Startup Pitch Decks: A Forgotten Art

As a business owner and consultant to many different organisations, I always try and make it a point to be diplomatic – albeit straightforward – with what I say. This includes any advice I may provide around transforming my clients’ businesses, which naturally involves some degree of criticism.

However, on this specific topic, I find it nearly impossible to sugar-coat my opinion, so I am just going to say it as I see it: most company pitch decks I see feel like I’m trying to work out a sudoku puzzle that was designed by Stevie Wonder.

To be clear, I’m not talking about pitches that are put together by bootstrapped founders trying to do a “family and friends” round. I’m talking about startups of all shapes and sizes.

I have literally seen thousands of startup pitch decks throughout my career. I can also say, hand on heart, that I can count the “good ones” on one hand. The vast majority left me scratching my head as though I had a bad case of head lice (which, as you can see from my LinkedIn profile photo, is technically impossible). In short, I’m genuinely stunned at the way many startups present themselves to the outside world.

The fact is, a good pitch deck is a startup’s most important marketing document: it’s effectively your company bible and what every person you do a successful elevator pitch to will ultimately want to see as a follow-up.

Below are some of the most common pitfalls I see with startup pitch decks:

1. PRESENTATION

Have you ever willingly sent someone a CV that used 63 different fonts, had misaligned paragraphs, and was littered with typos and grammatical errors that you DIDN’T ask at least twenty close friends to review? No? Well, if not, then why do so many companies insist on sending out decks that look like they were created on Microsoft Paint…using Windows 95?

Don’t underestimate the importance of a great-looking deck. If you want to come across as a successful startup (or one that will ultimately be successful), you need to look the part.

It’s amazing how much time, effort, and money people spend professionalising their CVs to secure a USD 50,000 p.a. job, yet how little founders invest in their pitch decks to try and raise millions in investor funding. Who do you think cares more about how you present yourself: the hiring manager of a listed company who will be paying your salary with investors’ / shareholders’ money or the actual investors themselves?

Some key presentation faux paus include:

Creating a PowerPoint deck with plain text only: there is another Windows application for that. It’s called Microsoft Word.

Using every colour palette available: unless your company manufactures flags for LGBTQI parades, stick to cleaner and more simple colour protocols

Using bizarre / outdated fonts: I saw one deck that looked like it was written by William Shakespeare…and the company had absolutely nothing to do with stage plays

Misalignment: PowerPoint has inbuilt rulers and guidelines. Use them!

Confusing charts, graphs, and visuals: not all revenue curves need to trend upwards at an exponential rate…and drawing lines between random pictures doesn’t automatically create an “ecosystem” and “synergies”

I’m sure there are some people reading this thinking: “that’s why I engaged a graphic designer to revamp my pitch” or “I used a professionally designed template for my deck.” Admittedly, while this may make the page turning process easier on the eyes, it doesn’t mean it’s any simpler (or more convincing) on the brain.

I frequently see decks that look super slick but are completely vacuous of content. I often liken it to people who spend a fortune “doing up” a Toyota Corolla with body kits, sport exhausts, tinted windows, and custom paint jobs. At the end of the day, it’s still a Toyota Corolla (despite the super car sunk cost that was put into the car’s “upgrade”). Similarly, this is where many starups waste their time and money.

With cars, people care about what’s under the hood. With pitch decks, people care about what’s inside a glossy front cover. Content is key.

2. CONTENT

In business, people care about the value your company can bring to them. This means easing their pain points or maximising their pleasure points. In its purest form, they want to know how your company can help solve a problem or make them more money. If your startup can do that for its target customers, then you’ll get the attention of investors.

Your pitch deck should convey a clear and compelling story. Remember: “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”; not “the dog brown jumps quick lazy fox over”. If you structure your deck in a way that doesn’t flow (or make sense), you can rest assured that things will end with “over”.

Some key content elements to consider in a good pitch deck include:

The problem statement: what is the exact problem your company is trying to solve and just how big a problem is it (e.g. what’s the market size)?

Your Solution: what solution(s) does your company offer to address this problem? How does your solution work and add value? And how is your solution unique / different from the competition (i.e. why you)? (Note: never claim that your company has no competitors, unless you’re Elon Musk…and even then, NASA would beg to differ)

Your Strategy: what are the future growth plans for your company? How will you position your company to succeed going forward? (note: “rapidly scale”, “drive brand visibility”, and “capitalise on network effects” are not strategies)
Your Ask: what exactly are you looking for from your audience? How much money you are asking for and how will this money specifically be deployed to support your strategic growth plans?

Your Offer: What’s in it for the investor? How much will an investor get (quantum and form), both now and in the future?

There are, of course, many specific nuances that will need to be emphasised in order for your pitch deck to truly stand out, including detailed and relevant data that directly supports your proposition. Without compelling data (and any assumptions that sit behind it), your pitch deck will end up reading like a brochure for Hogwarts, with business aspirations that can be achieved with the simple wave of a wand while yelling out “expelliarmus!”

3. DELIVERY

As a standup comedian, I can tell you that that most of an audience’s reaction to a comic’s material is not about the material itself, but the way it’s delivered. In reality, twenty comedians can go on stage and tell exactly the same joke, word for word, but they are all going to get very different responses.

In the context of a pitch deck, this means being able to tell a powerful story that your audience can relate to – after all, a pitch is all about storytelling. However, while developing a strong narrative in your deck is absolutely critical, so is the person who delivers it. The fact is, there are many startup founders who are not confident public speakers or natural presenters. But getting people to hand over their hard-earned money requires a certain degree of gravitas: nobody is going to support someone who is unable to communicate their story with confidence and conviction.

If you’re not a natural born presenter, hire one or get a professional coach. Trust me when I say that it will pay dividends many times over. At the end of the day, whatever startup you run, business is – and always will be – all about people.

FINAL THOUGHTS

There are unquestionably many startups who have raised obscene amounts of money with appalling pitches (or no pitch deck at all) and ghastly ideas (think WeWork, the business that guarantees to lose you more money every year). However, many of these cases have typically involved one of three things: (1) startups led by brilliant salespeople; (2) founders who are insanely well connected; and/or (3) ideas that have been able to capitalise on rampant FOMO and mass-market hysteria (recall the ICO craze of 2017/18, including the famous case of Miroskii, who amazingly managed to recruit Ryan Gosling as their lead graphic designer and raised nearly USD 1 million in the process).

Apart from such cases, for the millions of everyday startup founders trying to change the world with their new business ideas, investing in your pitch deck can be one of the best investments you’ll ever make.

Authour: Benjamin Quinlan, CEO & Managing Partner at Quinlan & Associates