Mistakes to avoid in a Pitch Deck

Pitch Deck in a Nutshell

A pitch deck is a slide based document which gives an overview of the business to the investors. It is supposed to be concise and goal oriented. A pitch deck is also considered as a fund raising tool in this modern era. Pitch decks are usually very captivating design-wise and mostly presented in a form of a story to create an impact on the investors.

A pitch deck aims to communicate the essential elements of a business or project in a compelling and persuasive manner. It often includes a mix of text, visuals, charts, and graphs to convey information effectively. The goal is to capture the attention of the audience, generate interest in the idea, and secure support, whether it’s financial investment, partnership opportunities, or client contracts.

Pitch Deck Expert Rule

The “10/20/30 rule” is a guideline proposed by Guy Kawasaki, a well-known venture capitalist and entrepreneur. It suggests a format for creating effective presentations, particularly for pitching to investors. Here’s what the rule entails:

10 Slides:

Limit your presentation to a maximum of 10 slides. This forces you to focus on the most critical points and prevents your presentation from becoming overly long or cluttered. Keeping it concise ensures that you deliver a clear and impactful message

20 Minutes:

Aim to deliver your entire presentation within 20 minutes. This includes the time for your pitch and any subsequent discussion or questions. By sticking to a time limit, you respect your audience’s time and maintain their engagement. It also demonstrates your ability to convey your ideas efficiently.

30-Point Font:

Use a minimum font size of 30 points for your presentation slides. This guideline ensures that your text is easily readable, even for people sitting farther away in the room. Larger fonts help maintain clarity and avoid the temptation to fill slides with excessive text, which can overwhelm your audience.

The 10/20/30 rule encourages presenters to focus on the essential aspects of their pitch, prioritize information, and communicate effectively. By following this guideline, you can create a concise and impactful presentation that captures the attention of your audience and effectively conveys your message.

Top Mistakes to avoid in a Pitch Deck

Information Overload

This is the most common mistake made by pitch presenters. Do you know why? Sometimes, pitch presenters think they are not able to give enough information to the investors or target audience. Hence, they tend to overload the audience with information which at times is not even necessary.

Portray a clear vision by giving precise information
Show that you are focused
Be ready for questions, as it shows that the audience is interested to know more!

Vague Business Model

Another common mistake made by the pitch deck presenters is presenting a vague business model. Your business model is supposed to be the life of your pitch deck. The stronger and clearer your business model is, the higher the chances are of your idea getting funded.

You have to understand the fact that investors will invest only if you let them know clearly how will your business earn money. You have to be very clear and persuasive with your revenue model if you need your idea to be funded. Some of the points you should include in your business model are:

Product/Service Value information
Profit Margin
Affiliate Income
Sale of Technology
Tier 1 Sales model to Tier 3 Sales model
Tentative Payback

To explain the product or service many entrepreneurs get carried away. They tend to share an insignificant value of the market share and overestimate it trying to impress the investors. Sometimes, they tend to quote wrong figures about the market share which then backfires. Stating the correct value of market share is always the right thing to do because you are presenting to GAIN YOUR INVESTORS TRUST.

Remember, when you give the true values without the fear of missing out, you will always be in the position to win the trust of your target audience. It is your confidence which matters the most!

State the reality and how you are going to counter the problem prevailing in the market. Ask questions from yourself. Is your really worth investing? Can you do 10x better than other market providers? Most importantly, ARE YOU CONFIDENT?

Not Clear about your ASK

The most important thing is your demand from the investors. Be it a penny or a million dollars, you have to be clear with what you want. This is because you are in a position where the investors are ready to trust you with their money and you have to show them you are very confident.

Secondly, you are not trying to impress the investors by your design and presentation skills. You are presenting a pitch deck to raise funds. Exactly, this is the most important part, what you are demanding and with concrete reasoning

Reason behind the particular ask is extremely important as the investors want to know how you are going to spend their investment. The timeline of payback, the amount to be spent on each sector like technology, marketing, product, etc.

Missing Contact Information

How will you know if the investors are interested in your pitch deck or not? Most people miss out the contact information in their deck, which is one of the biggest mistakes. This could lead to a dead end as there might not be a trail to contact you. So, always leave an email address in your pitch if you want to get contacted by potential investors.

Conclusion

Getting funded is an integral part of your entrepreneurial roadmap. It is one of the major steps that leads you to success hence, to pass this step you need to take care of these potential mistakes. There is a lot of competition, you cannot afford a mistake at this point.

the author

bilal raza

I am Bilal the CEO of Slidey. We specialize in crafting compelling pitch decks that skyrocket startup success. With our expertise, We’ve empowered over 600+ startups to transform their ideas into reality, raising an impressive $70M+ in funding