The Founder Institute and Ben Chong, associate at Proper Click on Capital, take you thru nail your startup pitch.
tl;dr Pitch Deck Templates
Don’t have time to learn the information? You possibly can entry our Pitch Templates shortly beneath.
One‑Sentence Pitch Template | Elevator Pitch Template | One‑Minute Pitch Template | Lengthy Angel/VC Template
Introduction
If you happen to’re like most founders, you most likely take into consideration your startup 24/7. You get up within the morning brainstorming product options, and also you go to sleep at night time considering advertising and marketing campaigns.
You possibly can’t keep in mind the final film you noticed on the theatre; your thought of a enjoyable, Saturday night time is collaborating with builders abroad. And stalking VCs on LinkedIn has grow to be a favorite pastime.
Ardour, laborious work and a wholesome quantity of obsession are important substances to entrepreneurial success. Nonetheless, it’s not unusual for founders to grow to be hyper‑centered on preliminary concepts on the expense of an vital truth:
A startup founder’s final success relies on others shopping for into his or her imaginative and prescient.
Translation: Your progress is contingent upon your means to pitch the worth of who you’re, what you’re doing and why it issues. Reaching vital milestones like elevating enterprise capital, sourcing prime expertise and buying new clients all require the identical ability – telling a narrative that makes somebody say, “For sure!”
Generally you may have half-hour to make that occur; different occasions you may have 30 seconds. Regardless, your job is to obviously talk why a given viewers ought to care about your small business.
Bear in mind:
A startup founder’s final success relies on others shopping for into his or her imaginative and prescient.
“The purpose of a presentation deck is to enable entrepreneurs to effectively tell the story of their business. In many ways, it’s like a structured scientific proof. You want to walk the listener through an argument as to why this is going to be an amazing business,” says Invoice Gurley, basic associate at Benchmark Capital.
Considered one of your strongest instruments in reaching this goal is the pitch deck. Early‑stage founders can use templates to create visible displays that present transient overviews of enterprise worth propositions, market alternatives, and metrics.
On the Founder Institute, we see dozens of decks each week. Nearly all of them are utterly forgettable as a result of somebody ignored a couple of important substances to storytelling success.
Proper Click on Capital’s Ben Chong, who additionally runs the Founder Institute in Australia.
The truth? Phenomenal pitches aren’t thrown collectively in a weekend – they’re thoughtfully contemplated, examined and refined.
On this information, we’ll make a case for why founders ought to grasp The One‑Sentence Pitch, The Elevator Pitch, and The 1‑Minute Pitch earlier than tackling decks. We’ll additionally present tips for setting up narratives, customising pitch deck templates and speaking with potential buyers.
These are most of the identical strategies Founder Institute alumni have used to acquire $1.85BN+ in funding.
Lastly, we’ll conclude with some examples of actual decks utilised by globally recognised startups. After studying this information, you’ll know precisely what it takes to create a compelling deck, give a memorable presentation and stand out from the gang.
Let’s get began…
3 varieties of startup pitches
Assume again to major college: Did your foray into your first language start with a 1,200‑web page copy of Struggle and Peace?
No, you began by studying easy phrases. Equally, you shouldn’t count on to assemble ‘the right’ pitch deck immediately. As a substitute, start by setting up the best description of your small business doable: The One Sentence Pitch.
1. The One Sentence Pitch Template
As a startup founder, you’ll meet a whole lot of individuals at varied conferences, occasions and conferences. Additionally, you will, routinely, introduce your self to finish strangers by e mail. In such conditions, you may have seconds to pique somebody’s curiosity. And one of the best ways to do this is a compelling One‑Sentence Pitch.
This one‑sentence assertion explains what you do, who you serve and why it issues in easy language. Founder Institute CEO and Co‑founder Adeo Ressi has developed an superior One Sentence Pitch Template, which you’ll be able to see at FI.co/one‑sentence‑pitch. Use the template to craft your individual.
My Firm [name of company], is creating [a defined offering] to assist [a defined audience] [solve a problem] with [secret sauce].
Instance: My firm, the Founder Institute, is creating a startup accelerator to assist thought‑stage and pre‑seed entrepreneurs construct fundable companies with a structured methodology and international investor community.
Let’s undergo every of the gadgets
The outlined providing should be brief, easy and able to being understood by everybody, like ‘an internet site’, ‘a cell utility’, ‘{hardware}’ or ‘desktop software program.’
The outlined viewers is the preliminary group of those who you’ll market your providing to. Within the case of shopper purposes, it’s normally a demographic, equivalent to ‘girls age 25 to 35 years previous.’ Within the case of enterprise purposes, it’s normally a job perform at a sort of company, equivalent to ‘system directors at medium-sized know-how companies.’
Now that you’ve an providing serving to an viewers, you might want to clear up an issue. The issue must be one thing that everybody understands, equivalent to ‘scale back the time gathering invoice funds’ or ‘have interaction in an immersive leisure expertise.’
The ultimate element, the key sauce, provides your distinctive method to fixing the issue and demonstrates a mastery of the market. Some examples are ‘by sending automated e mail alerts based mostly on evaluation of highest response occasions’ or ‘with digital worlds constructed in response to the actions of the gamers.’
Mediocre Elevator Pitch Instance
My firm Socialista,
Is creating a revolutionary, social utility
To assist feminine shoppers
Discover offers on-line sooner.
What’s unsuitable with this pitch?
The providing is imprecise: A ‘social utility’ may very well be a cellphone firm. The pitch ought to learn ‘ecommerce web site.’
The adjectives are empty: This individual might imagine their enterprise is revolutionary, nevertheless it’s an over‑inflated declare. Let the numbers converse for themselves!
The viewers is imprecise: It may very well be extra clearly outlined (e.g. feminine shoppers between the ages of 18 and 25)
The issue isn’t apparent: Why can’t the goal shopper use engines like google to seek out offers on-line? Why is that this platform higher than her present choices?
Together with these particulars implies the individual has achieved their homework, is aware of their stuff and has a viable enterprise thought.
Improved Elevator Pitch Instance
My firm Socialista,
Is creating an ecommerce web site
To assist feminine shoppers between the ages of 18‑25
Store for hip, child merchandise at wholesale costs,
With automated ordering of diapers and different staples.
As you possibly can see, the Elevator Pitch format is deceptively easy. The important thing to standing out is (a) being tremendous particular, and (b) emphasising your startup’s ‘secret sauce.’ On this case, the founder’s distinctive differentiator is offering a modern resolution at an unusually inexpensive value. Mastering this train is extraordinarily useful in refining Distinctive Worth Propositions.
2. The Elevator Pitch Template
When you’ve articulated your One‑Sentence Pitch, you’re able to develop into a correct Elevator Pitch.
Our Elevator Pitch Template begins together with your One‑Sentence Pitch, after which expands to incorporate the solutions to those key questions:
Why Now? Timing could make or break an organization. Why is NOW the best time for this?
Why You? Nice corporations begin with nice folks. Why are YOU (or your workforce) the best folks to execute on this?
What’s Your Ask? Everyone seems to be a possible connector or supply of suggestions. All the time be asking — whether or not it’s for funding, potential collaborators, potential companions, advisors… and even simply suggestions!
2. The One-Minute Investor Pitch Template
When you’ve articulated your Elevator Pitch, in case you are elevating cash then you’re prepared to maneuver on to the One‑Minute Pitch. Right here you possibly can add a number of key particulars to your Elevator Pitch which can be related to buyers: equivalent to market measurement, differentiators, and so on.
Try the straightforward‑to‑use ‘One Minute Pitch Template‘ from the Founder Institute.
Getting ready to Pitch Traders
Earlier than you start creating your pitch deck, it’s vital to think about the angle of potential buyers.
Prime VCs see and listen to dozens of pitches per week, each in‑individual and through e mail. Luminary Silicon Valley enterprise capital agency Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) hears from round 3,000 startups annually. What number of of these corporations procure investments? Solely 15 of them.
Pre‑requisites for Pitching to Traders
As Mike Suprovici (Founder Institute EIR) lays out in his Startup Information: The best way to Increase the First Spherical of Funding for Your Startup, earlier than you even start to method buyers, you want the next:
A powerful startup thought that’s vetted and backed by stable market analysis. See this startup thought information from the Founder Institute
A prototype, a patent, or a proof of idea for the ultimate thought
A easy and scalable startup monetary mannequin that exhibits at the least $10M in income after 3 years. See this income forecasting template from Aaron Patzer, Founding father of Mint.com and FI Mentor
A powerful 10 to fifteen web page presentation that meets buyers’ expectations. We’ll talk about this within the part beneath
An included entity with a sensible capitalisation desk (‘Cap desk’). See this straightforward cap desk from Enterprise Hacks
The flexibility to give up your job and stay for six months on financial savings whilst you conclude the financing and launch the enterprise
Metrics that match into these Startup Benchmarks
One other issue to think about is what sort of investor you’re approaching. Contemplate the stage of your individual firm, earlier than making an attempt to pitch to sure buyers. Do you meet their pre‑requisites? If you’re elevating your first spherical of funding, then you’re possible nonetheless at a pre‑angel or angel funding stage. Because of this, it is best to NOT attempt to pitch enterprise capitalists.
What Traders Need to See in a Pitch
If you’re able to pitch angels or enterprise capitalists, it’s essential to know what these buyers are in search of. To face out, your pitch should embrace each (a) the precise informational elements buyers are searching for, and (b) a memorable story that illustrates a compelling alternative.
Traders make selections based mostly on return and threat: How large of a return may they obtain? And what may stop them from receiving that return? Most VCs desire a 10-20x return.
As a founder, your job is to persuade buyers your startup affords the best potential return, with the least quantity of threat, compared to the others on their checklist.
Market Threat: Are you addressing a big, rising market?
Product Threat: Do you may have a sustainable aggressive benefit?
Execution Threat: Can your workforce ‘pull it off?’
“The biggest challenge of making a memorable deck is building a storyline that echoes outside of the pitch deck. This means building a storyline that is not only easy for investors to remember, but also a storyline that’s easy for them to repeat to other potential investors.”
Jasmine Foroutan, CEO and Founding father of Pitch Genius, says, buyers need greater than rote slideshows
What Makes a Startup ‘Fundable’?
Throughout one in all Naval Ravikant’s (founding father of AngelList) talks on the Founder Institute, he described ‘The Anatomy of a Fundable Startup’, which you’ll be able to watch beneath:
Equally, when Aaron Patzer (founding father of Mint.com) described his Pitching Secrets and techniques to the Founder Institute, he outlined 4 major questions buyers will ask themselves each time they consider a startup pitch:
Does it clear up an issue?
Does it clear up that drawback in an enormous market?
Is it one thing that has a aggressive or sustainable benefit?
Are you able to earn cash or make a revenue?
Tackle these 4 questions, and you’ll have a a lot greater probability of attracting funding from skilled buyers.
Tips
Consider your deck like a visible marketing strategy. Your goal is to succinctly illustrate your information of {the marketplace}, enterprise mannequin, and {qualifications} for execution.
An ordinary deck consists of 10 to 14 slides. What’s the most typical mistake made by new founders? Offering an excessive amount of element, too quickly. Jenny Lefcourt, Common Associate at Freestyle Capital, cautions early-stage founders towards making this error:
What’s actually vital just isn’t to enter the weeds of all the small print as a result of what you’re making an attempt to do is give them sufficient info that they need extra info. Your aim at assembly No. 1 is to get folks sufficient that they need assembly No. 2.
Do:
Keep away from extreme textual content
Use massive fonts which can be simple to learn
Embrace vibrant charts, statistics and graphics
Label every slide (e.g. drawback, resolution, workforce)
Don’t:
Embrace unsubstantiated progress projections
Describe extraneous hiring particulars
Use tons of bullet factors
Inflate your capabilities
Make Two Decks
Many founders are stunned to be taught they want two decks: (1) an in depth model that may be shared with buyers through e mail, and (2) a simplified model that may be elaborated upon in individual.
It’s not unusual for buyers to request to see a deck earlier than agreeing to satisfy. For that reason, your “reading” model ought to embrace sufficient element to face alone.
Conversely, an ordinary deck needs to be streamlined to make sure buyers spend extra time listening and fewer time studying. A lot of the displays obtainable for on-line viewing showcase “listening” decks.
We suggest starting with the development of the “reading” deck, which might then be edited for pitch displays.
Telling a Story
Is there a RIGHT approach to organise a pitch deck? The reply is each sure and no. By way of info supplied, there are specific factors you completely should cowl. Nonetheless, you may have inventive freedom when organising and presenting your slides, and telling a compelling narrative is paramount in delivering a robust pitch.
Learn our Pitch Construction Information https://www.startupdaily.internet/recommendation/pitching/how-to-pitch-a-startup-founder-institute/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-pitch-a-startup-founder-institute.
The best way to Ace Your Presentation
Listed here are a few of Adeo Ressi’s greatest pitch presentation suggestions:
Hold it below 10 minutes: Be respectful of your viewers’s time, and summarise your concepts into a short presentation
Inform a narrative: Don’t simply speak numbers – take your viewers on a journey of why this enterprise issues
Have a transparent UVP: Traders typically hear dozens of displays per week. Stand out with an actual distinctive worth proposition
Present your ardour: Don’t be afraid to let buyers see your pleasure over your thought
Anticipate questions: Although it might not seem to be it, getting interrupted is an efficient factor; it exhibits your viewers is listening and cares sufficient to voice their considerations. Assume via solutions to potential questions forward of time
Investor Pet Peeves
Traders take heed to a ton of pitches, so it’s only pure for them to see (and be barely irritated) by widespread errors.
One of many greatest pet peeves of Manu Kumar, of K9 Ventures, is when presenters say they’ll reply a query later:
“You have to follow the flow. When somebody asks you a question, that’s the right time to address the question. Even if it means you have to jump ahead or jump back.”
Over time, we’ve spoken with a number of VCs who echo this sentiment — entrepreneurs should exhibit flexibility, spontaneity and willingness to “jump off” script. You could be keen to speak about your workforce as a result of it’s within the subsequent slide. Nonetheless, the investor sitting in entrance of chances are you’ll care extra about buyer acquisition prices.
Which is why practising your pitch in low‑stakes conditions is SO vital. The extra acquainted you grow to be with addressing surprising interruptions, the extra confidently you’ll deal with diversions in conferences that matter.
Adeo Ressi (CEO of the Founder Institute) has one thing that frustrates him much more:
“One of my biggest pet peeves is when founders pitch me a business, and they don’t clearly define who their customer is. If you don’t know The Who, it’s very hard for me to understand The What or The How.”
See extra investor pet peeves from funding consultants Manu Kumar of K9 Ventures, James Cham of Bloomberg Beta, Adeo Ressi of the Founder Institute, and Alex Gurevich of Javelin Enterprise Companions beneath.
The underside‑line
Delivering “the perfect pitch” takes follow. It’s regular to really feel nervous earlier than talking to a room filled with strangers. Nonetheless, the extra you do it, the better it turns into. Founders who need to expedite progress ought to contemplate becoming a member of an intensive accelerator program.
Profitable Pitch Examples
Beneath are some examples of decks and displays – from each large and small names – which have resulted in funding.
Discover the widespread parts we’ve mentioned woven all through the decks. And be aware of any presentation methods that may be advantageous to your startup.
Pitch Deck Examples
Mint.com
Founder: Aaron Patzer
Funding: $31.8M in 5 rounds, acquired by Intuit
Mint.com Pre-Launch Pitch Deck from Hiten Shah
Airbnb
Founders: Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, Nathan Blecharczyk
Funding: $4.4B in 13 rounds (as of March 2019)
airbnb Pitch Deck – Redesigned from Slidebean
Pitch Presentation Examples
Do you have to examine the pitch displays of legends like Steve Jobs, Marc Benioff and Elon Musk? Completely.
Nonetheless, it’s typically useful to look at entrepreneurs who’re much less eliminated out of your present stage of enterprise. Beneath are some pitch displays from up‑and‑coming Founder Institute Alumni:
Bridgr
Bridgr, a Montreal FI firm based by Amira Boutouchent, is a web-based platform that helps small and medium-sized manufacturing corporations discover and collaborate with validated and certified impartial consultants to resolve their operations points, permitting them to develop shortly with out the necessity for costly and time-consuming consultancies.
Climber
Climber is a Lisbon FI firm based by Mário Mouraz. They construct income administration software program that takes information from exterior sources, equivalent to climate, air visitors, on-line procuring, and claims relating to a lodge’s fame. They cross analyze all of that with info from the lodge person, so as to routinely calculate what to promote and the way a lot to promote it for.
MeetGeek
MeetGeek is a gathering productiveness platform based by Dan Huru. It routinely information, transcribes, and summarizes your conferences, turning them into shareable insights, duties, and AI workflows throughout your favourite instruments.
Aplicate
Aplicate is a wellness cell app based by Liliana Medina. They create customized and complete well being plans in seconds via a customized expertise. In August 2022, Aplicate was acquired by Daisies.
Conclusion
Establishing a pitch deck is an important element of delivering a compelling funding presentation. A successful deck clearly articulates a audience, an issue price fixing and a scalable resolution.
It additionally mitigates the three varieties of threat buyers care most about: Product Threat, Market Threat and Execution Threat.
Nonetheless, displaying one thing ‘technically correct’ isn’t sufficient. For higher or worse, most buyers affiliate good storytelling with entrepreneurial functionality.
Subsequently, ‘mastering the pitch’ is essential for founders eager to safe enterprise capital. The simplest approach to improve your entrepreneurial storytelling abilities and enhance your pitch is to hitch a startup group devoted to your success.
About The Founder Institute
The Founder Institute is a 3‑month accelerator program designed to remodel pre‑seed founders into storytellers able to reaching funding. We offer members with weekly enterprise mentoring, pitch deck suggestions and loads of pitch follow alternatives.
Our startup curriculum is led by main startup consultants with confirmed monitor information of success. This method has led to greater than 7,500 corporations launching and elevating $1.85BN+ in funding.
The following program on the Founder Institute in Australia/New Zealand begins in February 2026. Purposes are open now.
