Four Deadly Mistakes Startups Make When Pitching Their Business and How to Avoid Them

Pitching your company is a challenge. According to Forbes “The time of year you pitch, the detailedness of your data, and the value of your pitch deck are a few of the strongest factors affecting the amount of funding a business receives.” It’s not enough to have a great product or service anymore; you need to get everyone in the room to hear it.

To do this, most early-stage startups turn to a presentation tool called pitch decks as their go-to means of explaining to potential partners and investors what makes their business special and how they plan on turning that into a profitable venture.

While there are plenty of resources on the web dedicated solely to pitch deck design, there are also many pitfalls newcomers face when creating one for their company. Keep reading if you want details about key mistakes startups make when pitching their business, how you can avoid them, and the benefits of doing so.

What to Include in a Pitching Deck

It’s important that your pitch deck has a strong narrative. Creating a story around your business will bring it to life in front of your audience in a way that’s much more impactful than just a collection of facts and figures.

It’s also a good idea to include relevant images and references to products, services, or technologies related to your business. A pitch deck’s length is up to you; however, most investors recommend keeping it under one page.

Pitch Deck Mistake #1: Too Much, too Soon

The first mistake startups make when creating a pitch deck is to include too much information, too soon. While there is no one-size-fits-all model for crafting a pitch deck, most companies start by creating a high-level deck that only includes the company’s vision, mission, and value proposition.

Then, they move down the stack and add details as necessary to explain their product and business. This might work for companies that have had a little more time to plan and strategize their approach. For those who are just starting, this approach might be a bit too detailed, too soon.

While you will likely include some details in the first version of your deck, keep in mind that you should be thinking short-term and long-term. If you want your pitch deck to be useful for both the short-term and long-term, you should focus on your vision, mission, and value proposition. You can expand on these as necessary to explain your product and business.

Pitch Deck Mistake #2: Not Having a Hook

A hook is an initial line, image, or sentence that draws the audience in and gets their attention. It’s the first thing your audience will see, hear, and remember.

Sometimes it’s a specific image or line of text you include in your pitch deck; other times, it’s the overarching concept of your company that catches the audience’s interest. Whatever it is, it needs to be unique and attention-grabbing.

If your deck doesn’t have a hook, your audience won’t be engaged. Start thinking about what you can include in your pitch deck that will help you stand out from the rest.

Pitch Deck Mistake #3: Not Following the Audience’s Interests and Needs

When creating the narrative of your pitch deck, you want to address the interests and needs of potential investors. You can do this by giving examples of how your product or service addresses their needs or by highlighting the pain points of the industry in which you operate.

Investors are much more likely to be impressed by a business that solves a problem than one that has a low chance of solving one.

So, be sure to make your pitch deck relevant to their interests and pain points.

Pitch Deck Mistake #4: Too Much Detail

What many founders do wrong when creating a pitch deck, and what you should be doing instead, is include too much detail. If you want to avoid pitching your company in a mess, avoid including too many details in your pitch deck.

The key here is to avoid creating a presentation that is too long and too complicated; you want to create a pitch deck that is short and to the point. Make sure your pitch deck is not too long.

There are no exact rules when it comes to length, but ideally, you want your deck to be between ten to fifteen slides long. For longer decks, it might be helpful to use appendices; breaking things down into smaller chunks makes the information you are explaining easier to take in. You don’t want to confuse your audience, but you also don’t want to give the impression that you are not confident in your product or company.

Conclusion

As the founder of your business, you have a tremendous amount of weight on your shoulders. You have to be responsible for the success or failure of the company. Pitching your company is an important step toward building a business that will be successful. But it can be difficult if you don’t know what you’re doing. That’s why we want to walk you through the key things you need to know about pitching your company. Make sure you keep these in mind and you’ll do great.