How to present your startup to an investor at a pitch session

An investor hears dozens of pitches a week and often decides “interesting or not” within the first few minutes. So the goal of your talk is not to tell them everything but to make them want to meet again. Let's look at how to do that.

Start with the structure. The venture fund Sequoia Capital published a short guide that became the standard for pitch decks. It has ten sections, in order: the essence of the company in one sentence, the problem, the solution, why now, market size, competition, the product, the business model, the team and financials. The most important ones here are “problem” and “why now”: if the investor doesn't believe the problem is acute, your solution will no longer interest them. And strong companies usually have a clear answer to what has changed in the market and why the idea wasn't implemented earlier.

Now the main rule: be clear. Kevin Hale, a partner at Y Combinator, says that a good pitch is one you can tell your mom and she will understand it. Don't start with the technology; start with the problem. Drop the jargon that only your industry understands. Hale also recommends the “X for Y” formula for describing a company but warns that many people use it incorrectly, and he asks you to use as few words as possible, because brevity shows that you have thought the idea through deeply.

Pay special attention to the team slide. As Michael Seibel of YC points out, don't retell your biography; instead, list specific achievements and roles: who does what and what they have already done.

Prepare two versions: a short one of 30 seconds and a detailed one of about two minutes. Rehearse them out loud: at YC, companies constantly practice talking about their startup.

An example is Airbnb's 2009 pitch, one of the most studied in startup history. The founders prepared a concise ten-slide deck, and the round in question ultimately came to about $600,000 with Sequoia Capital participating. In the solution section, they laid out three benefits: save money, make money and become part of the culture. Note that the deck was simple — problem, solution, market — rather than an elaborate presentation.

And finally: investors back the idea and the team, not pretty slides. Get your deck to the “about 80% ready” stage and go practice.

Sources:

1. Sequoia Capital — Writing a Business Plan (pitch deck structure) and Pitch Deck Template
2. Y Combinator Startup School — Kevin Hale, How to Pitch Your Startup and lecture summary
3. SaaStr — How to Pitch Your Seed Stage Startup with Michael Seibel
4. Airbnb pitch deck — Upmetrics, breakdown of the 2009 deck