Jul 27 2007
The Perfect Powerpoint Pitch
PowerPoint is a great tool. However, in an investor presentation it can hurt you more than it helps you. Investors watch pitches for a living, and over time, watching presentations gets boring and can even be annoying. If you’ve made many pitches to professional investors you know that, on average, you’ll get about 5 minutes or maybe 2 or 3 slides into your presentation before you will start getting interrupted. This phenomenon inevitably leads to a meeting where the entrepreneur tries to get the meeting “back on track” (to his well rehearsed PowerPoint) and the investor gets increasingly annoyed that his questions aren’t thoroughly addressed. Through trial and error, I believe I’ve come upon some good rules to follow and a good format to balance everyone’s needs and agenda.
- Rule #1: remember that your goal is not to be thorough - you’re goal is to give the investor a reason to take another meeting and dig deeper
- Rule #2: if you are spending time talking about something the investor doesn’t care about, you are “losing points”
- Rule #3: the “perfect” meeting is a person-to-person dialog where the investor likes you and likes what you have to say. Think of Powerpoint as a way to illustrate key points but NOT as a script to follow. If you end up abandoning the Powerpoint and simply talking to the Investor - that is probably a good thing.
I’ve found the best format for an investor pitch is no more than 5 slides that cover all the key issues and highlight the most important points. Then, you can have another 20 or so back-up slides to be ready for Q&A discussion. You should tell the investor up front that you only have 10 minutes of presentation and then you would like to open up for a discussion. This approach lets the investor know that he won’t be trapped listening to an hour long presentation and it also allows you to get his clear focus before he starts asking questions. Below is a copy of a hypothetical introduction slide that you might share with an investor at the beginning of a meeting.
Agenda:
Introduction to team: 5 Minutes
5 Key Slides: 10 Minutes
- Summary of Market and Pain Points we Address
- Summary of Technology
- Summary of Competitive Dynamics and Uniqueness
- Summary of Business Model & Traction to Date
- Financial Forecast Overview
Detailed Information On Issues of Interest
I’d also suggest you check out Guy Kawasaki’s website for tips on presentation like how to present data trends. I hope this outline helps you create a create presentation. Don’t hesitate to drop a line with questions.
Matt,
Right on point - Well done!
I’ve found that most of your comments apply to traditional sales of software/services as well. Your Goal #1 and “taking another meeting” is what our sales team needs to be focused on during their first meeting with a new prospect.
-rph
Matt,
excellent discussion of the Perils of PowerPoint. Having spent the last 14 years raising $10 billion one slide presentation at a time, I can agree with everything you said. The absolute worst sentence in a presentation begins with ,” If you look at slide number 34…….”
Your note should be included in the membership packets of every investment management association out there.
doc