A great presentation of a business idea to investors is one of the key factors that impact their decision making regarding potential investment. There are many factors involved, some of which can be controlled with a well-prepared pitch deck presentation.
What is a pitch deck presentation?
A pitch deck is a short presentation of a business idea, whose aim is to present the company, its vision and business plan to potential investors. It is an informative document with a compelling and convincing story about the potential that investors can fulfil by investing in a startup.
Even though its objective is commercial, a pitch deck presentation does not aim to secure funding, but to make investors interested and provide an opportunity to schedule another meeting and more concrete negotiations.
When it comes to external changes, taking into account your employees’ opinions and attitudes towards current trends and changes in the labor market is an important factor in maintaining the company’s competitiveness. By respecting your team’s professional judgment and expertise, you develop trust in management, which is essential for accepting change.
Types of pitch presentation
To ensure that the negotiations will continue and that there will be another meeting, you need to convince potential investors that your idea will change the world in which they operate and bring them a good return on investment. Use the following foolproof formats, which have proven to be the most efficient in practice:
- Problem/solution – the most common, understandable and, hence, ideal format for presenting solutions to key issues on the market
- First results – this type of presentation focuses on numbers, i.e., metrics that envisage growth, the cost of acquiring new clients, and information about income.
- X/Y – presentation which summarizes the essence of your business idea in one sentence. It is short, compelling, and it pinpoints the core of the issue and the solution it suggests. The best examples are “Uber for boats” and “Airbnb for campsites”.
- Painkiller – the best type of presentation, whose aim is to present ideas for improving the work process and methodology. It is used when addressing the highest level of management in an attempt to present solutions to the issues that the management finds the most “painful”.
- Crystal ball – prediction of what is to come as the next step on the market or in the relevant industry. It analyzes trends and future development directions, which current trends lead to. Predictions based on relevant data and detailed analyses have a great potential to secure an investment.
As it is the case with everything, when choosing the type of presentation, it is important to be aware that there is no universal solution. However, with a shrewd choice of presentation type and well-created content, the chances of achieving the ultimate goal can be significantly improved.
Preparing a pitch deck presentation
The structure of your pitch deck presentation must emphasize the ideas and the business concept of your company. Using the appropriate tone when addressing potential investors, a visually appealing design and clarity will all help you to present the key information:
- Vision and core values
- Problem
- Target market
- Solution
- Income generation model or business model
- First results and confirmation of success
- Marketing and sales strategy
- Team
- Finances
- Competition
- Investments and utilization of funds
The suggested order helps you convey a clear and easily understandable message. Another tip for preparing a pitch deck presentation is to keep it simple and focus on directly addressing the audience, without unnecessary details, lists, pie-charts and complex tables.
Examples of good practice
Some of the contemporary global businesses have at one point found themselves in front of investors with their pitch deck presentation. One such company is Hipcamp, which used the aforementioned lead – “Airbnb for campsites”, which “glued” the investors to their chairs. In just a few words, they managed to summarize the core of the business idea – a comprehensive service and all amenities offered by Airbnb, but for campers.
Facebook’s first large investment came after a presentation based on audited numbers and measurable indicators regarding its users, their activities on the network and the traffic generated. Such data clearly presented the current state of affairs and facilitated evidence-based predictions regarding the growth and potential of the whole company. This concept of presentation brought about the first investment of $500,000.
Mattermark, a company dealing with business intelligence, decided to present concrete problems for which they offered solutions in their pitch deck presentation. Informative screenshots showed to what extent SaaS reporting can be confusing and inefficient. Emphasizing the faults in the existing solutions, it was easy for them to demonstrate how great the potential of their product was. This approach secured $17 million of investments for this company.
Final remarks
Knowing what the key elements of a successful pitch deck presentation are, it is much easier to create one. These 5 key tips for a powerful business presentation can provide additional help. The environment in which business ideas are to be presented can also help you achieve success.
Desk&More offers top-quality conditions for holding pitch deck presentations at four premium locations in Belgrade. Regardless of whether your presentation is for a small number of investors or a large audience, the facilities offer state-of-the-art video and audio equipment. Additionally, there are meeting rooms available for rent should you need them. You can find more information about the terms and condition related to renting the facilities and their availability here.
