A comprehensive guide on how to pitch an idea or business to investors.

1. HOW TO PITCH AN IDEA

2. By:
John Adomako
Tech Lead,
F-Link Ltd.
Founder,
ZiK Ltd.
Ex Business Consultant,
CoLi Link Ltd.

3. HOW TO PITCH AN IDEA
What to do:
 Prepare pitch deck.
 Practise pitch.
 Do some background check on
the panel of investors to know
their industry interests.

4. PITCH DECK
A pitch deck, also known as a slide deck or start-up deck, is a presentation that
provides a brief but informative overview of your idea/business. It should cover
the key points of your master/business plan, the products or services you seek
to provide, high-level financial projections and funding needs.
Your pitch deck should work well on its own as a visual document, but it will
primarily be used as a tool to tell the story of your idea/business.

5. PURPOSE OF A PITCH DECK
The goal of your pitch deck is not necessarily to raise money but the real goal is
to get to the next meeting. Remember, your pitch deck and pitch presentation
are probably some of the first things that an investor will see to learn more
about your idea. And because investments are rarely made after just one
meeting, your goal is to spark interest in your idea/business.
You want investors to ask for more after they hear your pitch and not just show
you to the door.
So, while a solid pitch deck is critical to raising money, the key goal of the deck
is to get to the next step; Another meeting and a request for more information.

6. 11 THINGS A GOOD PITCH DECK SHOULD HAVE
1. VALUE PROPOSITION
This is a quick one-sentence overview of your idea and the value that
you’re going to be providing to your users/customers. Keep it short and
simple. It’s common for people to make their value proposition a
comparison to another well-known company. For example, you see many
pitches that start with things like:
“We’re the Uber for Pets”
“We’re the Netflix for Video Games”
This can work, but make sure your comparison makes sense and you’re not
just using a high profile company like Uber to signify growth potential.
Your business model has to truly be similar to the company you are
referencing.

7. 2. THE PROBLEM
If you aren’t solving some problem in the world, you are going
to have a long uphill climb with your idea.
Begin your pitch with a compelling story. It should address the
problem you’re trying to solve in the marketplace or an
existing solution that you're trying to better. This will engage
your audience right out off the bat.

8. 3. YOUR SOLUTION
Share what’s unique about your idea/product/service and how
it will solve the issue you shared in the previous slide. Keep it
short, concise, and easy for the investor/panel to understand.
Avoid using buzzwords/technical words unless your investors
are very familiar with your industry. Most entrepreneurs are
very focused on their product when instead, they need to be
focused on their users/customers and the problems those
users/customers face.

9. 4. TARGET MARKET
Don’t say that everyone in the world is potentially your target market,
even if it could be true one day.
Be realistic about which category of people you’re building your product
for and break out your market into Total Available Market (TAM),
Serviceable Available Market (SAM), and Serviceable Obtainable Market
(SOM). This will not only impress your audience, but it will help you
think more strategically about your roll-out plan.
If you can, try and develop a user persona or your ideal customer when
speaking about your target market. This can help investors visualize the
potential customer base and show that you’ve intently thought about
who your business will serve. Target a specific demographic rather than
a broad demographic.

10. 5. REVENUE MODEL
Investors tend to care about this slide the most. How are
you going to make money and what's your pricing going to
be? Be very specific about your product/service pricing.
You can also reference the competitive landscape here and
discuss how your pricing fits into the larger market. Are you
a premium, high-price offering, or a budget offering that
undercuts existing solutions on the market?

11. 6. EARLY TRACTION AND MILESTONES
Early in the presentation, you want to build some credibility. Take some
time to share the relevant traction you’ve made. This is your opportunity
to blow your own horn. Impress the investors with what you and your
team have accomplished to date (sales, contracts, key hires, product
launches, and so on).
You’ve likely mentioned bits and pieces of this earlier on, but this is the
point where you create a full snapshot of your business. If you already
have sales or early adopters using your product, talk about that here.
Investors want to see that you have proven some aspect of your
idea/business model as that reduces risk, so any proof you have that
validates that your idea/solution works to solve the problem you have
identified is extremely powerful.
But don’t just leave it at what you’ve done, be sure to speak about
where you’re going. Show them a roadmap of next steps, additional
milestones and even mention how funding will help achieve them.

12. 7. CUSTOMER ACQUISITION: MARKETING AND SALES STRATEGY
This is usually one of the most skipped sections of an investor pitch.
How will you reach your customers? How much will it cost? How will you
measure success? You’ll want to detail the key tactics that you intend to
use to get your product in front of prospective customers.
Finding and winning customers can sometimes be the biggest challenge
for a startup, so it’s important to show that you have a solid grasp of
how you will reach your target market and what sales channels you plan
on using.
If your marketing and sales process is different than your competitors,
it’s important to highlight that here.

13. 8. YOUR TEAM
Investors invest in people first and ideas second, so be sure to share
details about your rock star team and why they are the right people to
execute this idea. Highlight the key team members, their successes at
other companies, and the key expertise that they bring to the table.
Also, be sure to share what skill-sets you may be missing on your team.
Most startup teams are missing some key talent, be it marketing,
management expertise, software development, sales, operations,
financial management and so on. Let them know that you know you
don’t know everything.

14. 9. FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS
Show what you’re projecting in revenue over the next 3 to 5 years. You’ll
see investors taking out their smartphone calculators to make sure your
numbers make sense, so give them the information they need to see
that your calculations are accurate.
Remember to try and be realistic. Investors see “hockey stick”
projections all the time and will mentally be cutting your projections in
half. If you can explain your growth based on traction you already have,
or compared to a similar company in a related industry, that is extremely
useful.
For your pitch deck, you shouldn’t have in-depth spreadsheets that will
be difficult to read. Limit yourself to charts that show a sales forecast
with customer segmentation, expected expenses and profits.
It can be incredibly easy to spend a ton of your time explaining
financials but keep in mind that you need to speak to them quickly.

15. 10. YOUR COMPETITION
Again, this is a very important part of your pitch, and many people omit
this section or don’t provide enough detail about why they’re so
different from their competitors.
Every business has competition in one form or another. Even if you are
opening up an entirely new market, your potential customers are using
alternative solutions to solve their problems today.
Describe how you fit into the competitive landscape and how you’re
different than the competitors and alternatives that are on the market
today. What key advantages do you have over the competition or is
there some “secret sauce” that you have that others don’t?
The key here is explaining how you are different than the other players
in the market and why customers will choose you.

16. 11. YOUR ASK
Clearly spell out how much money has already been invested in your
company, by whom, ownership percentages, and how much more you
need to go to the next level (and be clear about what level that is).
I said that this pitch deck isn’t about actually getting funded. That’s still
true, but your potential investors do need to know how much money
you are looking for.
More importantly, you need to be able to explain why you need the
amount of money you are asking for and how you plan on using the
money. Investors will want to know how their money is being used and
how it is going to help you achieve the goals you are setting out for
your business.
Remind the audience why your management team is capable of
managing their investment for growth. Tell investors how much you
need, why you need the money, what it will be used for, and the
intended outcome.

17. 4 ADD-ON SLIDES TO INCLUDE IN PITCH DECK
While you do want to keep your pitch deck short, sometimes you may
need or want to include a few extra slides that help explain your
business. You likely won’t utilize them when you present, but it can be a
great resource for investors to review after the pitch.
Here are a few additional slides that are often found in investor
presentations:

18. 1. EXIT STRATEGY
If you’re seeking a large sum of investment capital, most investors
will want to know what your exit strategy is. Are you planning on
getting acquired, going public, or something else? Show you’ve done
some due diligence on this exit strategy, including the companies
you’re targeting, and why it would make sense 3, 5 or 10 years down
the road.

19. 2. PARTNERSHIPS
Some businesses have key strategic partnerships that are critical to
their success. This can often be in the form of intellectual property
licensing from a university or a key distribution partner who will be
taking your product to market. If your success relies on these types of
partnerships, it’s important to showcase them.

20. 3. DEMOS AND SCREENSHOTS
If you have a prototype of your product, screenshots of your online
service, or any other “show and tell” opportunities, it’s great to
include a placeholder slide in your deck where you will actually
show your potential investors how your product works and what it
does.

21. 4. OTHER DOCUMENTATION
Keeping your pitch deck as short and succinct as possible is critical.
Remember, your goal isn’t to provide investors with all the information they
need to make an investment decision. Its primary purpose is to tell a story,
build excitement, and help get that all-important request for additional
information and a follow-up meeting.
In addition to your pitch deck, you should have more detailed, additional
information that you can provide if requested. Preparing these additional
documents can also help ensure that you don’t try and fill your presentation
with too much overwhelming information.

22. 9 IMPORTANT THINGS TO NOTE
1. KEEP THE PITCH SIMPLE
All entrepreneurs spend countless hours “in the weeds” thinking
about every last detail about their idea/business. But, for an investor
pitch, less information is better than too much. You want your slides
to be simple, convey high-level ideas, and leave room for questions.
Simple and straightforward presentations always do better than
detailed presentations full of bullets.

23. 2. SKIP THE BULLETS
Speaking of bullets, skip them. Slides full of bullet points are
boring and don’t help tell a story. Try and use large fonts and
limit the number of words on each slide. Use images wherever
possible to help tell your story and build an emotional
attachment to your ideas.

24. 3. TELL A STORY
Don’t just talk about the facts. Instead, focus on grabbing interest
and getting your audience excited. Your deck doesn’t need to be
the complete guide to your business. It just needs to generate
interest so you can move on to the next step.
One of the best ways to do that is to tell stories about how your
customers use your product, how they currently experience
problems that need to be solved, and how your idea will make
the lives of your customers better. The more you can tell stories
that investors can relate to, the more you’ll be able to build
excitement for your company.

25. 4. KEEP YOUR PRESENTATION SHORT
Make sure you have plenty of time for questions, demos, and
discussion about your business idea. If you have a one-hour
meeting, aim for your presentation to take 20 to 30 minutes.

26. 5. DON’T OVERSTATE YOUR MARKET OPPORTUNITY
Instead of top-down forecasts where you “only need to get 1% of
a huge market” to be successful, focus on bottom-up forecasts
where you detail your expectations for how you’re going to
acquire customers.
If you already have data on how an early version of your product
is selling, use those numbers to help drive the rest of your
forecast.

27. 6. ASK FOR THE MONEY
Yes, it’s a slide in the presentation deck above, but entrepreneurs
sometimes forget to ask for the money. When you ask, it’s very
important to be able to intelligently discuss how the money will
be used. Your detailed financial forecasts should also take an
influx of cash into account.

28. 7. KEEP YOUR DECK CURRENT
Fundraising takes time. You’ll likely pitch your company many,
many times before you get an investment.
Assuming you’re working to build your company while you pitch
to raise money, make sure that you keep your deck up-to-date
with your latest progress, roadmaps, and so on. There’s nothing
worse than presenting an out-of-date deck to potential investors.

29. 8. SEND YOUR DECK AS PDF
You’ll almost always be asked to either send your slides ahead of
time to investors or to leave a copy behind. If this happens, don’t
send PowerPoint or Keynote files. Instead, send a PDF. This means
that anyone who looks at the deck will see it as you intended with
your chosen fonts and styles.
Make sure your deck stands alone without your presentation.
Your pitch deck will always be better when you present it, but it
should ideally be able to tell some of your story without you
being there to tell it.
Investors might want to flip through the deck again after you’re
done with your presentation and it needs to have enough
content can stand alone and communicate some of your core
ideas.

30. 9. TAKE FEEDBACK AND REFINE YOUR PITCH
No matter the outcome of your pitch, whether you receive
funding, another meeting, or rejection, look for areas to improve.
Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback and take that into account for
the next time you pitch. Now if the investor isn’t willing to
provide any, don’t push the issue.
If you can, have another team member there to take notes and
review with them afterward. Look for weak-points, areas you
stumbled over, and slides that led to negative reactions from the
investor. Keep refining, practising, and executing even if you think
you’ve found the perfect pitch.
You’ll really never know how good your pitch is until you actually
do it. Don’t stress yourself out, and treat every investor pitch as a
learning experience for you and your business.

31. Developing your pitch deck is only the start of your business
planning journey. You’ll want to follow up on a successful investor
pitch with the necessary planning documentation to support your
presentation.
The following are just a few documents that you should have
prepared to send after you pitch:
4 DOCUMENTS TO HAVE PREPARED AFTER PITCHING

32. 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
An executive summary sometimes called a summary memo, is a
two-to-three-page overview of your business. It’s a document
that investors can share with their partners and others in their
firm to provide an overview of your business. Your executive
summary should cover what’s in your pitch deck but in written
form.

33. 2. TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION
If you are starting a tech company or medical company, you may
be asked to provide some additional detail on your technology.
Investors in these types of companies will often want to vet your
technical claims with an expert, so providing more detailed
documentation, diagrams, workflows, and so on might be
important.

34. 3. DETAILED FINANCIAL MODELS
Any investor that’s seriously interested in your business will want
to see detailed financial forecasts for at least the next 3 years so
they can get an understanding of the underlying assumptions
that are driving your forecasts.
Investors will want to see your plans for hiring and employee-
related expenses, R&D expenses, manufacturing costs, marketing
expenses, and so on.
Be prepared to provide a detailed sales forecast, profit and loss
forecast, and cash flow forecast. A balance sheet is also often
required. Whenever possible, visually represent your data with
graphics. It’s proven to be more effective.

35. 4. DETAILED MARKET RESEARCH
You may be asked to provide more details on your target market
and the market research you’ve done to date. This isn’t always the
case, but if you have the information it’s a good idea to be ready
to present it in some format.
Again, this data shouldn’t be part of your initial pitch deck, but
instead should be ready if it’s asked for.