Investment Pitch Deck Expert Tips and Tricks – 2024 edition

What is an investment pitch deck?

A pitch deck is a presentation that entrepreneurs use to present their companies to prospective investors. It’s often called a VC Pitch Deck (short for Venture Capital).

How long is an investment pitch deck?

The investor pitch deck is usually between 15-20 slides. However, the startup may have a longer, more complex presentation that has more information and content for interested parties.

What is the best software for a pitch deck presentation design?

There are many alternatives out there, such as Keynote, Prezi and other online deck-building options. We work with PowerPoint as our software of choice. The reason we choose PowerPoint for pitch deck design is that as part of the Microsoft Office Suite, it’s widely used, which makes for easy editing. It’s also more powerful for editing and design features allowing a better pitch deck document.

How should your investment pitch deck look?

Your investment pitch deck is your first impression, so make it a good one! Some design tips for your document are:

• Remember that it will be viewed onscreen and may be printed out, so ensure you have a good enough contrast of colours of your type and charts. This is also a valuable point to apply to your website to ensure that it meets web accessibility standards
• You can change the page size to A4 landscape (or for US-based startups, US Letter) so that it prints out well and you don’t lose any space from cropping
• Keep your design simple! The more cluttered it is, the harder it is to focus on the content
• Avoid unnecessary background colours as these don’t print well
• Make sure you choose good quality images. You can find great free ones on popular sites such as Pexels, Unsplash and Pixabay
• Limit your fonts to a maximum of two. If you need to share your presentation for collaboration, choose a classic Arial or Calibri to ensure it can open on all computers. You can also explore Google Fonts for some great free font options – ensure they are legible – we recommend a clean Sans Serif like Work Sans
• Make sure to run a spell check on your pitch deck. You can also look at resources such as Grammarly to ensure that your grammar and spelling are correct. Bear in mind what territory you are addressing and the differences between UK and US English for example.

How is a pitch deck distributed?

Generally, the pitch deck is designed and edited in PowerPoint, the dates have been designed and finalised, then it is saved as a PDF for distribution. Usually this is emailed out to the interested investor, however if the file is too big it can be sent through a file sending software such as wetransfer.com. One of the advantages of wetransfer.com is that you can easily track if the email attachment has been downloaded, and if you use wetransferPRO, you can brand both the email and the landing page with your own company branding, resulting in a more professional experience.

What are the key elements of an investor pitch deck?

There are a few approaches to your pitch deck content – we believe in leading with only a brief overview of the company, then diving into the problem and solution, before circling back to the team who is providing that solution. This way it frames the problem before introducing the people behind the solution.

1. Introduction/company overview

This is a brief introduction to your company – generally only one page and with 4-6 bullet points. This introduction will usually cover – who you are; what industry you are working with; the problem you are addressing and what impact your solution will have. You don’t need to share your full solution, this is rather to whet the appetite and set the scene!

2. The Problem

You need to define the problem that you are solving. You will want to cover the challenges that your target audience are facing. We have a simple formula for this:

• What? What is the problem, how big is it? Focus on one problem only – if you make it complicated, you can lose them.
• Who? Who will be benefit from this solution? If it’s a problem that your investor can relate to, this is great, as they will feel the emotions associated with this problem.
• Why? Why is it important that this problem should be solved? Give an opportunity to see a clear ROI (Return on Investment) opportunity down the line.

3. Solution

Use this slide to talk about the solution to the problem. Try and tell a story that your investors can relate to so they understand that your solution is the best option in the marketplace to solve the problem. The more they relate and believe in your solution to the problem, the more likely they are to invest with you.

Remember, you don’t need to use words to tell a story; you can also use illustrations and graphics to make your point.

4. Your product

You need to clearly explain your product in light of your solution. Here is where you will list:

• • Features and benefits
  • Why the market will care about your product
  • What makes your product and solution different from other alternatives
  • What the future growth or additional features are for your product

You can consider using customer testimonials at this stage. If you have a video testimonial you can include a link, and upload the video to YouTube for the investors to view.

5. The target market

Your target market slide should give information about the ideal customer. You will want to explore how big market size is, the dollar value of this market and its buying habits and potential. Consider including graphs or charts to visualise your target market.

6. Growth

If your product or service is already in the marketplace, here is where you can show the growth that you have experienced since you launched it. You should have graphs that show growth by month and year – you can pull metrics from your sales; visits to your company website; app downloads, etc. Here is also where you can show your projected growth.

7. Your team

Your team slide is crucial for your investor to know who they are potentially partnering with. Your idea may not be what they invest in – it may be in the leadership team itself – so you need to put your best foot forward.

This slide may include:

• Name, title and photo (if you want to)
• Up to three points of achievements or memorable points. It’s even better if these can relate to the investor of the opportunity itself

8. Competition

Here is where you will show the investor who you are competing against. You will want to differentiate yourself clearly, so that the investor understands what gives you the competitive advantage.

9. Financials

Your investor will want to know your current financial situation plus your projections. You may have your financials available on a  spreadsheet, so you can keep this slide as an overview summary, with the details on request.

10. Your request

This slide addresses what you are asking for. This includes:

• How much money you are seeking. It’s advisable to give a range (e.g. $5 million to $7 million) as this will allow for companies with restrictions on minimum or maximum investments
• What milestones you will be able to achieve with the financing, along with a forecasted timeline
• What the investment will be funnelled into (e.g. marketing, product development, capital expenses, etc.)

11. Investment pitch deck wrap-up

Wrap up your deck with your contact details (yes, some people forget to add these!) Your last page should have direct contact details of key member(s) of your leadership team. You should also include your website and company LinkedIn page if you have one.

A great pitch deck can be a differentiator in your success of raising funds from an investor.

If you don’t have the budget to bring in professionals to assist, make sure to follow these tips to give you a greater chance of success. If you’d like to take it to the next level, make sure to Choose Halo and get in touch with us!