A good idea alone does not make a young company the next shining star in the startup sky. First, you need to convince others with your idea. The most powerful tool for this is a strong pitch. The pitch deck is a fundamental part of any startup documentation and supports you in pitching. It is the entry ticket for many different situations: investor meetings, customer acquisition, competitions, or program applications, for example at startport. That is why it is important to always have an up-to-date—and above all, convincing—pitch deck at hand. But what actually convinces? At startport, we receive numerous pitch decks from startups with innovative ideas for logistics and supply chain. Based on this experience, we would like to share 4 tips for your next pitch deck:
1. Tell a story
A well-developed story makes the problem—and therefore your product’s solution—easier to understand. Stories also trigger human emotions, which means you can even inspire and entertain with your pitch deck. Telling a story also means keeping the pitch deck simple and easy to understand, and not filling it with too much information. Details are usually not particularly relevant for the reader, because a good pitch deck is often just the key to getting a second meeting or a call where you can go into more detail.
2. Structure
A good pitch deck should be logically coherent. This means that each slide builds on the information from the previous slides and strengthens the argument for why the startup has high potential.
There is information that should definitely be included in every pitch deck:
- Problem
- Solution
- Market
- Business model
- Competition
- Status quo/traction
- Team
There are often specific requirements as well, for example when applying to a program. However, do not forget the first tip.
3. Tailor it to your target audience
It is a major advantage to always put yourself in the perspective of the reader or listener. Depending on the target audience, you can use different versions of the pitch so that it is more specifically tailored: When pitching to investors, the main goal should be to show that the startup has the potential to scale quickly and achieve a billion-dollar exit. When pitching to potential customers, however, it is much more important to highlight the product offering.
4. Design & content
Design and layout are just as important as the content, but often do not receive the same level of attention. The design should make the content easier to read, clearer, and easier to follow. A design that does not do this distracts from the actual content and is confusing. So it is not always helpful to add lots of colors to the design.
The pitch deck is a never-ending story and requires continuous adjustment and improvement. So do not worry if it is not perfect. It probably never will be. However, if you manage to keep the pitch deck simple, communicate the vision clearly, and make it easy to understand, you have a better chance of succeeding in investor or customer meetings.