VMS Full Pitch Deck Outline
Slide
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Content
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Comments
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1
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Title
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Company name, logo, tagline, your
name and complete contact information
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The audience can read the slide—cut
to the chase and tell them what you do. Very simply sum it up in one short
sentence. Something like “we create
and sell game software for consumers".
“We are the X for Y” can work very well here – example: YouTube’s concept statement was “Flickr for
video”.
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2
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Problem
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What is the problem and who has it.
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Don't put up numbers from research
firms on the size of the market. Here
is where you want people to visualize and identify with the problem; to get
them nodding their heads.
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3
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Solution
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How you solve it – In
completely NON-TECHNICAL terms, explain how you alleviate the problem you
just described to establish a value proposition.
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Here is where you introduce your
product. Include some “demonstration” that provides a visual explanation –
screenshots, short video clip, etc. DO
NOT use a LIVE demo – use a “canned” and carefully curated version.
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4
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Marketing
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Identify who your customers are. How
big is the market – especially your specific addressable market.
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Explain how you will reach your
customer and your marketing leverage points.
Start building your case for traction.
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5
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Business
Model
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Step through who will pay you, how
you will sell to them, how the money gets to you and how much your gross
margin is. Know who the customer is and who the buyer is. Don't trot out
financials.
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If a familiar example exists you
should cite it. If you have sales, discuss them and your pipeline. Explain how the economics work for you to
grow into a XX $million business.
Emphasize the micro – each customer is worth X amount per year and our
cost to acquire them is Y.
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6
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Underlying
Magic
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Describe the technology, secret sauce
or magic behind your product or service. If you have IP highlight it.
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One question that has likely formed
in the listener's mind: "what's special about this?" Here's where
you introduce some arguments and evidence to address this. You can get a
little technical, but keep it short and sweet. The point is to build credibility without
glazing their eyes over. If you've hooked them, you'll get the chance to
delve into details in later meetings. Aim for less text and more diagrams /
graphics on this slide.
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7
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Competition
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Explain why your customers will use
your product instead of the competition – what are your advantages.
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Everybody has competitors – what do
people use now? A good way to show this is with something like a 4 quadrant
view of the competitive landscape.
Don’t diss the competition – people want to hear why you’re great not
why the others suck.
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8
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Team
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Describe the key players on your
management team, board of directors and board of advisors, as well as your major
investors (if you have them).
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This addresses the “why you“
question. Don’t put in a complete CV – focus on the past accomplishments of
the team that are RELEVANT to this venture. One bullet that sums up why each person is
outstanding in the context of this venture.
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9
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Financial
Projections and Key Metrics
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Provide a three- to five-year
forecast containing not only dollars but also key metrics, such as number of
customers and conversion rate.
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Keep it simple for the slide – don’t
put up a spreadsheet with 20 columns and rows. Focus on a few key numbers – sales, cash,
headcount and the key customer metrics.
You will have detailed backup slides and materials for later if you need
to dive deeper in private.
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10
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Current
Status, Accomplishments to Date, Timeline and Use of Funds
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Describe your current status and
prospective milestones for the next 2-4 quarters for your product, team,
marketing, and sales.
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Share the details of your positive
momentum and traction. Explain your current status, what the near future
looks like and how you’ll use the money you’re trying to raise. Explain how
the money gets you to some new step up in value.
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Notes:
1.
A number of the above slides (especially 4-10) are summaries of much
more detailed slides and other materials (spreadsheets, documents, etc.) that
are backup materials. When you do a full
investor pitch you should have these available if questions arise so you can
dive deeper.
2.
On the topic of pitch deck templates, there is no shortage of suggested
formats and content. There are endless
books, blog posts, videos, ideas and examples to be found. If you stick to quality sources, you’ll find
that at the core the information content is very consistent regardless of the
individual taste reflected by the particular author. Some may favor a certain sequence, or add
some extra twists, there may be 10 slides or a dozen-ish. But overall, they all share the same key
roadmap for information and storytelling.
3. This outline is aimed at seed and A
Rounds and is adapted from multiple sources, including:
