At some point in the life cycle of every business, an entrepreneur must condense the endless hours of effort into a concise, understandable slide deck that conveys the entrepreneur's vision to others (including potential investors). Although there is no perfect template for a good pitch deck, every good pitch deck provides answers to the 10 questions listed below. Ask yourself these 10 questions (and answer them in your pitch deck), and you will have added an essential tool to your toolbox.
1. Do I understand the market that my product or service addresses?
- size
- trends
- current participants
2. Do I understand the "pain" in the market that is currently frustrating users/potential customers?
-describe shortcomings of currently available solutions, if any
3. How does my solution cure the "pain" in the market?
4. How do I plan to make money?
-describe potential customers
-describe revenue model
-describe marketing/sales strategy
5. Who is my competition?
6. Do I have any protectable intellectual property to create barriers to entry?
7. How will I fund my business and ultimately return funds to investors?
- describe cash flow projections and assumptions
- describe financing amounts
- describe exit strategy
8. How will my current team help the business?
9. Am I missing any critical team members?
10. Have I prepared a detailed set of materials for each slide that supports my conclusions?
- useful for detailed follow-up questions
- conveys general sense of preparedness
This post was authored by John Mutkoski.