I'm an ex startup founder, currently enjoying a post-startup stress-free life, bootstrapping a passion project with my long time co-founder (court booking app). Other than that, I spend my days helping other founders raise their rounds and build better pitch decks, which I really enjoy.
I've spent months building my own decks, I've pitched and been in the finals of a couple of local and global pitching competitions, and I've had my decks reviewed by free and paid professionals, so I'd like to think I have a bit of knowledge to share. :)
Today my partner is going on an unexpected business trip and I have three days to spare. I'm not an outgoing person, so... Let me roast your deck for free!
What I'll do:
- I'll read your deck like a real investor would after receiving it in the first email (in under 3 minutes), and let you know what stood out and if I'd book a meeting with you, or just discard the deck
- I'll point out major mistakes, and how to improve them
- I'll let you know what you did well
While working with founders from different industries, I saw that most of the founders make similar mistakes. Here's just a few of them:
- The deck is hard to read, there's too much text on the slides and it's difficult to see the most important takeaway. There should be only one key message per slide.
- They are wasting slide space by using generic titles like "Team". Investors see hundreds of them per day, they know what a team slide looks like. Say "Proven team of [industry] professionals", "Ex-Shopify, Ex-Amazon, now building an e-commerce solution", or "Team of ex-restaurant owners, building a painkiller for restaurants". Share a message, not a title.
- The financial projections are missing or really badly made. Did you know that financial projection is the single most wanted slide in your deck? Investors care about returns. They first want to see if the opportunity is big enough (VC especially), then if there is a market need for your solution (any traction), and then if you're the right team to make that happen.
If you want to share your deck with me and can handle a slight roast shoot me a message, comment or send a raven.