How to Make a Pitch Deck: Dos and Don'ts

How to make a pitch deck

Coming up with a compelling pitch deck is an essential instrument for getting a startup off the ground. It can be a palling task, especially if you are low on funds or lack enough design skills. This process of convincing investors to jump in your ship is both difficult and time-consuming. Creating an eye-catching pitch deck, therefore, is crucial, and startups need to nail this part of the funding process.

In this piece, we have narrowed down the best ways to write a thorough and persuasive investor pitch deck without having to outsource your work. You’ll be in control of your project and able to attract the attention of potential investors.

Contents Of A Pitch Deck

It doesn’t matter what kind of business you are starting; your pitch deck should at least have a standard structure. While team pages and title pages are apparent elements, the real deal lies between the following areas:

- The Problem/Opportunity: This is not about the problem your startup faces, but rather what your customers are missing. What kind of problems have you identified or intend to solve? The very existence of your business should be based on the bottom line.

- The Product/Solution: What is your ultimate invention? What have you developed? What is it that you’ll offer the world? Will your solution specifically address the problem you just mentioned? Is the solution unique, or it is an improvement of current solutions? Addressing this part of your pitch deck should at least pique the audience, if not wow them.

- Your Unfair Edge: What makes you and your company stand out? What do you have that others significantly lack? Look out for interesting things that will certainly make your audience want to ask themselves, “How didn’t I ever think of that?” How is your approach different from other competitors solving the same problem?

-Your Business Model: How do you intend to make money? How are you going to highlight value? Remember to mention things like revenue streams, key partners, key activities, and value propositions.

You could also include other elements, depending on the audience you are addressing or the type of venture. Financial information like budgets, your traction channels, and specific details about your market are all niceties in pitch decks.

Pitch Deck Do’s and Don’ts

We have seen many startups make rookie mistakes while creating their investor pitch decks. Even though the content is key, presentation is equally important. Here are some of the best practices you should look at before compiling your pitch deck together.

Pitch Deck Do’s

Make your pitch deck visually amazing: When compared to texts, images have the power to convey much more in the least amount of time. They can spur emotions almost as quickly. Including animations or embedded videos in your pitch deck gives you a better shot at leaving a lasting impression.

Customize your pitch deck: You can include smart content and personalization features to your pitch deck. Incorporate your company’s fonts and colors to maintain brand consistency. You can choose a template and customize it to your audience needs. To get a feel of what we’re talking about, here’s a video we made on one of the best pitch decks, the Airbnb Pitch Deck.

‍Follow engagement statistics: Since you’ll be presenting to new investors every time, it is a great idea to measure engagement after every interaction with your audience. It will help you refine your pitch deck and optimize in line with your measured engagement.

Related article: Pitch Deck Examples

Pitch Deck Don’t’s

Don’t use too much text: Filling your presentation with large chunks of text may tempt people to skimp over your proposal. People can be easily distracted, so you don’t want to bore your investors with too much information. Not that detail is wrong, but in timely presentations, it is better to keep it short and straight to the point.

Don’t use small fonts: If during your presentation, people lean forward or squint to read the prints, people will only remember how hard it was to see your pitch deck presentation. Having attractive typography is crucial.

Make it short: Today’s audience wants quick critical points that are easily digestible and clear to read. Apart from using large fonts, the format, spacing, font type, are all part of the play and keeping it short is the first step to succinctness.

Related read: Presentation Design Inspiration

Regardless of your audience, with the right content and visual flair, your pitch deck can attract interest from all sorts of investors and VCs. We also recommend founders to include in their pitch deck their contacts or social media links. Interested investors will certainly look you up.

Your first impression matters. If you’re stuck with your pitch deck, we encourage you to check our Pitch Deck Design Service. We will be more than delighted to add traction to your brand.