I get lots of pitch deck submissions for this TechCrunch Pitch Deck Teardown collection from people who find themselves elevating buddy and household rounds, and I principally go on them. Typically, these decks aren’t superb, however it’s necessary to keep in mind that they don’t should be.
For a small spherical (say $200,000 or under), most well-connected entrepreneurs will be capable of discover a group of people that imagine in them and are keen to put money into them. It’s not in regards to the product (there sometimes isn’t one), and it’s not in regards to the resolution (the corporate remains to be iterating).
Such buyers are often betting on two issues:
- Is that this market large enough, and is the issue price fixing massive or pertinent sufficient to provide this firm a risk of success?
- Are the founders the suitable folks to unravel this drawback? Have they got the connections, abilities or expertise that provides them an unfair benefit?
Right here’s the reality: When contemplating very early stage corporations, if you happen to can’t say “Sure” to each of these questions with 100% certainty, you shouldn’t make investments. If the market isn’t large enough, don’t make investments. If the founders are sensible, pleasant and superb, however they don’t have one thing particular that provides them a head begin, don’t make investments.
It was in opposition to that backdrop that I acquired the pitch deck for Palau Project. Its founder, Jerome Cloetens, is a professional kite surfer (!) with an economics diploma and an MBA, and he’s taking over local weather change.
Let’s take a more in-depth have a look at how all these items come collectively in a pitch deck.
We’re searching for extra distinctive pitch decks to tear down, so if you wish to submit your personal, here’s how you can do that.
Slides on this deck
This pre-seed deck has 22 slides, however it may in all probability have been 10 slides or so. That mentioned, it appears good, and though it jumps from subject to subject a bit of, I can see how the presentation would take form. Cloetens notes that the slide deck has been barely up to date because the fundraise, and he talked about it’s “not exactly as Pitched; a number of the design and small content material modifications (Equivalent to our traction metrics) have been up to date.”
- Cowl slide
- Drawback influence slide
- Drawback slide
- Answer slide
- Product slide
- Product slide
- Product slide
- Problem slide
- Worth Proposition slide
- Enterprise mannequin slide
- Market measurement slide
- Market slide
- Traction slide
- Metrics slide
- Milestones slide
- Workforce slide
- Founders slide
- “Seed spherical” Interstitial slide
- Mission slide
- The Ask slide
- Milestones slide
- “Fairness for thrifthers” closing slide
Three issues to like
As I discussed within the intro, it is a pre-seed deck. As per slide #20, the founders have been attempting to boost $500,000, they usually closed on about $125,000. That isn’t completely unusual at early phases. Barely in a while, your plan must match the funds, which must match the milestones you’re attempting to hit.
At this stage, “I simply want some cash to show what we try to do” will work, and if the angel buyers assume it is smart, you’ll increase cash.
Easy product, testable now
[Slide 5] Palau Venture’s product is tremendous easy, however the energy will probably be within the knowledge. Picture credit score: Palau Project.
Make your product demos this straightforward if you happen to can — it’s simple to know, visible and impactful.
I discussed earlier that each one that issues is the market measurement and group, and I’ll get to that in only a second. For now, I used to be actually impressed at how easy the concept is, and the way simple it’s to think about this in use. Scan a barcode, get details about a product and get nudged in direction of merchandise which have much less influence on the local weather.
As an investor, I might instantly have three questions:
- How good is the database and what number of merchandise are captured there?
- Will folks truly use this when they’re strolling round, buying?
- This use case seems to be in-person, however the enterprise mannequin refers to a fee. How would the producers know {that a} consumer has modified their habits because of utilizing an app?
You’ll be able to be taught two issues from this slide: Make your product demos this straightforward if you happen to can — it’s simple to know, visible and impactful. The second step is to tie it to your worth propositions: What’s in it for the buyer? What’s in it for the product producers? What’s in it to your firm (i.e. how does this aid you achieve or retain clients, and the way does it aid you generate worth)?
Traction!
[Slide 13] A product this early with traction is gorgeous. Picture credit score: Palau Project.
When an organization is elevating its first spherical, it’s unlikely that it has a product in any respect, by no means thoughts a product with precise traction. In the event you do occur to have such a product, scream about it from the rooftops. Having 30 downloads per day is spectacular, and 10,000 scans reveals that the app is working and getting some consumer engagement. Engagement time is cool, too — there are a variety of early indicators exhibiting up right here that the founders could also be on to one thing. Going from 0 to 700 weekly energetic customers in a brand new market (Portugal) is spectacular, too.
Once more, the slide raises questions for me:
- Scans are nice, however I need to know what proportion of these scans have been profitable (i.e. had merchandise within the database). If customers scanned 10,000 gadgets and ended up with 600 hits, and 9,400 “We don’t know this product,” that may make a variety of customers flip away instantly.
- 25-30 new customers per day is spectacular, however present us a graph and the full variety of sign-ups.
- TikTok movies are cool, however that’s an arrogance metric which means nothing except it strikes the needle on the enterprise aspect. Did the video end in downloads? Extra scans? Extra inquiries?
What you possibly can be taught from this slide as a startup is to consider the story you’re telling along with your metrics, since you could possibly be telling the unsuitable story, or it may increase extra questions than it solutions.
Faux to be a VC for a second, and ask your self: If an organization advised me these numbers, what prompted the numbers to occur, and what do they inform me about the place the corporate goes?
Elegant worth proposition
[Slide 3] It’s laborious to be a client who cares. Picture credit score: Palau Project.
The graphic on the left actually rams residence some extent: firms blatantly utilizing greenwashing to faux that they’re sustainable, tree-hugging hippies is actual (and Coca-Cola, specifically, wraps itself into some curious inexperienced pretzels attempting to show how a lot it cares in regards to the surroundings), and as customers, you possibly can’t belief massive firms to honestly symbolize what they’re doing.
So what’s a poor client to do? Palau Venture’s tackle it is a masterful set-up to a pitch and an exquisite means of opening the door to a narrative.
This slide is a good instance of a very good opener that may assist drive the dialog ahead. Having a transparent worth proposition or portray an image to your raison d’etre is an effective way to have interaction your listeners.
Bear in mind once I mentioned “group” and “market” are the 2 most necessary elements of a pre-seed slide deck? You’ll discover the absence of both on this “issues I beloved” part. There’s a purpose for that, so let’s take a more in-depth have a look at what could possibly be improved in Palau Venture’s pitch.
