I received a pitch a day in 2021. Trust me -- if you're lu…

1. Know your audience.

Investors are quick to judge.

Weak decks get 90 seconds or less. A pitch deck must catch their interest in the first couple of slides.

If you can afford to, use a designer.

2. Understand the goal.

You're not trying to put every last bit of information about your startup in your deck.

You're trying to get a meeting.

Don't try to force-feed the investor information. Leave out the minutiae.

Your pre-seed deck should be ~12 slides.

3. Ditch the table of contents.

It signals "there's too much information in here".

Cut any slide that does not advance the narrative, like detailed financial projections. Your numbers are probably wrong anyway.

4. Invest your energies where it counts the most.

Investors will spend the most time on these 6 slides:

- Product
- Business model
- Go to market strategy
- Traction
- Competition
- Team

5. Highlight your product near the beginning of the deck.

Build a narrative flow, starting with a slide about a problem to a solution to the product.

Use visuals. Illustrate important product features using wireframes, screenshots, embedded videos, or Figma mockups.

6. Lay out a clear monetisation strategy that’s repeatable over time.

Use simple (correct!) analogies to explain the business model:

"Uber for X" or "Like Y but with better economics"

Be data-driven and explicit:

"We are targeting a Z% gross margin."

7. Pitch an organic, executable go-to-market strategy.

How will you acquire your first 1,000 customers?

You are your startup's first sales & marketing lead. Organic growth, not paid ads is how you'll prove to an investor that you can find product-market fit.

8. Write a great traction slide.

A 100-person survey isn't impressive.

You're pre-seed, so you don't need much (or any) revenues. But you do need commitment & grit.

Show traction appropriate to your stage, e.g. letters of intent, waitlists, customer pipeline, beta feedback.

9. Don't say "we have no competition".

That's superficial. If the problem you're addressing matters, your customers are already solving it somehow.

Think broadly. Include incumbents & hacks, tech or non-tech. And say what's special about your product compared to competitors.

10. Brag about the founders.

Include links to LinkedIn profiles. Focus on accomplishments, not titles.

Use logos: top-tier schools, blue-chip companies, popular startups if you can. Don't lie.

Don't use words like "guru" or "rockstar". You won't sound objective or credible.

P.S. My general tips for writing well:

- Use a spelling and grammar checker.
- Use bullet points.
- Write short sentences.
- Share 1 idea per sentence.
- Leave lots of "white space".

Good luck! 🍀