The Most Common Mistakes In Pitch Decks

The point is to tilt the playing field in your direction

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In today’s business world, a strong pitch deck is essential for any startup looking to raise funds. However, crafting a truly effective deck is no easy feat, especially if you’ve never done it before.

The purpose of a pitch deck is to stimulate interest, not to cover every aspect of your startup. The goal is to generate enough interest to get a first or second meeting. Thus, you should be succinct, limiting the number of slides to 10-12, and showing only the key points in each slide.

To allow investors to see the potential in your startup, you must be able to articulate the problem your startup is solving in a clear and concise way, and have a well-defined solution that is backed up by data or customer testimonials. Furthermore, you must demonstrate that your startup has gained traction, whether through user growth or revenue.

For many, crafting an effective pitch deck is daunting. They often make the same mistakes over and over again, such as including too much detail or not being concise enough. To help founders create pitch decks that stand out and to dramatically improve their chances of success, here are some of the most common mistakes to avoid:

1. Lack of storytelling
2. Weak problem
3. Absence or insufficient traction
4. Awful design

Lack of storytelling

At the top of the list, there is a lack of storytelling. Founders are often focused on the solution or the technology behind their startup rather than telling a story to investors. But think about it for a second. When you are in front of investors, what do you think you are doing? Yes, you are explaining your product, but you are also selling yourself and your story.

A pitch deck without a compelling story will struggle to hold the attention of potential investors, as it’s difficult to evoke emotion with just facts and figures.

Therefore, founders should ask themselves “What’s my backstory? Of all the things I could be building, why this? How did I get this idea?”.

At Pitch Deck Studio this is the cornerstone of pitch deck creation – weaving the story of the founders, their vision, and the purpose behind their product.

Takeaways:

• Ask yourself what your backstory is and how did you get the idea
• Create an emotional pitch deck by weaving the story of your passion, vision, and purpose
• Sell yourself and your team together with the product

Weak problem

Another mistake often made by founders is not having a clear and powerful problem statement. A pitch deck should be your chance to communicate why the problem you are solving is important and what impact it will have. You don’t want that your problem is seen as generic or dull – neither of which inspires potential investors to take action. This is often due to the fact that startups are so focused on their solution that they forget to articulate the problem they are solving clearly. As a result, investors are left confused and unimpressed.

To avoid this mistake, it is essential that you take the time to analyze the problem and focus your attention on the user or customer. This means being specific about the pain points your target market is experiencing and how they are currently dealing with it.  

By taking the time to craft a solid problem statement, you will be able to engage investors and demonstrate the potential of your startup.

Takeaways:

• Avoid using a generic problem
• Analyze the problem and turn the attention to the users
• Describe the problem in one sentence then expand from it
  

Absence or insufficient traction

First of all, what is “Traction”? Traction is the ability of your startup to demonstrate measurable usage or customer growth.

I’ve seen many times startups pitching here and there without even trying to develop a straightforward MVP (Minimum Viable Product) to test the initial assumptions. At the end of the day, every early-stage startup is a bunch of hypotheses about the problem,  the solution, and the market. In order to grow your startup and/or get funds, you need to have some sort of metrics that give credibility to those assumptions.

Have you validated your idea with an MVP? Have you created a waitlist for your product? Have you at least gathered some user interest on social networks?

Without traction, you have no proof that your product or service solves a real problem and has the potential to be profitable. How can you expect investors to believe in your project if you don’t have some sort of proof? To feel confident about investing, investors must see that the problem is felt by users and that the solution is at least worth a try.

Therefore, it is vital to provide indicators showing the progress made thus far by your startup. How many users do you have? How much revenue was generated? What has been the growth rate?

Showing this data clearly and concisely will add proof of concept to your pitch deck.

Takeaways:

• Create an MVP and validate your idea and collect data
• Show metrics of users, growth or even better, revenue
• If you can’t create an MVP, create a waitlist, collect data, show them

Awful design

A pitch deck can easily become a huge wall of text, with too many slides and no good visual design. I’ve seen so many crappy pitch decks. You shouldn’t spend hours designing your template, but you should use an easy-to-follow template that highlights the most important points in a clear and visually appealing way.
Here’s a pitch deck example to better understand how an eye-catching design can make a difference:

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Simple and eye-catching graphics will help you stand out from the crowd and will make your pitch much easier to understand.

To avoid coming up with a huge wall of text, make sure to include only the most important points in each slide. Instead of reading an essay on the slides, investors should concentrate on you. Focus on highlighting your company’s mission, goals, and objectives, as well as any advantages over competitors.

Takeaways:

• Avoid a wall of text. Include only the important points
• Font size: 30px
• Use a template or book a call with me

Conclusion

Getting your pitch deck right can be the difference between life and death for your startup. It’s important to take the time to craft a pitch deck that highlights the most important information and showcases your business in the best light possible. Avoid common pitch deck mistakes such as overcrowding, unclear language, and excessive content. Instead, use visual cues, concise language, and a professional pitch deck template to create a pitch that truly stands out!