Pitch Decks
Do you think it's common to have a text-heavy read-through version in addition to a high-level presentation format? If yes, how many versions would you have? Would you also prepare an investment memo?
First of all, you will find as many answers to these questions as you can find founders and investors to ask. So, ultimately, you have to do what feels right for you and based on the feedback of the investors you are having conversations with.
Second, https://techcrunch.com/tag/ec-pitch-deck-teardowns/ย is a great way to see a lot of decks and some useful reactions and feedback to those decks. (It also helps prove my first point.)
Finally, rather than giving you an opinion about what I think YOU should do, I can only really tell you what I would do if I were pitching right now:
I would have ONE deck.
- The firstย ~10 slides would be VERY clean but get the whole vision across.
- These are what I would SPEAK over in person.
- Behind that, I would have another 10-20 slides in an appendix
- These would have as much detail as I think anyone would need if I need to answer a LIVE question after the pitch (e.g. jump to a dense table of information to discuss the market in more detailโฆ or a screenshot of the useย of funds spreadsheetโฆ etc.)
- The appendix as a whole would also cover all the details that I would want a separate investment memo to cover.
Bonus comments:
- I only share decks via Docsend and requireย an email to view
- I have a recording of my current pitch on loom that I can share
Bonus Bonus:
The FAQ outline below comes from Jason Shuman of Primary.vc who suggests that you write up as much of this as makes sense, and send to VCโs after your meeting:
๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ
- What we do
- What problem are we solving?
- How is X Working to Solve this Problem in a Unique Way?
- General Knowledge and Background Info
๐๐ป๐ฑ๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ ๐๐๐ค
- What do X Companies do?
- What products do competitors make?
- What is the market size for each product?
- What are the dynamics of the market?
- Who are the largest players?
- How do customers work with those companies today?
- What does churn look like in the industry?
- What multiples do competitors trade at?
๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐-๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ค๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ - ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐๐ค
- What products do you sell today?
- What's your projected revenue?
- How long are your contracts?
- What are the payment terms?
- What are your gross margins?
๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐
- How does your product differ from the competition?
- What features are most frequently used?
- What do your product roadmap look like?
- Why are you prioritizing those features?
๐๐ผ-๐ง๐ผ-๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
- How do you acquire customers?
- What is the CAC by channel?
- How do you calculate CAC?
- What is your productivity per rep?
- How long does it take to ramp sales reps?
- How do you onboard customers?
- What does it cost to onboard customers?
- How long does it take to onboard customers?
- What is customer retention?
- Do you have leading indicators for retention?
- What is your payback period?
- What is your LTV/CAC?
- What is your NRR?
๐ฆ๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐น๐ ๐ฆ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ
- What is the value prop to the supply side?
- How do you acquire supply?
- How do you onboard the supply?
- Do you integrate into the supply sides current systems?
- How do you determine supply side quality?
๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐
- What is your ACV?
- What are your margins today? In the future?
- What gives you confidence in margin expansion?
- What margins do competitors have?
- What is the industry benchmark for EBITDA %?
๐ ๐ผ๐ฎ๐๐
- What are your barriers to entry and moats today?
- What are they in the future?
๐ฉ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
- What other products do you plan to sell? Why?
- What does future ACV look like?
- When do you plan to roll out other products?
๐ช๐ต๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐?
- What has changed to make this business exist today?
- Why couldn't X exist before?
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ-๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐บ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐?
- What hires do you need to make?
- What are your goals for next 3/6/12 month?
When life hits a wall, or you receive some great news, your first call will obviously be to your family, friend, or partner. I just want to earn the right to be your second call.
ยฉ 2025 Your Second Call