The first part of your pitch establishes that you have identified a lucrative market, got a product that can stay in for the long term. This is what I think of as the “10% Inspiration” – alternatively if you are Danny Ocean it is identifying the Casino you have elected to rob.
Next you need to convince investors you can get the job done, the “90% perspiration. Just like a heist, you need a logical play by play strategy, a good payoff and the right people in the key positions. Check out the clip and keep in mind when you prepare the slides below.
Slide 7: Go to Market Strategy
This slide is the first part of your execution plan. You should have already identified your target customers in the problem slide. The go to market strategy identifies how you are going to get them (channels, promotion strategy) and when you are going to get them (a timeline for targeting different segments based on logical splits such as interest level /channel / geography etc). If you already have a pipleine of customers / strategic partners mention them here.
Slide 8: Business Model
How do you make money? It is stating the obvious to say you sell something at a price above the costs, but start by stating the obvious anyway. Explain your selling price, your unit variable costs and your overheads. Use this information to start showing how your product is scalable.
Make sure you understand the key assumptions underlying your planned success and be prepared to defend them. What if you can’t sustain the price? What if it takes twice as long to make each sale? What if your costs don’t decline over time? Some investors will want to test the depth of your understanding of your business model. Be ready to articulate the sensitivity of your business to variations in your assumptions.
Slide 9 – Financials
If you make it through the investor presentation, odds are the first thing investors will request is a financial model. The purpose of this slide is to give them a brief summary of what is coming. Firstly, give them a summary of your targeted 5 year revenue and profit projections. This should tie logically at a high level to your market size data (Slide 2), your go to market strategy (Slide 7) and your business model (Slide 8). Secondly, identify the overall funding requirements for your strategy, and what you need immediately to hit your next milestone. This should reference your go to market strategy in Slide 7.
If you are struggling to be able to articulate this, you are probably not ready to pitch. The most important thing to convey on this slide is that you really understand the economics and evolution of a growing, dynamic company, and that your vision is grounded in an understanding of practical reality. Investors are not focused on the precision of your numbers; they’re focused on the coherence and integrity of your business plan.
Slide 10: Team
The key players in the company – ensure at a minimum you have sales, operations and finance covered. Make this short, crisp and relevant. This is not the time to share everyone’s life story, or detail the resumes of all six members of the advisory board. The key objective is to give investors confidence that there is a credible core group of talent that believe in the company and can execute the next set of milestones. One of those milestones may be filling out the team, so address any gaps before investors have to ask about them.
