If you're fundraising, use a secure sharing platform

[prinston]

I can't say it enough. Tools like DocSend have enhanced our fundraising experience tenfold. Firstly, you get to see what people are reading and what they spend the most time on. You can revise your decks and docs based the nonverbal feedback. Secondly, you get a sense of whose interested, and when to follow up. Before meetings we also know whether and what people are interested in. We've taken meetings we're we know people haven't looked at the deck and we tailor our pitch appropriately. Third, and finally, if you're someone with multiple ideas or have fundraised a couple of times, you start to understand what sticks. For example, in my first company, people spent on average 1.5 mins on my deck, now they spend 6-7 minutes!

 

[maxfromcapetown]

@prinston Can you share your before and after decks with us?

 

[bornforhim]

@maxfromcapetown I second this comment

 

[christianonamission]

@bornforhim Third

 

[kingdomsound]

@christianonamission Fourth

 

[revena]

@maxfromcapetown Down vote this comment.. it's his confidential material for investors

Not a tutorial for people who are learning to craft pitch deck..

Your CV your pitch deck in a way are reflection of your personality.. if you wish to peek into others, probably you don't one. Go ahead and down vote me

 

[prinston]

@revena Hey there! I'll respond to this comment since it's getting downvoted, but I appreciate the sentiment just as much as I appreciate the requests for a copy of the decks.

With respect to the request for a copy of the decks, the content and business are so wildly different that it wouldn't be terribly helpful, sorry.

With respect to confidentiality and the like, @revena is right, partially. Aside from confidentiality, though, the real reason why it wouldn't be appropriate to share the deck "willy-nilly" per se is because of regulatory prohibitions on general solicitation. In the United States, where we're based, fundraising is a regulated activity covered by the SEC's Regulation D. For that reason, we're being selective as to who we're soliciting.

I'll post this below, but when you're in a pre-revenue phase, the real key to decks is generating excitement. If you pick your words carefully, you'll get people to question and want to follow up. We believe that we're really good at pitching verbally, so for us, the driver has been to get people to want to have a meeting with us. That means no technical explainers, few, if any, long sentences, and really paying attention to the "team" slide. On that note, one piece of early feedback I got was, "You haven't mentioned why you're the one to do it, what makes you special." - Remember, they're investing in you just as much as they're investing in your idea.

 

[revena]

@prinston Well first, thanks but if it's for the downvotes, it doesn't matter to me. Downvotes could mean standing out from others, which I do. And if musk or Zuckerberg posted here antonymously I bet they'll be downvoted more heavily.. not that I'm one of them nor aspire to be.

Second, yes working on pitch deck could help generate excitements among investors but is it the best way to do it? Why don't we rather work on marketing to the users than to the investors?

If you build a platform that attracts more and more users to pay for it, investors will come running, chasing you.. when you go for a jog they will run backwards in front of you convincing you to take their money..

if it's a no brainier that you'll double their money or even more, who would not give their money to you!? Sending pitch deck is kinda useless nowadays, investors are actively pursuing and following investors.

Deep down people who still work on pitch deck, yc application, timing everything, they know they can't get users so why not trap some investors.. might not be the case with everyone but to a good number of them.

Thanks for the more down votes.. to the hard working founders here.. wish you good luck working day and night in polishing your pitch deck and memorizing for the application and interviews.

 

[jstanley7]

@prinston

For example, in my first company, people spent on average 1.5 mins on my deck, now they spend 6-7 minutes!

So what sticks?

 

[pmsh]

@prinston Would appreciate some tips on creating a top tier pitch deck

 

[prinston]

@pmsh Thanks for asking. I posted above, but I'll post here with a bit more background.

I am a lawyer by training, and because of that, when I drafted my first decks, I stuck a lot of words in there. I thought I needed to explain everything in order to show to others that I had thought everything through. I mention this because I've seen decks from other lawyers and professionals who try to do the same thing. - Avoid it as best you can - create excitement.

When you're in a pre-revenue phase, in my opinion, the real key to decks is generating excitement. If you pick your words carefully, you'll get people to question and want to follow up. We believe that we're really good at pitching verbally, so for us, the driver has been to get people to want to have a meeting with us. That means no technical explainers, few, if any, long sentences, and really paying attention to the "team" slide. On that note, one piece of early feedback I got was, "You haven't mentioned why you're the one to do it, what makes you special." - Remember, they're investing in you just as much as they're investing in your idea.