Raise funds with a good pitch deck

You are ready to raise funds to finance your business, but you are facing a major problem: you do not yet have a solid pitch deck that will allow you to convince investors. However, you have completed all the necessary steps, from validating the initial idea to developing financial forecasts, but you cannot afford to miss this crucial step. Don't let your lack of preparation keep you from succeeding. With a well-constructed pitch deck, you can attract the attention of investors, convince them of your vision and unite around your project. So don't let this opportunity pass you by. In this article, we explain how to build a convincing and differentiating pitch deck to achieve your goals. We will reveal the pitch decks of the most famous companies, we will give you tips for structuring yours. Finally, we will explain to you why mprez®, with its knowledge of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, could become your preferred partner in building your pitch deck.

What is a pitch deck?

The pitch deck: an essential tool for raising funds

The term pitch deck can be translated as “flight deck” or “launch deck” in good French. It is simply the medium for presenting your speech to investors.

Attention, the pitch deck should be used to illustrate your speech and not to recite your presentation. Your presentation should be lively and impactful. We'll come back to that later.

Its absence is far from being “eliminating”, but it is still advisable to prepare one when preparing to pitch a project in front of a competition jury or a college of investors.

And for good reason, they have no time to lose. They combine presentations and need synthetic and visual content. In our opinion, the pitch deck is therefore essential for any entrepreneur who wants to sell his vision. See it as a way to convince and unite around your project. A clear, orally supported and perfectly mastered pitch deck can change everything.

Example and template of a pitch deck from well-known companies

Airbnb, Uber, Spotify, Facebook, you all know them, but did you know that at the beginning, these multinationals were startups. So yes, their founders have all gone through this exercise that is pitching. Since you always have to be inspired by the best, we have brought you back their pitch decks of yesteryear. Their presentations can certainly give you ideas, or failing that, a solid framework on which to start writing your pitch deck. But be careful, do not forget that a pitch deck is personal and that if you do not have, for the time being, the funds necessary to carry out your project and you must sell your vision and your desire above all! However, vision and motivation are deeply personal.

So here are examples and models from various well-known groups

• Slides Airbnb pitch deck
• Slides Uber pitch deck
• Slides Facebook pitch deck
• Slides Pitch Deck by BlaBlaCar
• Slides Tinder pitch deck

The most representative and telling example is that of the Lyon-based startup Tilkee. This document tracking solution raised a second round of funding of 3.5 million euros in 2018, five years after a launch that was supported by an initial investment of 500,000 euros.

Les Tilkee slides are both simple and effective, accessible to everyone. This pitch deck is 20 pages long. All that remains is to add the logo on each page. The design could be further improved.

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How do you build your pitch deck?

The essential slides

At mprez® we regularly support start-ups in fundraising, based on our experience, here is the ideal structure for an effective pitch deck:

1. The market problem : This part allows you to get to the heart of the matter without wasting time. Forget long introductions, you don't have time. On the other hand, pose the problem that your business will solve. The identified market problem is often broken down into sub-issues. For example, for a company that has developed a tool for authenticating luxury coins based on an NFT, the justifications for a new offer may be that: the other solutions are (1) expensive, (2) incomplete and/or (3) difficult to use (3) difficult to use (4) time-consuming (while arguing why).
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2. The solution : This is the solution that your company will provide. You need to present your product/service in a simple and understandable way. Here, you will have to use your popularization skills so as not to go into details.
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3. Market research : The classic business school exercise. It is the presentation of the market in which you operate as well as its size in monetary terms but also in terms of growth. In addition, you must focus on the market to attack, the “niche” you are targeting.
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4. Presentation of your products/services : Try to stand out. What more do you bring to consumers? Compare your solution to the market and its historical players, if they exist.
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5. The business model : Another great “school of co” classic. It is a question of explaining what is the economic model and the billing method of your company. In 2009, Blablacar raised €600,000 for the first time from business angels. In their fundraising pitch deck, their business model is simply described “we take between 0% and 30% of service fees with a minimum of €1”. This slide is of great importance because it allows investors to quickly assess the growth prospects of your business based on the size of your market and your potential market share. At this moment, nothing is fixed, don't worry. Investors are aware that startups may have to change direction and change their business model to achieve their goals. (entering a market, having a product that appeals to another, etc.).
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6. The competition : During this part, you must present the competitors already present on the market, their number, location, as well as the products and services they offer and at what prices. It is also about highlighting the competitive advantage of your startup compared to these competitors, by presenting your strengths.
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7. The team : It is important to present the key members of the team and their qualifications because a good idea requires the right people to be executed properly.
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8. Financial projections and KPIs : It is important to present the key figures that attest to the potential of the startup such as the number of customers, the conversion rate, the projected turnover, etc. These concrete data will give confidence to your potential funders and strengthen your credibility.

Optional slides depending on the type of project

Of course, it is up to you to judge the slides that can have an impact on the judgment of your audience. If you think a slide is essential, add it without hesitation.

More generally, two slides quite regularly complement the 8 mentioned in the last part.

The Go-to-Market Plan : If you are looking for financing before marketing your product or service, it is important to present the steps and levers implemented to reach your customers. To do this, you can include a slide that explains your strategy in detail.

Use of requested funds : When you give money you want to know how it will be used. Add a slide to explain transparently how the money will be used to grow the startup. To present your financing need, it is important to break down expenses into major items and to precisely justify these items in your financial forecast. Feel free to use pie charts or histograms to make the explanation more visual.

Mistakes to avoid

Losing your audience because of overly complex content

The pitch deck is used to understand your project, it gives investors all the keys they need to understand its challenges and interests. As a result, everything revolves around the idea of popularization. Indeed, the aim is in no way to drown your audience in masses of complex information that would demonstrate your expertise to them. No, quite the opposite.

Your main objective remains to simplify as much as possible all the steps that led you to pitch in front of investors today. The aim is to highlight your vision and the various central aspects of the project: objective, problem encountered, solution provided, potential, business plan... Through this presentation, any good founder must arouse the interest of investors in order to get an appointment and raise funds. Keep in mind that the audience in front of you is an expert and that they see a lot of pitching throughout the year. You must therefore stand out and quickly, you do not have time to expand on topics that are too profound.

Attention, this does not mean that we should not put numbers or a few written mentions, or detail your thinking. It's all about measurement and parsimony.

Finally, pitching your project is also a great way to get professional feedback to improve your pitch deck, or even the project itself.

Neglecting the form

To avoid losing your audience, we therefore advise you to make your presentation as legible, precise, clear and airy as possible. Use different media: video, sound, photography, photography, computer graphics, animations, data visualization... These media will have the effect of breaking the rhythm, supporting your words, and facilitating understanding while avoiding monotony.

And please don't fall into the trap of wanting to fill every space available on your slides. Let them breathe, you will make a difference orally by providing additional information. If you look at the pitch deck examples earlier in this article, you'll notice that the slides are very clean and sometimes limited to a title, a simple image, and a caption.

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How can you differentiate yourself with mprez®?

At mprez®, we manage pitch decks. The founders of the agency come from the world of start-up financing and are therefore familiar with investor presentation materials. To help business founders succeed in their expansion, mprez® makes use of its close relationships with French funds.

Because we know investors well, we know what they want from a presentation. They need to know market demand, your competitors, your business model, strategy, and vision. But we're certainly not the only ones who know all this, so how do you differentiate yourself? With slides that are out of the ordinary.

In addition to a thorough knowledge of the French entrepreneurial environment, we provide you with our editorial and graphic consultants to help you build a convincing and differentiating pitch deck.

Whether you are looking to raise money or go public, a clear, attractive and well-constructed investor presentation will be your best ally. Because the day you get your idea out there, it's your presentation that will be remembered.

So, your presentation will not only be a series of concrete information, it will highlight real stories, people on whom your idea had a direct positive impact. Your audience will be able to immerse themselves in these stories and your content thanks to interactive slides. Thanks to a multitude of details, he will have the impression of already being part of the project until he officially joins the adventure.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the pitch deck is an indispensable tool for any entrepreneur who wants to raise funds. It allows you to convince and unite around your project. However, it is important not to lose your audience with content that is too complex and not to overlook the form. At mprez®, we are at your side to help you build a convincing and differentiating pitch deck. We are convinced that your investor presentation must be clear, attractive and well-constructed to be your best ally.

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