Startup Pitch Deck Template Free: A Foolproof Guide for New Founders
Check this out - investors take an average of 3 minutes and 44 seconds to look over a pitch deck.
Yeah, you got that right. You've got less than 4 minutes to persuade folks with the cash that your new business is worth their millions. And it's tough because 90% of startups don't manage to make pitch decks that catch eyes and get the funds.
The squad looked at loads of killer pitch decks from big shots like Airbnb, Uber, and LinkedIn to figure out what makes them tick. Guess what? You don't need to make a pitch deck from zero or shell out dough for fancy advisors.
You can nail a pitch deck, no matter if you're prepping for your first chat with investors or tweaking the one you've got. We're here to walk you through it with top-notch templates and methods. Our free templates that you can tweak have helped founders rake in a ton of cash.
Keen to create a pitch deck that grabs investors' attention? Time to dive deep into how you can pull that off!
Getting to Know Your Crowd: What Investors Think
Time to dive into how those who invest dollars make up their minds. Turns out those money-slingin' venture capitalists give startup pitch decks just a quick glance as they make rapid-fire decisions all day long. So, your pitch deck template has gotta make the most of that teeny-tiny time frame.
What VCs Dig Into
Our digging revealed that the big thing for venture capitalists is how big and fast a startup can grow. They're on the hunt for the next big thing that'll give them a fat return and take over the market. VCs zero in on three key bits: how massive the market is, what kind of growth can happen, and whether you got what it takes to snag a chunk of that market.
Angel Investor Vibes
Angel investors look at things putting $15,000 to $250,000 into new startups. They care about you just as much as they do your business plan. What makes angel investors special is:
- They give guidance and hook you up with good contacts
- It's the personal connection that guides their choice
- They don’t need as heavy a check-up as venture capitalists
- They tend to put money in with other angels as a team
Tweaking Your Presentation
You gotta tweak your pitch for whoever's listening. The VC crowd digs the hard numbers and how big the market is. Angel Investors? They're all about the "why" of your biz, the big problem you're fixing. They want to feel that fire you've got for what you're doing.
The big company money types are looking for win-win team-ups and how you can play well with their own goals. They aren't sweating the cash returns as much as how you mesh with what they're up to.
Just remember, the bones of your pitch deck might not change much, but flipping your pitch style depending on who's in the room is smart. Catch this: VCs are hunting for growth potential, angel peeps treasure the human connection, and the corporate suits are scouting for how you fit into their master plan.
Whipping Up Your Startup Saga
A compelling startup story doesn't just lay out facts. Make your pitch deck a touching story to get investors on board. Here are steps to make your pitch deck a gripping story that catches eyes and prompts action.
Crafting a Strong Story
Top-notch pitch decks start with a solid base story. Show what sets you apart and talk about how you created your product. The story needs to weave in key parts:
- A personal link to the issue at hand
- The journey of crafting and enhancing the product
- Major hurdles and the ways you tackled them
- What you aim to achieve moving forward
Backing Up Points With Data
When you mix numbers with a human touch, your stories become way more convincing. Make sure you use visuals that spice up your tale when showing off your data. To make stats clear, throw in some charts and graphs, and use symbols to set apart different sections of your pitch presentation.
How to Make That Emotional Click
Stories have this cool trick. They can whisk an investor off to see different scenes like they're there themselves. To build that link, you gotta keep two things in mind:
The "vision story" shouldn't just try to sell your point, but it should sketch out the grand scheme. Don't forget to toss in genuine pictures and examples from the real world that highlight your mark on the market.
Remember, investors hang onto stories way more than they do just bare facts. When you blend gripping tales with straightforward data showing, you cook up pitch presentations that do more than just tell – they get investors pumped to do something.
Crafting a Knockout Pitch Deck
A top-notch design is critical to the success of your startup pitch deck. We've noticed that how you design your slides plays a big role in grabbing an investor's attention and helping them get the point.
How It Looks and The Words You Pick
Choosing the right font changes the way investors take in the info. For online slideshows, sans-serif fonts are the way to go. Make sure your deck includes:
- Titles that are at least 36pt
- Obvious differences between main headings and the rest of the text
- Stick to the same font all over your presentation
- Strong contrast so your words stand out from the background
Visual Order
A strong visual order leads viewers smoothly through your pitch. Our layouts make sure everything reads well and flows right.
Brains want patterns and a sense of order to understand stuff. Folks in the West dig content set up left to right top to down.
Bigger stuff pops out more, which means it's super important. Making everything line up in your slides ties them together and lets people get what you're saying way easier.
Just so you know, a slick design means folks can read your stuff way better and stay interested. So that's how we make sure our pitch decks are top-notch and show off what's cool about your new business like a pro.
Pitch Decks Depending on How Much Money You're Trying to Get
To nail the perfect pitch deck, you gotta really get what's up with different times you're looking to score some cash. Our digging found out that the odds of making it big are all over the place at each point. Like about 2.4% of baby companies at the Seed level make it big, but over half of the more grown-up Series B squads knock it out of the park.
Templates for Kicking Off
Getting ready for your pre-seed presentation? Keep it snappy; investors give it around four minutes and a bit to decide. Our kick-off templates put the spotlight on:
- Your big dream and the market's promise
- The prowess and zest of your squad
- How your fix nails the issue
- The dollars and cents, but keep 'em straightforward
First Major Investment Round Templates
You've gotta pack your Series A pitches with solid proof of your company getting bigger. Look, the numbers show that most Series A startups, like 70% of 'em just don't make it. So when you're using our Series A templates, you'll find they're stuffed with more digits focusing on stuff like:
- Deep-diving into metrics and key performance stuff.
- A clear game plan for making money.
- An in-depth look at the market.
- Plans for growing bigger and better.
The pitch decks for Series A are kinda next-level. Bosses need to show they've got serious momentum, a slick business model, and they know where the cash is coming from all through our templates.
Conclusion
Nailing that top-notch pitch deck is all about knowing who you're talking to spinning a great story, and making it all look sharp. Every investor is different, with their own quirks in how they choose where to put their money. Your pitch has gotta be cut to fit what those big-shot VCs and angel investors wanna lay eyes on.
Your startup's initial vibe springs from its pitch deck where every slide matters a bunch in the kick-off moments. Good looks on slides colors that pop, and easy-to-read letters are what you need to craft decks that catch eyes and hook folks listening in.
Cash won rates switch up heaps from one phase to the next. Your deck's gotta evolve as your biz does. When you're just sprouting in the pre-seed phase, you want to shine a light on dreams and what could be. But hit Series A, and it's time to trot out the hard numbers and business blueprints that are working.
Remember, whipping up a pitch deck isn't just a single shot deal – you gotta keep tweaking and polishing it. Grab our solid templates and tweak 'em for where you're at with raising cash. Work on that narrative till it hits the spot for your ideal backers. Landing the ultimate pitch deck's doable, all set to snag the investment your new venture's gotta have to soar.
