A carefully structured, clearly structured and informative pitch deck is of considerable benefit when it comes to convincing investors, potential partners or accelerators such as the CyberLab Accelerator of the possibilities and potential of your own company. In this article, we will walk through how to build a compelling pitch deck step by step and highlight important aspects to consider.
Construction
Cover: Normally a pitch deck starts with a cover. This contains the most important information. This includes the name of the startup, the logo, an appealing image and the slogan or vision of your startup, as well as contact details. It should be kept simple and simple so that you can see the most important information at first glance. The goal is to arouse interest and make you curious to know more.
Problem: At the beginning it is important to present the problem that your product or service solves. Explain this briefly and succinctly in simple words. This makes it clear that there is a need, that the product or service has a benefit and is needed.
Solution: This is followed by the corresponding solution, the content of which is coordinated with the previous slide presenting the problem. A clear, simple and well-structured solution is now presented for each individual aspect of the aforementioned problem.
Product Demo: To clarify the solution and make it more understandable for your audience, product demos, prototypes or dummies are perfect. If you don’t have specific examples, images and videos could be extremely helpful in making your product more tangible and understandable for viewers.
Business model: Now it’s time to get down to business. This slide is about your business model, which now needs to be supported with concrete numbers. These numbers are the heart of the matter because they are particularly important for potential investors.
Market potential: The market potential follows on the next slide. This is your opportunity to present a comprehensive market analysis to demonstrate that there is a significant market for your solution. Introduce your target group, clarify your competitive advantages and outline potential growth.
Explain in an understandable way how your startup works and how you will generate revenue. Present your sources of income and provide an overview of your pricing strategy, sales channels and possible collaborations. It is particularly important to present your financial forecasts, including sales forecasts, cost structure and prospects for profitability, to investors.
Competitors: There are competitors in every market. Here you have to make it clear what sets you apart from your competitors and what strengths you have compared to them. This section is important because it shows how informed you are about your business area and how competitive your market is.
Underlying Magic: You can also include a slide on the underlying magic with a focus on your USPs. Use this opportunity to not just present facts, but to tell a compelling story that will touch and captivate your audience.
Team: For a perfect pitch deck, you should definitely not forget the team slide. This is an important factor that is highly relevant not only in the context of your pitch deck, but also for the entire structure of your company. This slide highlights the founders and the key people who will significantly influence the development of your startup. It is important to clarify the different areas of responsibility within the company and to emphasize the complementary structure of your team. This aspect is particularly important. The roles must be clearly defined. It is unfavorable if, for example, your team consists of three people with a business background, all of whom have the title of CEO.
Milestones and go-to-market strategy: Towards the end we come to the milestones and the go-to-market strategy. When it comes to milestones, it is particularly important to choose short, foreseeable periods of time. For example, after 6 months you can check whether the first milestone has been achieved. This creates credibility and trust while at the same time making successes visible. You should show what you have done and achieved so far to validate your idea. If there are already successes or relevant key figures such as sales, number of customers or users, this slide provides the appropriate framework to present them. This is also the optimal place to place your go-to-market strategy. The more concrete and realistic, the better – be guided by both your budget and your competitors.
Call-to-Action: The call to action should not be missing at the very end of your pitch deck. What do you actually want to achieve with all this? Why are you here? And most importantly for us to know: Why do you want to go to CyberLab? This slide is often forgotten, but forms a relevant core of your presentation.
General
In addition to the structure, there are also a few general aspects that need to be taken into account when creating the perfect pitch deck. The most important thing is not to go into too much technical detail. Keep your presentation simple and easy to understand. Use visual elements such as graphics and images for this. This makes your presentation look much more appealing. Focus on the most important information and avoid unnecessary details. Make sure your language is clear and convincing and avoid jargon or overly technical expressions.
A good starting point is to pitch to your friends, parents or even grandparents beforehand. If they understand everything, your pitch deck is great. If you still have questions, you’ll have to try again.
Overall, you shouldn’t use too many slides. 10 to 15 are completely sufficient.
The order of the topics is variable; here you can orientate yourself on the target group. However, there are topics, such as legal and financial content, that should not necessarily be right at the beginning.
You should also always keep the ratio of input to output in mind. There are some good templates on the internet that can also be used. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
And last but not least: tailor the pitch deck to the audience you want to address. Different target groups have different focuses and interests.