Pitch Deck: R&R explores creating pitch decks for investors.

By Ian Richardson, Managing Partner, Richardson & Richardson Consulting LLC

Inspired by Thursday Process with guest Zach Eikenberry, Hook Security

Pitch Deck

When you’re launching and building a company, you really have two strategies on how you can finance your organization’s strategy and growth. You can keep 100% control and ownership internally and “bootstrap” the organization – financing all operations out of your own wallet and funds, or you can seek outside investment, raising operating capital rapidly in exchange for equity in your organization. If you’ve chosen the second path, you’ll need to find those investors and attract them to the potential your company brings to their portfolio in terms of return on investment. Part of that process of attracting their attention will require a presentation, the basis of which resides in the pitch deck.

A good pitch deck can be the difference between creating effective differentiation on your company, its value proposition, and how you’ll be able to deliver effective return for your investors and ending up feeling confused around why you’re not getting attention and commitments, frustrated by competitors who are succeeding in capturing funding and market share, and foolish on wasted time, effort, and precious financial resources with nothing to show for it.

I sat down with my friend Zach Eikenberry from Hook Security, a security awareness training and risk mitigation tool, on the Richardson & Richardson Consulting Web Series, the Thursday Process, to talk about raising outside funding. Zach shared quite a bit of knowledge around pitch decks and how to create an effective narrative around a company for investors (See the clip below). I had a lot of learnings around the topic from our discussion and wanted to share some key points below.

https://youtu.be/-LRPJ_YVn-4

Creating Pitch Decks

Some of the key considerations on creating a pitch deck include:

• Clarity on the problems you solve: Realize that the problem statement may not be your first instinct. Framing everything around the problems that are solved by your organization’s products or services is important – don’t get bogged down in the weeds on technical details and/or specifics – you need to strike a balance of details and vision.
• Remember that investors do not necessarily know your market, space, or niche. You are the expert in the space – present yourself as such.
• Map out potential outcomes from your pitch deck. Not every investor you present to will be a “good fit” for your organization – That’s ok. You have the opportunity to educate that investor on your value, which can create opportunities sourced from THEIR network of investors and resources. They can introduce you to someone who WOULD be a good fit for your organization.
• Be succinct and clear in your messaging – fluff does not belong in your pitch deck.
• Your deck should focus on building confidence in your team, ideas, and other areas of your narrative, especially if you are early stage or pre-revenue. The deck should tell the story you want it to tell.
• If you have proven success and/or metrics – include them, but make sure to also include how an investor should view that data. When presented with raw data, an investor will draw their own conclusions – you must avoid them coming to the wrong interpretation of your data.

Final Thoughts on Pitch Decks

Your pitch deck is your narrative – it tells the story of your organization and how you are going to impact the world. It needs to include a path for success, information on your organization will generate profits, even if those are years in the future, and create a clear understanding of the problems experienced by your target market and how your team and products are uniquely qualified to solve them.

If you’re struggling with creating a narrative around your organization, figuring out how to effectively present it, or getting alignment with your team on the need to invest in the effort, Richardson & Richardson can help. Check out our case studies for stories of organizations that we’ve assisted with similar issues and download our white papers for deep dives on tools you can use in your organization. If you’re wondering where to start, book a complimentary session with one of the Richardsons today to come up with a plan on how to move forward.