BYOBB
Elements of a
Pitch Deck
February 5, 2015
BYOBB Pitch
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What it is:
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A six-to-eight minute presentation with an investor focus
Grabs attention early and keeps it by hitting highlights
Leaves the investor eager to know more
What it isn’t:
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A technology presentation
A sales presentation
An opportunity to “get in the weeds”
What Investors/Reviewers Want to Know
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What is the opportunity? How big is it?
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How do you make money?
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Do you have proof that customers will buy? Is it essential or a niceto-have?
Can you defend it in the market? What’s the secret sauce?
Can you execute? Can you prove it with the management team’s
track record?
What will you do with our money?
Big Hint…
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There is a big difference between a pitch deck when you
narrate and when you are sending as a stand-alone.
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Ideally you have two separate decks
BYOBB : Create a narration deck, and include your notes in the
note section, if the slides don’t tell the story on their own
Title Slide
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Include on the slide
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Company name, logo and date of presentation
Ensure a highly professional image – get help if you need it
Talk about…
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What your company does (high level)
Open with a “wow statement” that commands attention
The Opportunity
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Who is the customer?
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What is their problem?
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Why do you know about this problem?
A very effective technique here is to tell a story:
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I was making a lot of money running my own technology consulting
company, and yet, I wasn’t saving any money, and was surprised
when I couldn’t make ends meet. I decided to…
I was watching my brother juggle two kids and a shopping list, and
I figured there had to be a better way!
I worked in a winery for three years, and was appalled by the
amount of fruit we were throwing away.
Customer and Problem: Example
Product/Service Description
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Briefly explain your product or service
Why and how does it solve the defined problem?
Provide diagrams, photos, videos
Don’t get in the weeds: this is not a sales
presentation!
Product/Service Description: Example
Product/Service Description
Market/Opportunity
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Goal: Show how big the market/opportunity is, discuss your
target market, and which segments you are going after first
Explain
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How is the market solving the problem currently?
Why is your solution superior?
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What is your value proposition
Must be compelling and believable
What is the target market and size?
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What segments are you addressing?
What are the size of each?
Prioritize segments; provide justification
Market/Opportunity Example – Part I
Competitive Landscape
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What other firms and products are providing solutions to the
problem?
What differentiates your product or service?
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Superior performance, lower cost alternative, lower side effects,
etc.
How entrenched is the competition?
What are their weaknesses?
Perceptual maps can help
Comparison charts are useful
What are the “barriers to entry” for others/how will you
discourage new competition
Competitive Landscape: Example
Competitive Landscape – Example 2
Competitor 1
Criteria 1
X
Criteria 2
X
Criteria 3
Criteria 4
Criteria 5
Competitor 2
Competitor 3
X
X
Us
X
X
X
X
X
X
Hint: It’s okay to have the competition do some stuff you
can’t do. This is how you show which niche you are going for.
Hint: Make Criteria 5 the game-changer.
Go to Market Strategy (Part of Execution Plan
in the Business Plan template)
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How will you reach target customers and drive revenues?
How will you make money (revenue model)?
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Sell product or service direct to customer
License technology
Develop product then sell to competitor
Merger-acquisition
What are the key messages for your target market segments?
Describe marketing and sales plan
What partnerships or alliances are necessary?
The Revenue Model can be its own
page, and should tie to the pro forma
Go to Market Strategy: Example
Management Team
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Management Team
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List two or three key players: CEO is the focus
List successful exits, impressive affiliations, inventions, discoveries,
degrees, etc.
Acknowledge additional key players needed
Advisory Board
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List three or four highly impressive members
Round out deficiencies or weaknesses of management team
Notable industry experts, key executives or former key executives in
your field/industry
Demonstrate you have the right team to execute!
Management Team: Example
Financials
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($ 000’s)
2014
2015
2016
2017
#
Hospitals
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3
7
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Revenues
$ 277
$7,016
$17,299
$31,765
Expenses
$1,1418
$4,075
$6,087
$7,085
EBITDA
($1,155)
$2,941
$10,252
$24,680
Show key drivers of revenue
Three years’ financial projections plus history
These numbers must match the numbers in your proforma
income statement
BizClarity Rules for Financial Projection Slides
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Use a table, not a graph.
Make the font legible font (sans-serif; not less than 18 pt for
anything; 24 is better).
Round to nearest 1000, and add the legend
“($000)” Example: $1,236,354 displays as 1,236.
Show actual calendar years, not quarters and not “Year 1, Year 2″
Use a horizontal table with years across the top row.
Go out three years in the future.
Put nothing else on the slide except the table. No extra bullets or
images. No long title of summary statement—save it for your
narrative.
All you need for the slide title is “Financial Projections.”
http://bizclarity.com/handout-basics/
Road Map - Milestones
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What milestones are you aiming for in the near future? How
much funding will it take to reach them? What milestones
have you already reached?
You can show this as a timeline, gantt chart, etc
Milestones: Example
Roadmap - Funding and Uses (If applicable)
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Goal: Show past investment, current need, primary use of
funds
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How much have you raised to date and from whom?
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Show founders investment and/or “skin in the game” from
management team
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List current and future asks
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How will the funds be used?
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For therapeutics and medical devices, show clinical trials
milestone with needed funding
Funding and Uses: Example
Road Map - Exit Strategy (if applicable)
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Goal: Reassure the investor that they will make money on your
opportunity
Questions to answer:
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When will investors receive back their money?
What multiples are likely? Are there comparable exits?
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Provide examples where possible
What will be the scenario?
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Acquisition by competitor or market leader
IPO (proceed w/ caution!)
Summary Slide (Optional)
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Goal
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Summarize the reasons that an investor should invest in your
company. What’s in it for them
Notes
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You can end with the Funding Page if you’d like
The last slide stays up throughout Q&A so make sure it’s a good
one
Summary: Example
Ellen’s Rules
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Forget the rules (including mine) and do what’s right for you and your
company
Forget the 10-slide rule, but do….
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Tell a story. Make it compelling
Keep it simple and short. (Put extra material in your appendix.)
Cover all the necessary info
Show us what the product looks like
Pitch decks and standalone decks should be separate. In certain cases, use
the pitch deck and use the Notes Feature
Never:
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End with: Any questions? Last slide should be a summary and contact info
Say: This estimate is conservative
Say: We have no competition
Include decimals in your financials
We’re investing in you
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Be passionate
Be entrepreneurial
Be honest
Be coachable
Do your homework
Listen and accept negative feedback