Pitch Deck Content

A key element of your NM Angels funding application and our selection process is your pitch deck. This is your opportunity to tell us your story and convince us to invest.

Your audience is a mixture of seasoned Angel investors and new Angel investors. They are successful business people who know a good investment opportunity from a not so good one. The first objective of your pitch is to gain their attention then, once you have it, to convince them your company has tremendous potential and your team has the ability to transform that potential into a valuable business. 

Begin with a story told from the point of view of your target Customer. Who are they, what do they need, how are they getting those needs served today… and what breakthrough will you offer to completely change this picture to transform those Customers into your Customers?

Company Title Page – Company name and logo with name and title of the presenter, and one-line description/tag line about the company

Business Overview – Told clearly and succinctly and in a way that engages your audience and makes them very interested to know more about you and your business.

Now that you have their attention how big is the opportunity and what is the business model you will use to monetize that Customer interest? How do you know Customers will be interested?

Products and services - What products or services are you offering and how mature are these and the technologies they are based on? Is additional development required to enter the market?

Alternatives, competition - Why would target Customers choose your offerings over others available? Is there a comparison of your offerings vs available alternatives? Are your offerings differentiated in a way that target buyers would find compelling?

Opportunity size – How many of these Customers there are and how much they will pay—a bottom up assessment of the size of the opportunity. Include any top down market information or Customer development evidence you have to support your conclusions.

You have convinced the audience that the company has tremendous potential. Now tell us that you have the plan, team, experience, and market knowledge to transform this opportunity into a successful business.

Go to market - How will the company bring its products and services to market and engage with target buyers? How will you sell?  How will buyers find you and be motivated to buy?

Financial projections – Summary of the business Unit economics and financial model including key assumptions

Leadership / People - Relevant knowledge, expertise, and experience the team has including its advisors. Identify if the team has insider knowledge in the target market

And finally what amount of funds do you need, how will you use those, and how will these investments change the value of the business. When and how will the investors gain a return on this investment.

Funding strategy - Total capital required to grow your company value 3-5x. The amount of funding the company looking to close now and what it will use those funds to accomplish. What are the terms?

Exit strategy - Identify potential buyers for the company and the milestones the company needs to achieve before those buyers would be interested. If not an acquisition, what is the exit strategy?

In closing provide a summary page that also has your contact information.

 

Final thoughts: start with the end in mind. You want investors to be interested and excited about you and your company – excited enough to learn more and ultimately write you a check. If you are hard to understand or the pitch deck content is confusing, you will not achieve your objective.

There are many sources of pitch deck templates, best practices, formulas… at the end of the day, this is your company, your story, and you need to find a way to tell that story that is engaging, increases audience engagement and explains what your company does, why it does it, and why your company has more tremendous potential than those who have pitched before and will pitch after you.