Pitch Deck Series Part 7: A Tale of Two Decks

In my last post, I discussed why entrepreneurs should send a deck to a VC before they meet with them. What I didn’t describe is what materials a founder should send ahead of time versus what materials they should use when meeting with investors in person or over Zoom.

I typically advise entrepreneurs to build two versions of their pitch decks, one to send ahead of time and one that you present with. Your goal when sending materials ahead of time is different from your goal when using a deck during a meeting. Different objectives require different decks.

Let’s start with the presentation deck as this is the deck you will want to build first and will serve as the basis for any additional material you might create.

When presenting in person, the goal is to spark a conversation with the investor so that they get excited enough about what you are building to do more diligence, tell their partners about your company, and schedule another meeting. You want the investor to ask questions. The more you can turn the meeting into a free-flowing conversation the better. When used correctly, a deck can reinforce your pitch, images can bring ideas to life, and graphs can add credibility to your story. Investors don’t go to the trouble of meeting with you face to face to see a slide show. The deck is there to support you and your answers, not be the focal point of the meeting.

Because you will be there to narrate the key points of each slide, you should minimize the number of words on every slide to keep the attention on you. Slides should be mostly graphical and any words on the slide should be in large font. Images and charts are great, paragraphs of writing are terrible for in person or Zoom presentations. The more time they spend reading text on your slides, the less they are listening to you.

One mistake I constantly see with entrepreneurs is that they believe they need to walk an investor through every slide in the deck. When meeting in person, or over Zoom, your objective isn’t to cover every slide you built, your goal is to drill into the topics that generate the most excitement and address the investors biggest concerns. If an investor wants to drill into a specific topic, a good presentation deck can help show an investor that you have already thought through her concerns.

While you want to keep the main portion of the presentation under 15 slides, you have the luxury of adding any number of additional slides in the appendix. The presentation deck can be as long as you need it to be knowing you will only cover a portion of the total slides depending where the conversation leads.

For example, you don’t necessarily have to include a competition slide in the main portion of the deck but it’s very likely you could get a question about this. It’s a great idea to build a competition slide and put it in appendix. This way you can flip to that specific slide if question about your competition comes up, otherwise there may not be a need to cover it in the first meeting. If you do this for every question the investor asks, it shows you have thought through all aspects of your business which will give the investor confidence in you as a founder.

Once you have your presentation deck built, you can then create a second version to send ahead of time. In contrast to the presentation deck, the goal of the deck you send ahead of time is to generate enough interest from the investor, so they are compelled to take a meeting. Think of this version as a preview. You’re not trying to convince them to invest yet, just simply provide enough context on your company to pique their interest. This version can and should be shorter than your presentation deck as you do not need to explain every detail of your business in this version. Thus, the send ahead deck can be condensed down to what you do, the problem you are solving, the momentum and traction you have achieved, and the competitive advantage the team possesses.

Whereas the presentation deck has the luxury of you being there to explain each slide, the deck you send ahead of time needs to stand on its own. It needs to be simple, clear and will likely contain more verbiage to explain the key points on each slide (though be careful not to overdo the amount of text on any one slide). Images and charts should be used but unlike the presentation deck, you will want to include explanatory text so the reader can easily discern the point you are making. Lastly, you do not need to put your financials or anything confidential in this shortened deck in case it does get leaked.

I know building two versions of the same deck takes more time and is more work. I get that it’s easier to just build one universal deck to always use in every occasion. However, if you only build one deck and use that to both send ahead and present with, both your effectiveness in getting a meeting and your ability to conduct a good first meeting will suffer. The send ahead deck should include more detail and text, so that it is easy to follow without you there as guide. The presentation deck should allow the investor to focus on the entrepreneur while the visuals should enhance the story you are telling. Taking the time to build both versions will improve your odds at raising capital from investors.