Revising a pitch deck generally is a daunting job, but it surely’s an important step in the direction of securing funding. With insights from a founder and a COO, this text sheds gentle on essentially the most impactful classes discovered from suggestions by angel buyers. You’ll uncover why it’s important to spell out your secret sauce proper from the beginning and the way illustrating particular, quantifiable milestones could make all of the distinction. Dive into these 17 skilled insights that may rework your pitch and increase your probabilities of success.
- Spell Out Your Secret Sauce
- Lead With Drawback and Market Alternative
- Consider Pitch as Three-Act Story
- Pitch in Format Buyers Anticipate
- Give attention to What Lands Buyers
- Keep away from Comparisons to Opponents
- Create an Inconceivable-to-Refuse Slide
- Spotlight Significance of ‘Why Now’ Slide
- Determine Patterns in Suggestions
- Illustrate Particular, Quantifiable Milestones
- Simplify Complicated Concepts for Readability
- Craft a Compelling Exit Technique
- Bridge the Data Hole Successfully
- Showcase Management Group’s Expertise
- Readability Sells, Simplify Your Pitch
- Emphasize Unit-Economics
- Present Blue-Sky Considering
Spell Out Your Secret Sauce
When pitching my enterprise, nearly all angel buyers would ask me to elucidate my “secret sauce” instantly.
Right here’s what I added to my pitch in response: after I first acquired desirous about productiveness as an idea, I attempted quite a lot of totally different choices on provide to assist folks enhance it, together with productiveness and accountability apps. However nothing appeared the suitable match—nobody app appeared to have all of the options I used to be in search of. So, I constructed the platform I needed with my firm, the place expertise, technique, and the human contact come collectively.
So, my recommendation to others could be the identical: spell out your ‘secret sauce’ to assist buyers know what makes you distinctive and investable.
Manasvini Krishna, Founder, Boss as a Service
EquityNet
RAISE CAPITAL
Use flat-fee crowdfunding with no commissions.
Elevate enterprise capital of $100K to $100M.
Join straight with accredited buyers.
We earn a fee in the event you make a purchase order, at no extra price to you.
Lead With Drawback and Market Alternative
From my expertise working with numerous startups, some of the necessary classes I’ve discovered about pitch decks got here from a founder we labored with final yr. The startup had a tremendous AI-powered resolution for supply-chain optimization, however their preliminary pitch deck was drowning in technical specs and complicated flowcharts.
After a number of conferences with angel buyers who appeared to lose curiosity midway by way of, we helped them rework their deck to guide with the issue and market alternative first. The change was outstanding—as a substitute of opening with their expertise, we began with the $50 billion ache level within the trade, adopted by actual tales from annoyed provide chain managers.
This method instantly grabbed buyers’ consideration as a result of it confirmed we understood what actually mattered to them: the market potential and the burning downside that wanted fixing. The revised deck generated considerably extra investor curiosity, they usually secured their seed spherical inside two months. It taught me that buyers, particularly on the angel stage, care extra concerning the problem-solution match and market alternative than the technical intricacies of how your product works. Technical particulars nonetheless matter, however they need to help your story, not be the story itself.
Niclas Schlopsna, Managing Advisor and CEO, spectup
Consider Pitch as Three-Act Story
The one game-changing factor I discovered from our enterprise angel at Wunderlist is that it’s not about any single slide; it’s about story construction.
I used to suppose every slide needed to stand alone, however the very best recommendation I acquired was to consider it like a three-act story: set up urgency round the issue, excite across the alternative, and save your heavy ammo, like early traction and partnerships, for the third-act climax.
As soon as we restructured it this fashion, instantly, buyers have been leaning ahead of their seats as a substitute of simply politely nodding alongside.
Sebastian Scheerer, Founder & CEO, Superfounder.io
Methods to Elevate Cash You Don’t Must Pay Again
Pitch in Format Buyers Anticipate
The one lesson that I discovered when revising my pitch deck is that I 100% have to pitch within the format buyers anticipate. Relating to pitching, “Know your viewers” is extraordinarily necessary. I just like the framework: Hearts-Minds-Wallets. To create a pitch deck, it makes use of storytelling and a great (and pretty typical) move.
Additionally, after pitching numerous enterprise proposals previously, I’d say that pitching is a talent. Storytelling is a talent. It’s one thing you possibly can enhance on. Telling your story is likely one of the most necessary expertise you want as a founder. There are frameworks (like Hearts-Minds-Wallets) that may legitimately assist.
David Rubie-Todd, Co-Founder & Advertising Head, Sticker It
What You’re Doing Flawed In Your Pitch Deck
Give attention to What Lands Buyers
Relating to pitch-deck revisions, I’ve discovered one factor: Each individual has their very own opinion and desire for what format and content material they need in a pitch deck. The “proper manner” is no matter lands you the buyers and companions which can be a great match on your startup. The “improper manner” is each different manner.
David Rubie-Todd, Co-Founder & Advertising Director, Glide
Keep away from Comparisons to Opponents
One important lesson I discovered when revising our pitch deck, primarily based on suggestions from angel buyers, was understanding how comparisons to rivals can influence investor notion. Initially, we believed that highlighting our resolution alongside present market gamers would emphasize the hole we have been filling and showcase how our resolution is totally different.
Nevertheless, this method truly ended up diluting our message, because it inadvertently related us with rivals that buyers seen as poor investments. This made our pitch a lot much less thrilling and took away from the momentum we have been constructing with the remainder of the deck.
As an alternative of specializing in rivals, we would have liked to show how our mannequin was new and why that distinctness would drive longevity and make our firm a robust funding. This shift allowed us to current our resolution as an revolutionary chief slightly than simply one other market participant.
Rob Deming, COO, Charge Retriever
Create an Inconceivable-to-Refuse Slide
After I first began pitching, I approached the deck as a narrative, with a starting, center, and an thrilling buildup to essentially the most spectacular a part of the enterprise. I needed to create a story crescendo. Then an angel investor took me apart and informed me that buyers evaluation hundreds of decks and infrequently solely spend a couple of seconds per slide.
As a feminine founder, I additionally acknowledged an extra problem: unconscious biases can typically lead buyers to search for dangers earlier than they see alternatives. This meant I wanted to reframe my method. So, I created what I name an “impossible-to-refuse” slide—a slide full of our greatest stats, metrics, buyer traction, and any “wow” issue that might make an investor sit up and say, “Whoa, that is totally different.”
Main with this data-driven, high-impact slide was a sport changer. This method helped to counteract biases and set a assured tone for the remainder of the presentation. It’s one thing many feminine founders might have to think about—typically, we must be irrefutably compelling to get the identical consideration and confidence from buyers.
Vivian Chen, Founder & CEO, Rise
Free Abilities Coaching: Discover Worthwhile Prospects. Funds with Pleasure.
Spotlight Significance of ‘Why Now’ Slide
Understanding the significance of a “Why Now” slide was a game-changer throughout our pitch deck revisions. Angel buyers need to grasp why the enterprise is poised to succeed at this precise second, in search of a mixture of market developments, shifts in expertise, or altering client conduct. Highlighting this facet might be the tipping level in convincing buyers.
The premium home-spa market is rising quick, partly resulting from an elevated deal with residence wellness and the continued pattern towards residence upgrades. Persons are keen to speculate extra in private wellness areas, particularly as distant work and home-centered life develop. This pattern makes now the right time for a model providing distinctive, high-end outside luxuries.
Leveraging the “SOAR” framework can strengthen the effectiveness of the “Why Now” slide. Begin with Strengths that the enterprise brings to this chance. Observe with Alternatives that exist resulting from present market dynamics. Articulate particular Aspirations what you are promoting seeks to meet by capturing this chance immediately. Wrap up with Outcomes what you are promoting goals to realize by appearing now.
Structuring this slide with SOAR presents buyers a logical and compelling motive to imagine within the timeliness and potential of your enterprise, successfully demonstrating anticipation of future success.
Andrei Newman, Founder, Casa Blui
The Way forward for Pitch Decks: Exploring Digital Actuality and Augmented Actuality Shows
Determine Patterns in Suggestions
One of many greatest classes I discovered from revising my pitch deck after suggestions from angel buyers is which you could’t over-rotate primarily based on each single remark. It’s simple to get caught up in attempting to please everybody, however that’s a recipe for catastrophe. As an alternative, it’s essential to hear rigorously and establish patterns within the suggestions.
After a couple of pitches, you begin to discover which elements of your presentation really resonate with buyers. Their eyes gentle up, they lean in, they usually ask insightful questions. Pay shut consideration to these moments and the people who find themselves genuinely engaged. These are the alerts that inform you what’s working and the place to focus your consideration.
In the end, your pitch deck ought to inform a compelling story that captures the essence of what you are promoting and its potential. By rigorously contemplating suggestions and figuring out the areas that actually resonate with buyers, you possibly can refine your pitch and enhance your probabilities of success.
JJ Maxwell, CEO, Double Finance
Illustrate Particular, Quantifiable Milestones
My greatest takeaway from updating my pitch deck on account of receiving suggestions from angel buyers was the way it helped illustrate particular, quantifiable milestones as a substitute of obscure metrics about progress. Buyers wanted course, however not simply within the type of projected income or market share.
They wanted very clear, measurable, time-based steps that clearly outlined how we’d proceed from one section to the subsequent, similar to hitting sure technical milestones, customer-adoption objectives, or partnerships that will unlock the subsequent section of progress. They realized that they wanted a roadmap that was each grand and extremely real looking and primarily based on precise indices of success. So I edited the deck to simply embody these actions and provides a extra centered, step-by-step image of our subsequent transfer.
And that modified the way in which they perceived our potential; they weren’t simply investing in a giant concept however in a technique they might see coming into actuality. It’s one factor to say develop, but when I gave specificity about what progress was at every stage, it informed them we’d truly laid out our plan and weren’t making ethereal assumptions.
Thomas Franklin, CEO, Swapped
5 Sensible Recommendations on Making a Pitch Deck for Your Startup
Simplify Complicated Concepts for Readability
Revising a pitch deck primarily based on suggestions from angel buyers generally is a transformative expertise. One important lesson discovered is the significance of readability in speaking your imaginative and prescient. Buyers recognize easy narratives that articulate what you are promoting’s function and potential. When suggestions highlighted areas of confusion, it turned clear that simplifying advanced concepts and specializing in core messages was important.
One other essential perception is the worth of tailoring the pitch to the viewers. Buyers typically have totally different pursuits and priorities, so adjusting the pitch to align with their particular objectives can improve engagement. This method not solely makes the presentation extra related but additionally demonstrates an understanding of the buyers’ views.
Suggestions additionally underscored the necessity to emphasize the issue what you are promoting solves. Buyers need to see a transparent connection between the market want and your resolution. Reinforcing this connection could make your pitch extra compelling and present that you’re not simply promoting a product however addressing an actual problem out there.
General, these classes spotlight that suggestions is a useful device for refining your pitch. Listening to buyers and making changes primarily based on their enter can result in a more practical presentation that resonates with potential backers.
Ramzy Humsi, Founder & CEO, Vortex Ranker
Craft a Compelling Exit Technique
Crafting a compelling exit technique is essential in attracting and assuring angel buyers. Buyers need to know not solely concerning the improvements you convey but additionally when and the way they’ll see returns. A well-defined exit technique highlights attainable acquisition targets, merger alternatives, or IPO prospects. Consider it like a roadmap exhibiting the place the enterprise is heading, which reassures buyers that you simply’ve thought of their future pursuits.
Use the “3 Ps” framework: Potential Patrons, Profitability Pathway, and Deliberate Timeframe. Determine corporations that may profit from buying what you are promoting; these are your potential patrons. Clearly define how the enterprise will develop to develop into enticing to those potential acquirers. Present a logical timeline for while you anticipate the enterprise to be prepared for an exit. Incorporating the “3 Ps” not solely demonstrates strategic considering but additionally will increase investor confidence, mitigating their threat and exhibiting that you simply’re in it for the lengthy haul.
Jean Chen, COO & Co-Founder, Mondressy
Monica Wheat Offers 4 Causes Why Pitch Competitions Are Gold
Bridge the Data Hole Successfully
One main lesson from revising the pitch deck primarily based on angel investor suggestions was discovering how one can bridge the information hole in a manner that’s each participating and persuasive. After we initially pitched our firm, we’d dive straight into explaining the user-generated content material (UGC) mannequin and why it’s the longer term. However with UGC being comparatively unknown to many buyers, it was clear that this method didn’t seize consideration or convey the chance we noticed on this area.
The suggestions actually helped us see the significance of “present, don’t inform.” So we made the opening extra dynamic and visually wealthy, leaning into short-form content material since, as a UGC-focused startup, we all know this medium effectively. As an alternative of a regular clarification, we launched UGC with a short-form type overview—fast, visible, and interesting. This method instantly put us in our aspect, and the extra entertaining tone made it simpler for buyers to know the UGC idea and, crucially, see its potential.
By the point we’d carried out this, the tone of our displays had shifted noticeably. As an alternative of getting caught in a “that is what UGC is” loop, we discovered buyers asking extra related questions, indicating they “acquired it” and have been interested by subsequent steps. This alteration led to extra follow-ups and productive discussions, which felt like a win-win. In essence, we discovered that in the event you’re pioneering in a distinct segment, it’s essential to introduce it in a manner that feels accessible and charming—particularly if it means assembly buyers on acquainted floor whereas showcasing your experience.
Yannick Habraken, Founder / CMO, Hyred
Past the Pitch Deck: Evaluating Co-Founder Match for Startup Success
Showcase Management Group’s Expertise
Most pitch decks are very complete across the merchandise/worth proposition, applied sciences, market alternative, income mannequin/profitability, operations & scalability, capital planning, and so forth. Nevertheless, angel buyers, specifically, have typically already evaluated most of that and wouldn’t even be chatting with you with out the above.
As an alternative, what they’re typically most desirous about is YOU and the management crew! Make sure to show your crew’s well-rounded expertise and expertise and, extra importantly, your function/ardour (your “why”), values, attitudes, and work ethic. Angel buyers are investing in YOU and the management crew far more than the merchandise/companies and applied sciences.
Joe Palmer, Managing Associate, Prosperity Companions Consulting, Inc.
Readability Sells, Simplify Your Pitch
One key lesson from revising my pitch deck after suggestions from angel buyers is that readability sells. I packed it with information, considering it could present my preparedness. As an alternative, buyers needed simplicity—clear, impactful insights with out the litter.
One investor put it bluntly: “We don’t have to see all the pieces you recognize; we have to see that what you recognize issues.”
So, I trimmed down the slides, focusing solely on the story that highlighted our distinctive edge, the market’s actual ache factors, and our scalable resolution. I discovered to current numbers in a manner that feels intuitive, telling a story as a substitute of itemizing stats.
The distinction was fast. Buyers leaned in, engaged, asking higher questions. The pitch turned a dialog, not a lecture, and, finally, it resonated as a result of it was exact and memorable.
John Beaver, Founder, Desky
$10K Grants Are Again! Plus, Free Abilities Coaching from Verizon Digital Prepared.
Emphasize Unit-Economics
A priceless lesson I discovered from revising my pitch deck after angel buyers’ suggestions was the significance of emphasizing unit-economics. Buyers want to know the monetary sustainability of the enterprise, so I made certain to incorporate important metrics like buyer acquisition price (CAC) and lifelong worth (LTV). These figures helped make clear how we may develop profitably and confirmed that the enterprise mannequin is scalable and sustainable in the long run.
Together with these metrics gave the deck extra credibility, making the funding alternative extra compelling. It additionally allowed buyers to see a transparent path to profitability, rising their confidence within the enterprise.
Stephen Boatman, Principal, Flat Price Monetary
Present Blue-Sky Considering
After I was elevating a pre-seed spherical, the recurring query from angels and VCs was concerning the sustainability of the enterprise and the way prospects will develop into recurring contemplating the character of the enterprise, a.ok.a. AI headshots, which is a 12-month recurring want slightly than one thing a consumer wants each week.
And whereas I’ve had information to showcase that 27% of our prospects have been returning each month to generate private branding content material for his or her social media, I understood that this in itself was not a sufficiently big problem I used to be fixing and that my considering wanted to go a lot greater.
I revised my pitch deck to indicate blue-sky considering—to indicate buyers that this product may develop right into a billion-dollar concept. I drafted up a roadmap that included an AI advertising product roadmap that I rapidly validated by getting early signups from a couple of enterprise purchasers that have been already utilizing us for his or her crew AI headshots.
This revision helped me get consideration from heavyweight VCs, which I finally declined.
Adriana Lica, CoFounder, Strive it on AI
Picture by rawpixel.com on Freepik
We earn a fee in the event you make a purchase order, at no extra price to you.
