Startup Pitch Deck

Objective of this Service:

A pitch deck is developed by an entrepreneur to showcase the viability of a business idea to potential investors. This is one of the preliminary engagements the entrepreneur has with investors before entering serious funding negotiations.

What is a Pitch Deck?

A pitch deck is a collection of slides or a PowerPoint Presentation that outlines a business idea in the most concise manner as a sales pitch. It is usually created to convince venture capitalists and potential investors on funding as seed capital.
In most cases, the best startup pitch deck would consist of a “solution” to a problem, a gist of the product or service, the sales, and marketing strategy, financial projections, and so on. The primary purpose of a pitch deck is to induce interest in investors to enter the first round of funding negotiations, as funding for startups usually proceeds in multiple stages.
This write-up will also serve as a guiding document for potential entrepreneurs on how to make a startup pitch deck or what is a startup pitch deck.

Essential Components of “Investor Pitch Deck” for a Startup

Now that we have understood the utility of a pitch deck, let’s proceed towards understanding the essential components of a startup pitch deck:

• Target Market & Problem Faced: Usually the investors are interested in knowing whether enough groundwork has been done to understand the target group and the “solution” to an underlying problem. The solution needs to be elaborated upon so that the investor is convinced of you having the right approach and knowledge to execute the business idea.
• Value Proposition: Here you are expected to showcase how different you are compared to others already in the market. Then, state your USP to reinforce your message of being different. Remain conscious of making the comparisons understandable. Your business model needs to be on the same plane as the competition.
• Overall Investment Required: The entrepreneur needs to be able to spell out a realistic timeline until the business starts generating profits. This will allow the investors to gauge the time and the quantum of investment that would be required for the startup. The sooner a startup turns green, the better are its prospects to secure funding.
• Key Capital Expense Vs. Operating Expense: The pitch should be able to elaborate on how exactly the invested capital is going to be spent. Whether it would be used for buying immovable assets like land or would be put into marketing efforts. A clear picture of the expenses would make investors more interested in the business idea.
• Cash Burn Ratio: This is the amount of invested capital that is going to be used in a specified time before the business turns cash positive. The pitch deck must be able to split the expenses to cover all the major overheads of the business, preferably on a monthly basis.
• Team Composition: Investors are always interested in the composition of the team that makes up the startup. They always want their investment to go into good hands. Introducing all the critical designations with their academics, background & experience will help bolster investor confidence in the business idea.
• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): The rule of thumb says that it is easier to sell to an existing customer than acquire a new one. Hence, every start-up must be able to keep the CAC as low as possible. Unless the product or service is highly complex, the amount spent on acquiring a customer must be within prevailing industry standards. The lower the CAC, the lesser is the marketing cost.
• Operating Profits (EBITDA): This is a figure that remains when all the operational expenses such as rent, utilities, wages, insurance, and so on have been taken care of. This metric provides investors with the degree to which their potential profits are getting eaten up for just keeping things going normally. Hence, financial projections in the startup pitch deck are of crucial importance.
• Profit & Loss Statement: The entrepreneur would be extrapolating on the existing financials (if available) to arrive upon a future P&L statement. This helps investors get a good idea of the kind of financial scope the business has into the future.

Why partner DFX to develop a Startup Pitch Deck?

DFX is the leading startup pitch consultant offering high-end startup pitch deck design services for entrepreneurs in a variety of business sectors. We have technical experts who are well-versed in all aspects of getting the businesses off the ground with sleek pitch decks that get the attention of the investors. We at DFX understand the finer nuances of preparing a pitch deck in a crisp language understood by the target audience. Ultimately, we can improve the chances of your start-up securing initial investment from investors.

Investor Pitch Deck

• Industry problem Highlights (i.e. Problem Statement)
• Secondary research (Market size, customer segment, and other demographics)
• Explaining solution which is simple to understand and it can be correlated with problem.
• Solution in terms of product or service which is addressing the problem.
• Value proposition and highlighting key features.

• Competitive advantage – Quadrant axis map
• Other players in the market Segment of Competition
• Customer acquisition strategies
• Strategy differentiators
• Scope within the funding projection

• Team behind the project
• Important phases of your venture journey (past, present and future), which may also include details about Proof of concept, existing customer testimonials (if available), etc

Information Memorandum

• Describing the Company
• Opportunities and challenges
• Describing the products, moat and execution strategy
• SWOT analysis

• Describing the team, principles and culture
• Highlighting their relevant achievements in professional, educational, and social space
• Mention founders and core team – all important teams managing major functions in the company

• Competition & market share analysis,
• Volumes and margins growth,
• Profit & Loss statement, Cash Flow statement,
• ROCE, CAGR, EBIDTA

• Business Valuation Strategy
• Income Based (DCF Approach)
• Net Asset Based Approach (Income Tax v/s Market Depreciation Methods)
• Market Based (Recent Deals Comparison & Listed Deals Comparison)

• Investor rights and duties
• Terms of payment
• Details of ownership transfer
• Investor exit clause
• Agreement Termination clause