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Generally, hiring an agency for your pitch deck is more reliable and for the quality, a better deal. Freelance pitch deck exerts are a good option if your pitch deck budget is highly constrained, but once you go above a quality threshold, some larger agencies have some economies of scale that can be passed onto your company. They also have a bigger reputation and work to provide more consistent quality and customer service.
The best way to find a pitch deck designer for you is to review their portfolio and discuss their experience doing what you need the deck for. If this is for investment, you would want to find a designer which has experience specifically for the purpose of your raise, be it Seed Funding or Series A funding, for instance.
Depending on the firm or agency, it can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks for a final deck. If you are working on custom branding with the deck it will take longer, whereas if you are basing everything on a pitch deck template it will be shorter. On average, it takes 1 – 2 weeks for most firms to provide a turnaround for a draft.
The biggest thing is hiring a firm or individual who has direct experience in preparing investment decks to raise capital. An investor pitch deck is very unique and typically the best in the industry focuses exclusively on preparing investment materials. Some have a good background in brand identity or corporate presentations, but investors are a very unique audience and must be understood. Moreover, how your company is reflected in the deck such that it captures your brand identity.
This is a personal decision, but generally, investors who see investment decks all day typically can recognize a template and when something is custom. It is suggested to avoid using a template for design, but there are many good deck frameworks to use like the Kawasaki ten slide model or the Sequoia pitch deck framework which are preferred by potential investors to quickly understand the key points of your start up or small business.
The cost of pitch deck design largely depends on the extent of what you are seeking. Prices for a high-end agency that specializes in pitch decks typically range from $100 + per slide. Some high-end pitch deck agencies can also help you raise money by introducing you to a potential investor or assisting with branding. A mid-tier agency costs anywhere from $50 – 100 per slide and likely provides other services beyond slide deck design. Anything less than $50 is typically using pitch deck templates or google slides that are simpler and while a good option, one should manage his/her expectations.
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If your startup is raising venture capital - you almost certainly need a pitch deck to impress investors. This guide will equip you with the information needed to arm you with a level of pitch deck mastery comparable to that of world-class entrepreneurs.
Pitch deck design is only one part of the equation when it comes to pitching investors. The broad deck needs to represent your start up in the proper format, communicate your idea concisely to investors, and be supported with reliable research.
In general - there are two formats used by most Silicon Valley start ups. Speaking with pitch deck agency Pro Business Plan's founder, Chase Hughes, he recommends start ups have two versions, one to present verbally to investors and the other as a leave-behind containing more detailed information:
Pitch Deck Formats:
Guy Kawasaki Pitch Deck: Created by entrepreneur and venture capitalist, Guy Kawasaki, this is a more concise pitch deck format comprised of 10 - 15 slides. It follows what he calls the 10/20/30 rule which is to have ten slides lasting no longer than twenty minutes using thirty point font. You can learn more about this pitch deck here.
Sequoia Pitch Deck: This pitch deck framework was created and recommended by Tier 1 VC firm Sequoia. It is the format made famous by Airbnb founders to raise funding and has since been a standard in Silicon Valley. It is very similar to the Guy Kawasaki model but contains a little more detail, particularly in expressing 'Why Now?' to articulate in your pitch deck why you have nailed the market timing for your start up. You can learn more about the Sequoia Model here.
The first couple of slides of your pitch deck (i.e. Problem, Solution) will play a crucial role in getting investor attention. When doing your presentation, it is also helpful to provide some context around how you came up with the problem.
A common mistake entrepreneurs make is that they fail to articulate what problem they are solving and how their business model addresses it.
Put simply - investors allocate capital to companies that solve problems. We recommend you review plenty of pitch deck examples to see how other start ups were able to articulate this.
If you have convinced investors that your business is addressing a problem worth solving, the next step is to share some key components to demonstrate the scalability and market timing in your pitch deck slides:
Target Market: This is important because if you cannot clearly define your target market, it means you have not yet identified who your customer is. When defining this, we recommend you clearly define this and tie it into how their needs are currently being unmet by alternatives.
Market Size: The size of the market matters and how fragmented it is because if they want your startup to be worth $10 B, but you are competing in a market with only a few players worth less than $15 B, this means you need to almost have a monopoly.
Key Trends: This is also addressed in the 'Why Now' section of the Sequoia Deck and is arguably one of the most important slides. It addresses the common question 'If this is such a great idea, why hasn't someone already done it?'
The idea behind this is that things have since changed in the market that before, was the reason someone tried it failed. Common reasons are technological advancements, changes in consumer preferences, or a regulatory environment.
Preparing a financial model for your startup is hit or miss, some investors will request them, whereas others will dismiss them outright.
This sentiment will also change depending on the startup's stage, as Seed Stage projections are more speculative than Series A or later.
Common things you want to make sure are included:
Burn Rate: This is your use of funds by category and how much money are you spending every month, particularly in light of your revenue projections, to help investors understand how efficiently you can manage their investment.
Unit Economics: Unit economics is a breakdown of how much it will cost you to deliver the product or service and how much you will profit from them.
This is important because some business models are not profitable even under very optimistic assumptions. Some AI/ML or social media startups for example have expensive AWS bills that exceed revenue from advertisements or software subscriptions.
Scalability: This demonstrates how well your business can scale to ideally reach a $1 B + valuation. Brick & mortar stores and physical locations are harder to scale than a consumer software company, or B2B software company with a limited target market and complex purchasing process (E.g. Financial Institutions).
A good pitch deck design is icing on the cake for a great pitch deck, not the most important part. However, doing it well signals to your investors that you care about quality and are already starting to build a powerful brand.
Overall, you have a few different options for your pitch deck design:
Do-it-Yourself: If you choose to do the pitch deck design yourself, this will be the most challenging, but if you know Adobe InDesign it can look the same or better quality than many designers. Just keep in mind that if you design in Powerpoint, it is faster and easier to change edits. You can also find a pitch deck template to streamline the process.
Pitch Deck Design Agency: If you're looking to outsource, pitch deck design cost is anywhere from $50 - 100 per slide for a top agency.
After your presentation, investors will almost certainly have questions for you. It is extremely important that you be able to predict these questions and prepare in advance well-researched responses.
The best way to do this is to share your pitch deck and give a mock presentation to your advisors and friendly investors that can give feedback and share their thoughts.
Some common questions are:
How did you arrive at your financial numbers?
What is your valuation? Are you issuing equity or a SAFE/Convertible note?
How did you come up with the idea?
What if a large competitor introduces this product or service?
How are you different than your competitor? (Note: They will often cite a specific company)
Circle BioTech (Biotechnology): This pitch deck design is a clean and organized layout using modern fonts and represents the company's scientific focus.
Accern (Enterprise Software): A pitch deck design good for enterprise software companies, it uses simple colors and modern tech-focused design with minimal graphics.
Rashefu (Food & Beverage): For a restaurant or consumer-facing brand, pitch deck design is very important to demonstrate the company's branding and products. This pitch deck does a great job of that.
Orches (Fashion): The pitch deck design for these slides does a great job of representing the target market and brand positioning, giving investors an idea of how the company is positioned.
There are a lot of investor lists on the Internet, but sending your pitch deck to a general list is not likely to be productive.
What is more important is to spend a lot of time narrowing down what investors you want and identifying those who invest in your Industry, Stage, Geography, and Business Model. (E.g. Consumer Technology, Seed Stage, NY/NJ Metro Area, Meal Delivery)
Once you have narrowed down your list, the next phase is to determine how to get connected with them.
Some investors are difficult to get in touch with, these are also the most likely to respond because they know you put the extra effort in to find them. and they are likely less inundated with emails.