Pitching the pitches - A list of 4 Pitch Decks A startup Founder must know

What does pitch deck mean?

A pitch deck is a presentation deck used to pitch your idea or company to any number of audiences, generally investors. One of the single most important aspects of creating a compelling pitch deck is to manage it based on the audience and forum to which it is being offered.

Creating a successful pitch deck means much more than a professional PowerPoint presentation. It is what will make or break your chances for future investment opportunities, achieving business goals, and confounding challenges.

Most accelerators work with startup entrepreneurs on the ability to present the story behind the venture. They ask that you give the idea in 30 seconds, explain the concept in a minute, and submit the statement in 5 minutes. And the truth is sometimes it takes weeks to figure out how to tell the story behind the company in one minute. More than that - many times, they don't even explain what the rationale is. So here in 5 minutes - we will pitch the pitches.

The Startup Pitch includes 4 types of pitch decks.

Before we present the 4 Types Of Startup pitches, Every Startup Founder Must Master them. We want to emphasize that as a founder, you need to make sure that you clearly understand the differences among these 4 types of startup pitches and work towards perfecting each one. 

The message around the product pitch should be adjusted depending on what you are talking to and your situation. Here below, we take a look at the 4 most common types.

The Twitter Pitch

This summarizes your whole idea in one punchy sentence. It has become common to create a comparison with well-known companies to facilitate this task for startup founders (and listeners). For this reason, we often hear:

"It's the UBER of Dropbox"

"It's like Airbnb meets Google."

or regarding Equitest: 

"It's AI business valuation software that enables anyone to evaluate any business without any prior knowledge, in minutes."

The Twitter pitch is best for when you meet someone at an event, and they have never heard of your company. A catchy, punchy line that explains in a few terms your business but doesn't bore to death the listener with ineffective information. 

The Elevator Pitch

The elevator pitch is a short description of the startup. The name elevator pitch comes from the idea that this pitch should last as long as an elevator ride, between 15 seconds and a couple of minutes. However, on most occasions, your elevator pitch shouldn't be longer than 30 seconds. If you should use PowerPoint - it can include 10 slides. For the slide version of the elevator pitch - read our next pitch type.

The elevator pitch has evolved increasingly crucial among startup founders as VCs and angel investors get flooded with startup pitches. Once you have identified your target (i.e., an investor), the theory is that you get his or her awareness in as short as 30 seconds.

To prepare an excellent elevator pitch, carry the following items into concern:

1. Determine the goal of your pitch – What do you want to get out of this? Is it a meeting? An opinion? Think about this before crafting your message.
2. Describe shortly but clearly what you do – Can you be concise and still express the core idea of your startup?
3. Share your USP – Are you able to identify one or two critical differentiators for your startup?
4. Employ the listener with one good question – What is the next step after you pitched your idea? Ask for it!

When should you use the elevator pitch? The elevator pitch could follow your "Twitter Pitch" or be used when you understand that the listener is available for pitches. If you sense like the twitter pitch is not enough, an alternative is to think about a 15 seconds elevator pitch.

If you are looking for a compelling way to create an elevator pitch, you may be interested in using the Equitest pitch deck module.

The Competition Pitch

The competition pitch or the demo day pitch is longer than the two previous pitches and needs to be presented with a pitch deck. The deck you will be building is very similar to the one you would use to send to investors.

A crucial thing to understand is that in a startup competition, founders have limited time (between 3 and 5 minutes) to explain what their startup does and its traction. 

In a competition pitch deck, it is crucial to replace words with images.

You will do the speaking, not your presentation.

While pitching at a demo day, you might not want to get tangled in details. The pressure is high, and you have a limited amount of time to grab everyone's awareness. You must make the most out of it.

The Investor Pitch

After a Demo Day, interested investors often ask the founders to send an investor pitch deck. The investor pitch resembles how you present your startup at a competition. However, the dynamic of the discussion is different.

You need to engage the listener, make him or her interested, and be ready to get into details. Like any other pitch deck, it's best not to go over 10 slides. However, in these 10 slides, you will need to give as many details as possible.

When chatting with investors, make sure to spend time on the problem, solution (unique technology), and, of course, traction. This is THE MOST IMPORTANT pitch startups need to be ready for. The people in front of you are the ones that could provide you with money to transform your dream into reality.

What should you include in the slides?

Here are the 5 Main Types of Pitch Decks

Startup Pitch

Owning a startup means that you will have to provide a clear statement to secure possible investment opportunities. Without an investor, most new businesses will fail. That's why making an efficient startup pitch is essential for achieving your financial and business goals. 

A startup pitch often contains 10 to 15 slides, each dedicated to some aspect of your startup. It may or may not have the following setup:

• About Us
• Problem
• Solution
• Market Size
• Target Market
• Product
• Business Model
• Competition
• Competitive advantages
• Team
• Financial Model

Remember that if the pitch deck aims to raise funds, you must first understand the startup's value. That can quickly be done using Equitest business valuation software.

With a startup pitch, it is critical to be simple yet compelling. Consider that your potential investor has probably had dozens of other requests, too. You must set yourself apart from other startups with an efficient and stunning presentation.

 Team Pitch

Showcasing the experienced team, you have employed or worked with is one of the best ways to capture an investor's attention. They need to know that the individuals they will potentially be cooperating with are acquainted and good at what they do.

In a team pitch, you will often contain the following:

• Elevator Pitch (business information about the company and CEO)
• Team (includes the photos and accomplishments of the team members)
• Problem
• Solution
• Product
• Traction
• Business Model
• Target Market
• Competition
• Funding

The point? The CEO is not the only member of the team. Displaying your investors who else they can expect to work with is a great way to indicate that you're a team player.

Vision-Opportunity Pitch

A vision for success is the first step toward reaching your company goals. The next is to have your goals executed using a Vision-Opportunity Pitch. 

The structure of this type of pitch generally includes:

• Elevator Pitch
• Vision
• Opportunity
• Product
• Traction
• Business Model
• Competition
• Competitive Advantage
• Team
• Funding

You must do a lot of research about the market you are looking to tap into for an effective and professional presentation.

Problem-Solution Pitch

What makes your business special? What kinds of challenges does it aim to resolve? If your business goal is to uniquely determine a widespread problem, this is a suitable pitch deck template.

These pitch decks generally are set up in the following manner:

• Cover Slide
  • In most cases, a cover slide includes business information such as the CEO's information, a one-sentence pitch, and of course, the company's name.
• Problem
• Solution
• Product
• Traction
• Business Model
• Target Market
• Competition
• Team

Funding

Make sure to create an unmatched presentation. It's not enough that your business can solve a problem; it needs to do so in a way that investors won't be able to find in other companies. This all needs to be highlighted using your pitch.

Traction Pitch

No matter what kind of business you have, you must show your audience the traction or progress you have already made to give them a better idea of what they're working with. You must display the progress that your business has made over time. This pitch deck will have the same setup as the others, but you will want to include the traction information in the beginning.

Conclusion

In this article, we have presented four main types of pitch decks and five possible structures for delivering the slides. Suppose you are looking for an easy and simple way to evaluate your business, manage your cap table, or create a pitch deck. In that case, you can try our intuitive ai based business valuation software or our business valuation calculator, or you can contact us for free advice or schedule a demo.