How to build a stellar Pitch Deck.
Pick a theme, chuck in a few pics and your logo, and put your speech into dot points. That may have cut it in high school, but an investment worthy pitch deck has to be so much more than that!
The team at One10 has put their heads together and created these Pitch Guidelines to help you put together something that will grab people’s interest, hold their attention, and have them reaching for their wallets.
1. The Story including the Problem: Tell us a truly compelling story that will capture our attention from the start. Your story should address the problem you are trying to solve. Remember, great stories are connected with the audience on a human level, but be sure not to lose clarity or focus.
2. Your Solution: What is your solution? Tell us how it addresses the problem directly. Be sure to be specific in describing your product/service. Make sure to show us where you fit in the value chain, distribution channels, industry, and sector. Is it plugging a gap or just doing something better? We want to know.
3. Social & Environmental Impact: It’s fantastic that you’ve innovated and can see a solution to the problem, but we want to see how you plan to be a sustainable business by having a positive social and/or environmental impact. If you have numbers, we want to see them! If you’re not sure, say so, but try to estimate as best as possible how big the impact could be (without overestimating).
4. Your Success: No accomplishment is too small. Start building credibility by informing us of what sort of relevant traction you’ve had so far. Don’t be scared to show off your hard work here. This is the time to do so.
5. Market: We know that not everyone in the world is part of your target market. Be realistic about the size of the market, the location, if it is niche market, and most importantly make sure there actually is a market. Have you surveyed potential customers? Over what time period? How recently and extensively? And what did you find?
6. Competitor Analysis: We’d like you to identify your competition, as they will affect the market size. Even if there are no current direct competitors, there will be some down the line so sell us on YOU. What makes you and your team different from competitors and would be competitors?
7. Customer Acquisition & Strategy: Don’t overlook this part. We want to see how you plan on acquiring your target market. Do you have a marketing plan in place? How much is it going to cost? We also want to know how much of the market do you expect to get one year out, and even five years out?
8. Revenue model: This of course is one of the more important parts. We want to know how you plan on making money. What does your product roll out timeline could look like? Who’s going to pay for your solution? Let us know how it can be commercialised. How will success be measured?
9. Your Financials: How much have you already invested into your product/service and where did this money come from? How much will it cost to build your product? And what are the other things you need to budget for (e.g. website, patents, marketing)? How will your product/service be priced?
10.Investment Ask: Don’t be afraid to ask for what you need. How much will get you and your team to the next big milestone (remember investors are investing in growing your idea not your salaries)? What will it be spent on? We want to know who else has invested in your company and ownership percentages. Tell us if you’ll seek future rounds of funding.
11. Team: Last but certainly not least! An idea can be great, but it’s the team behind the execution of the idea that make or break it. Tell us how each team member fits in and why he or she is the right person to lead the team.
This guideline can be downloaded here and can also be found in our PitchIt submission form. Now go forth and Pitch your enterprise!
