What should be included in an idea stage startup pitch deck?

The majority of business owners understand the importance of having a compelling pitch that attracts investors in order to achieve their goals. To put it simply, the startup funding pitch deck helps investors to identify the best investment prospects with the lowest risk. For an idea-stage startup to accelerate growth, produce prototypes, and expand its business model, it must secure funding. So, what are your options for getting these outcomes for your company? We help you identify what to include in a startup pitch deck in order to win over investors.

Idea stage startup pitch deck

Starting a new business or enterprise is all about having an idea that you can't shake. Ideally, the notion or idea should address a market need. The idea stage is when you, as an entrepreneur, are testing the viability of a product or service based on that idea.

Understanding pitch decks

A pitch deck is a visually appealing and short presentation that summarizes the story of your business at a high level and explains why it is worth investing in. Whether an angel or a venture capitalist, an investor will almost always ask for more information about a company after seeing a pitch deck. If your pitch deck presentation performs its job, you may be able to secure a second meeting, a second talk, and, finally, funding for your organization.

Why do businesses need a pitch deck?

The goal of a pitch deck is to pique the interest of investors in a firm, which could lead to a follow-up meeting and the possibility of a potential investment. First and foremost, it's important to remember that a pitch deck is just the beginning of the fundraising process.

What is an idea-stage startup?

An idea is the first step in starting a business. If it wants to succeed, it needs to focus on fixing a market need. At this stage, you have an idea and determine whether it is feasible to turn that idea into a product or service. Ideation, Competition, Organization, Branding & Marketing, and Pitch are the five main steps in this process.

By having the basic idea, the focus shifts to establishing whether the solution addresses a meaningful problem and whether anyone would theoretically be interested in it. To be effective, your proposal must ease the suffering of others or provide them with a tangible advantage over their current condition. You’ll have to prepare a pitch deck to pull in funding for your idea-stage startup. Your pitch is used by possible investors to analyze the market opportunity, the management team, and predict efficiencies connected to the usage of potential investment capital and establish startup growth.

How can a great pitch deck help in startup funding?

Raising funds is difficult; even getting your pitch deck in front of the appropriate individuals is a significant challenge. Investors will only participate in further discussions with you if you can create a compelling overview of your business that excites and interests them. When it comes down to it, investors want a compelling reason to part with their money.

Research published in Harvard Business Review shows an investor will look at a pitch deck for about three minutes and 44 seconds on average. When making a presentation, you must know the selling aspects of your company inside and out. It conveys that information in a clear, concise, and time-efficient manner.

How to create a great pitch deck

Your startup needs a pitch deck when you're trying to raise money from investors. Briefly explaining your company's value proposition is the purpose of this presentation. A practical introduction will pique their curiosity, open the door to a conversation, and put you on the route of raising money for your company. If you want to make your pitch deck the best it can be, here are some helpful pointers and a breakdown of the major components.

Things to include in an idea stage startup pitch deck

To create the best idea stage startup pitch deck, we have put together this guide to assist you in crafting your own. Here are things to include in a great pitch deck:

Title Slide: Your title slide should have the following information:

• Make your company's logo and name prominently displayed.
• A tagline or slogan emphasizing your unique selling proposition should be displayed.
• The objective of the deck should be explained.

You should also include the following in your title slide:

• Incorporate your brand's visual identity and tone throughout the presentation.
• Engage the reader. It's a good idea to include a link to the app you've developed, as well as the logos of your most important customers.

Executive Summary: People reading your deck at this early stage are likely to have no idea who you are or what your firm does. You should begin with a slide that contains two or three sentences outlining the following information:

• What you do — A concise statement of your value proposition.
• Any important metrics concerning the current situation.
• What is your long-term goal for your business?

Team: Introduce yourself after describing what you do and why it matters to your audience. In pitch deck breakdowns, often stress the importance of starting your deck with your team. At this point, the story is all about you and your co-founders. In the eyes of investors, you are a valuable asset, and they will put their money.

Problem: A practical problem slide should make your audience feel as if they've encountered the issue at some point in their own lives.

Four factors are required for a problem to be valuable:

• Urgency — People are dealing with problems;
• Need — The issue has not been dealt with adequately;
• The significance — The issue is big enough that people will be willing to pay for a solution;
• Size is a factor — There are many people worldwide that suffer from this issue.

Solution: If you want to make a sale, your solution must be straightforward for potential customers to understand. Trying to implement a solution that is impossible to comprehend can be difficult. Do a demo if you have a working product! Play around with your app to see if it's something your potential investors will appreciate.

Market: You need to show that you're focusing on an important market that is both growing and dynamic and that you know who your clients are. The best strategy at this point is to be more specific and targeted:

• What kind of customers are you trying to reach (industry, region, demographics)?
• How are their lifestyles and finances evolving (developing, expanding)?
• Is spending on such services and products already a habit for them?

Business Model: At this early stage, there is no need for you to list every possible revenue source. Where will you get your initial few hundred dollars? Is your service being sold in a tangible or digital form? Don't go into too much detail when speculating about future developments and prices.

Competition & USPs: Make sure you don't use two axes to rank your competition and put yourself in the right spot at the top of the slide. These graphs are of no interest to anyone. Nobody tells us how you're superior or how you are different. Use a comparison table to show the contrasts between your offering's various components. This accomplishes two goals:

• With this comparison, your audience is more likely to see you as a better option.
• By showing the contrasts in specific features/pricing/speed/etc., It demonstrates your superiority in terms of objective quality and your ability to express your sales presentation.

Go-to-Market: When you're just getting started, no one should expect you to have a detailed operating strategy for each of your company's departments. A rollout plan that matches your investment proposal is what you should be focusing on. Planning an 18-month fund-raising campaign? Highlight your strategy over the course of 18 months.

As part of your go-to-market strategy, you should include the following:

• How you intend to reach your target audience;
• The outcomes you want to achieve as a result of your efforts;
• Resources required for the successful implementation of your plans (people, material, money)

Investment Proposition: Slides for an investment proposal should include the following:

• Exactly how much money you'd like to raise
• The estimated pre-money value of the property
• The deal structure (equity, convertible, SAFE)
• Aim for the runway
• The goals you set for yourself in the specified time frame
• What do you intend to do with the money?

Let people know if you've made any financial commitments. In a crowdfunding campaign, the fear of missing out (FOMO) can be a potent motivator.

Things you must avoid while creating a pitch deck for idea stage startup

Defining what constitutes a great pitch deck is a subject of much debate and speculative thinking. Your presentation's content and format may need to be tailored to your business, sector, and even the investors you're trying to attract. If you want to avoid making any of these blunders, you'll need to be careful. Listed below are the things you should avoid.

Too much detail: Cut away unnecessary details and focus on the most significant ones in your pitch decks. Remember that this meeting aims not to collect the checks but to receive the green light to proceed. A lot of entrepreneurs are tempted to provide a lot of information about their sector, all the product specifics, team member profiles, etc. In the end, this does not have the desired outcome.

Small fonts: At least 12% of investors use their phones to read presentations. And even if they're reading your presentation on a larger screen, the smaller the fonts they see, the more likely it is to be neglected. To compensate for the fact that you can't alter your text, don't reduce the font size of your primary slides.

Written content over visuals: To help investors comprehend what you're doing, it's a good idea to include a visual representation of your product in your pitch deck. A wireframe can still be created using free tools, even if you can't afford a designer.

Not labeling each slide: Each specific slide should be labeled for its context, or it would lead to huge confusion. Investors would expect a top-notch pitch deck, and it would be annoying to let them guess what a slide is about.

Adding more than one focal point: Attempting to fit too many models into a small space can also be problematic. It might imply that you are unsure of what you want to do and maybe cast a wide net to explore what might work. Focus on one thing at a time.

Mentioning fiscal projection: Fiscal projections are done based on the product’s past and current market performance. As your company is a startup, mentioning financial projection based on the present market would be irrelevant as the market shifts quickly.

Showing financial power: The primary motive of an idea stage startup pitch deck should be to pull in investments. The chances of investors choosing you would go thin if the pitch deck shows your financial power.

Conclusion

Most business entrepreneurs believe that creating the perfect idea pitch deck is easy. There is no magic formula for crafting the perfect pitch deck; it requires a lot of experimentation, trial, and error. Use these tricks to design a deck that will set you apart from the competition!