Silicon Valley Bank’s Miami-based startup banking executive Derek Barnett recently traveled to Orlando to tell local entrepreneurs why pitching investors is similar to dating.
While it’s possible to find someone to marry on the first date, it’s far from the norm, Barnett said. “The reality is, you’ll probably have to go on several dates to find someone right for you, and who is aligned with what you want long term.”
Likewise, entrepreneurs can expect to pitch investor after investor before they find a person or firm that not only will back the startup with investment capital, but also will fit with the company’s vision, Barnett said.
That’s why he teamed with Orlando-based startup accelerator StarterStudio and Orlando-based venture capital firm DeepWork Capital LLC at a Feb. 3 workshop to teach local entrepreneurs the fundamentals of creating a pitch deck, the slide decks used by entrepreneurs at pitch events and investor meetings to explain their startup and why it will be successful.
Silicon Valley Bank offers banking services for early-stage startups, venture-back companies and corporations. It’s the top bank in Silicon Valley, with $151.8 billion worth of deposits, per the latest Silicon Valley Business Journal research.
Here are a few highlights from Barnett, StarterStudio CEO Dawn Haynes and DeepWork Partner Ken Hall:
One size doesn’t fit all
An entrepreneur should have a portfolio of pitch decks for different situations, Haynes said. That includes a five-minute presentation for events and competitions, a 10-minute presentation for an initial investor meeting and a 20-minute presentation for follow-up meetings.
The workshop focused on the five-minute pitch deck. Though time is limited and investors want to see some numbers, an emotional hook is essential for these presentations, Barnett said. “You need to build an emotional connection with why you’re doing this: why you have a great reason you're doing this, and why you're the right person.”
Avoid the pet peeves
Pitch decks should run through a range of essential information about a startup, such as the problem it’s solving, its product, strategy, market size and more.
Among these slides, there are plenty of subtle mistakes entrepreneurs should avoid to keep their pitch decks polished and professional, Haynes said. As someone who has reviewed hundreds of pitch decks, her list of pet peeves include:
- Inconsistent font or text size
- Lack of spacing
- A header in inconsistent locations on the slides
- Low-quality images
- No page numbers on the slides, which make it hard to quickly return to a specific slide
What’s your market?
Market size is a fundamental component of most business presentations, and there is a sweet spot investors want.
The ideal is a “large market that sounds like a small market,” Hall said. As an example, he pointed to Airbnb Inc. More than a decade ago, the market of customers interested in short-term rental homes may have seemed much smaller, but Airbnb spiked more interest in vacation homes, which grew its market to include typical hotel customers, too, Hall said.
“Those are the non-obvious bets we look for as investors to make ourselves feel smarter and make more money.”
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