I think this is a mistake.
I’d suggest that you start by writing twenty headlines that sum up your startup, and only then build the slides.
Here’s why:
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If you tell the story well, they'll dig-in to more of the complexity later.
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🔥 User Problem
⚙️ Product/Solution
⌚️ Why now?
📈 Market
⚽️ Team
👩💼 Business Model
💹 Financials
🥊 Competition
💰 Fundraising
You should touch on all these topics, but...
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“Here’s a bar chart showing the biggest plausible TAM I could find on Google!”
“Ah, here’s our technology on the upslope of a Gartner Hype Cycle!”
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The pro-forma approach to presenting can work, but the numbers need to be amazing, or the founders need to be incredibly charismatic.
Here’s what to do instead:
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Why is 20% of your equity worth $3-5M? The answer, and that script, should be the backbone of your pitch.
If Hollywood can tease a 2-hour film in 30 seconds, you can tease a 45-minute meeting.
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Launch right into the biggest statement you can make about your company's impact in the future.
The message from the outset should be “If we do our job right, we will completely change the way...!”
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Specific > Generic, every time.
Instead of a slide title that says “Team,” you could write, “We’ve worked together for 5+ years at Uber and introduced ____ together”
Repeat for every slide.
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Only start adding images to your deck after you’ve got the twenty or so slide headlines in order. Graphics are a crutch. They should only be there to support each headline.
Ideally, there are no other words beyond the headline.
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