
milestone, just the one for now and the next one plus an estimate of how much you need to raise
eventually to become self sufficient – cash flow break even.
Raising funds, whether by grant or from investors, is about meeting milestones that increase the
value of the company. Each milestone should be set, then reached, so that it is compelling enough to
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inspire the next round of money.
Business Model
Describe how your company will make money solving the customer’s problem
by describing the key revenue streams and profit model
•Define your Revenue Model. Who will pay for the solution and how will you make money?
•
What are the key revenue streams?
•
Discuss the scalability of your business model. Is this high volume? Low volume? Does it lend
itself to rapid expansion?
•
How many customers do you expect to capture and what is their buying decision cycle?
•
Is there recurring revenue? What is the frequency?
•
Show an example using basic revenue/math
•Describe your pricing structure and how much you expect to generate in revenue from each customer.
•
Discuss pricing - per unit, subscription, flat fee? % fee? transaction fee, advertising
•Define your financial projections. Specify, fixed costs , variable costs and spell out financial projections.
•
Is your new venture profitable, or, more likely, is it going to reach profitability in the near future?
•
What are my initial costs to bring the product to market
•
How much does it cost to run the business? Is there a big difference between gross revenue and net
revenue?
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Revenue Projections
A simple table that identifies some of the key metrics of the business (revenue,
net income, customers, headcount etc.) and financial information with
measurements of financial progress (revenue, gross profit and net profit).
Some General Guidelines
# Years Projected:
•
Startups: 6 year projections (accounts for ~1 year of
getting started)
•
Early-mid stage: 1-2 year historical, 3-5 year projections
Target Market Size vs. Acquired Clients:
It’s important to see how much money the
company will need and how much it will make,
and how other key metrics line up with the
financials.
EBITDA is often used in place of Net Income
Revenue should be in line with your vision and be
realistic, yet optimistic Some general guidelines:
•
Total # Clients in Target Market (Show each year with
growth)
•
# Clients Acquired or Free Users vs. Revenue Generating
Users (shows conversion rate)
•
% Penetrated (be realistic: growing from 0% to 1%-5%
penetration makes sense, 50%-100% is unreasonable)
High Level Financials:
•
Revenue, Expenses, EBITDA, EBITDA Margin %
•
Optional: Break out key revenue streams or Gross vs. Net
Revenue
•
Optional: Break out key expenses (Ex. # Employees)
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Exit Strategy
You need to think about what is ultimately going to happen to your company –
will it be acquired? Will it go public? Will it exist as a going concern?
Acquisition: (Most likely exit option)
Name potential companies (any unique relationships with them?)
Name types / categories of companies that could acquire you
Why would they acquire you, how do you fit into their strategy?
Why won’t they try to build it themselves?
Financial Buyer: Will your company generate excess cash flow that
could make it attractive to financial buyers to generate a return?
IPO: The least likely exit for a company, but a possibility.
Often not preferred to founders or investors compared to top two
choices, due to required holding period and volatility
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Raising Capital / Use of Proceeds
What is the ask? Capital? Intros? The goal of the meeting? This can vary
depending on the stage of your company. BE CLEAR in what you are asking for
•
•
Capital Raise: Always try for 20% to 50% more than you think you will need. Be
transparent about what you need now
•
Stage / Size? Ex. Seed Round: up to $500K, Series A: $2-3M, what is the structure?
•
Investment Terms and type: Ex: Pre-Money Valuation Expectations / Range, Discount into next
round?, Dividend / Interest Rate?, Equity or Convertible debt?
•
Current Investors in Round: Founders, Key Angels, VCs
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Prior Investment Rounds: Size? Investors? Valuation? Key Terms?
•
Monthly Burn Rate? / How long will new $ last (runway)?
Use of Proceeds: (Name It / $ Amount / % of Capital Raised)
•
Sales & Marketing
•
Hire key employees and founders salaries
•
Build out / further develop technology
•
Legal and accounting work e.g. file patents
•
What is needed to achieve Milestones: 1st Client? Get to Breakeven? 3x Rev Growth?
Things to remember: you will never move as quickly as you project, and you will
have multiple unanticipated stumbling blocks somewhere
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Summary & Closing
Your last slide is important to give a review of what you have presented and
leave a lasting impression of your company
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