Investor Pitch workshop organised by AmCham Estonia in Lift99 with @asergiwa

1. Access USA: how to create
a perfect pitch deck?
Alex Sergiwa
G51 Capital Management
@asergiwa
Markko Karu
CDO of Funderbeam
@markkokaru

2. AmCham Workshop
What we do today:
Alex:
helpful
tips.
Alex:
Investor’s
perspective
Markko:
Design and
content rules
to follow
Workshop:
Show and tell: what
others got from your
pitch and what they
missed

3. @asergiwa
There are different pitches
1. General public pitch (e.g. 30s – 3 min rocket)
2. Investor pitch (e.g. pitch deck)
3. Follow-on pitch (e.g. business plan)
3

4. Investors’ Perspective

5. @asergiwa 5
100+
pitches
per
month
VC,
Fortune 500,
and StartUp
consultant

6. @asergiwa
Your Deck
1. Concise marketing document.
2. Incite a marketing response.
3. Your product is the company!
6

7. @asergiwa
Common Deck Mistakes
1. Poor aesthetics.
2. Overly optimistic.
3. No range of scenarios.
4. No clear understanding
of assumptions and their
consequences.
7

8. @asergiwa
Deck Outline
1. Cover/Mission
2. Traction
3. Opportunity
4. Why Now?
5. Problem
6. Solution
7. Competition
8. Business Model
9. Team
10.Financials
11.Call for Investment
8

9. @asergiwa
Cover/Mission Page
1. Company name and logo.
2. Mission statement.
3. Not too much. Clean and simple.
9

10. @asergiwa
Mission Tips
1. One line summary that explains your revenue
model, product, and market in a short
memorable way.
2. If you must, then a “We are X of Y” model like
“Uber of home service providers” is fine.
10

11. @asergiwa

12. @asergiwa
Traction
1. Timeline of milestones met.
2. Key Performance Metrics (KPIs).
3. Highlight press mentions, competition
placements, partnerships and customer
testimonials.
12

13. @asergiwa
Milestones: Convincing Journey
13

14. @asergiwa 14

15. @asergiwa
Show Off!

16. @asergiwa
Opportunity
Market volume by revenue.
16

17. @asergiwa
Why Now?
1. Macro trends: Political, Economics, Social,
Technological, and Legal (PESTL)
2. Micro trends e.g. innovation history.
3. Market structure?
17

18. @asergiwa
Problem
1. Simple statements.
2. Explain customer story of needs/pains.
18

19. @asergiwa 19

20. @asergiwa 20

21. @asergiwa
Solution
1. Product Explanation
2. Customer Value Proposition
21

22. @asergiwa 22

23. @asergiwa
Competition
1. Who are your comparable companies and
products?
2. Where do you position?
3. Do not belittle or ignore your competition.
23

24. @asergiwa 24

25. @asergiwa
Business Model
1. How do you capture value (revenue model)?
2. How do you create and deliver value?
3. Any intellectual property?
4. How are you different?
5. Be hard to copy!
25

26. @asergiwa 26

27. @asergiwa
Team
1. Don’t hide behind advisors.
2. State education, work experience, &/or
relevant domain expertise.
3. State opportunities and needs for team
augmentation and why.
27

28. @asergiwa
1. Don’t hide behind
advisors.
2. State education,
work experience,
&/or relevant
domain expertise.
3. State opportunities
and needs for team
augmentation and
why.
28

29. @asergiwa
Financials
1. 3 - 5 year projections
2. Assumptions
3. Any existing financial statements? Include run and
burn rates.
4. Fundamental approaches allow you to prepare your
business better - it doesn’t need to be perfect!
29

30. @asergiwa 30

31. @asergiwa
Call for Investment
1. How much and under what form: equity,
debt or convertible note?
2. How will you use the money?
31

32. @asergiwa 32

33. Design perspective

34. @markkokaru 34
MATCHING SKILLS
Fits work into your time

35. ANALYSE AND BENCHMARK
+180K STARTUPS
AND INVESTORS
DISCOVER
CREATE, LEAD & BACK
INVESTMENTS
INVEST
BUY & SELL
TOKENIZED
INVESTMENTS
TRADE
HIRING
UI DESIGNER!

37. Once upon a time…

38. 2018

39. @markkokaru
The power of graphic design…
1. Colors
2. Typefaces
3. Symbols
4. Images
5. Layout
39

40. @markkokaru
…lays not in the tools…
Images:
http://startupstockphotos.com
http://www.pexels.com
Design:
http://www.canva.com
40

41. @markkokaru
“Simplicity is about
subtracting the obvious and
adding the meaningful.”
John Maeda
41
…but in the appropriate use of them.

42. @markkokaru
“Simplicity is about
subtracting the obvious and
adding the meaningful.”
John Maeda
42
…but in the appropriate use of them.

43. @markkokaru
One pitch one message
43
NUMBER OF PROMISES
HOW MUCH
I BELIEVE
YOU

44. @markkokaru
Convince me
1. There is a real problem
2. You can solve it
3. It will make money
44
10%
SUCCESS
RATE

45. @markkokaru
Too much info
Nobody can listen and read at
the same time, especially when
the text on screen is different
from your speech. You have to
show me, what is important and
what is there just supporting
your claim. For instance, this
page has headline, body and
footer. Now, there is definitely
too much text on this page but
even reading the headline will
tell you what is important on
this slide. This is another point I
am making which is related to
that thing I just said. Be kind to
your audience, take another
slide if it absoultely neccessary
to have here. And yes, aim for
clarity and contrast… oh, this
should be on other slide. Next!
45

46. @markkokaru
Catch one!
46

47. @markkokaru
This one!
47

48. @markkokaru
Show me and I believe
Good: well done mockup.
Great: Real people in real situations.
Best: Your product used by real people.
48

49. Easy to set up
Statistics and
user/location management
Type in your name!
Use paper tickets or…

50. REAL LIFE SITUATION

52. Blood donation centre, Latvia

53. GOOD
IDEA?
YES!

54. @alexsergiwa 54©Douchebags
SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!

55. @markkokaru
Trade secret…
When in doubt, we look for confirmation
from others faces.
Especially from people we like or look up to.
55

56. @markkokaru
Dumb down your graphs & stats
56
explain
schemes
relations
0
25
50
75
100
We are getting there!

58. WWW.AIDENAPP.COM
1 IN 6 PEOPLE
STRUGGLES WITH DEPRESSION

60. @markkokaru
Legibility
1. Never under 20 pt unless it’s a footnote
2. Maximum text/background contrast
3. Avoid contrasting / vivid colours (esp. yellow!)
4. Be careful placing texts on images
60

61. There is a slight chance that I may not be able
to read everything on that slide because some
of the text gets lost in the image even though
you made the image semi-transparent

62. @markkokaru
Consistency
1. Color scheme & typeface use
62
2. Keep texts appearing at same locations

63. @markkokaru
They don’t know you nor your stuff
1. Write your name. On each slide.
2. Write down all technical terms you
(have to) use in speech.
63

64. @markkokaru
Technical issues…
1. No transitions & effects
2. Keynote > images > Powerpoint / PDF
3. 3:4 or 16:9? Prepare both!
4. Use Slideshare/Dropbox for sharing for files
more than 3 Mb.
5. Live demos usually fail. Use screenshots/video.
64

65. Workshop

66. AmCham Workshop
Conversation
1. Your goal is to find out
how well people
understood what you do.
2. You will learn, when you
open up.

67. PROBLEM SOLUTION PLAN

68. AmCham Workshop
How we do it
1. You do the pitch.
2. People ask questions (don’t defend, just listen
and write down!) about the pitch.
3. You go through slides to see, where you were
supposed to answer the question.
4. Suggestions for improvement.

69. AmCham Workshop
Feedback

70. Suggestions
Advisors and Term Sheets

71. @alexsergiwa
Basics
1. Choose the right advisors.
2. Solicit investment from geographies you intend
to locate your headquarters in.
3. Don’t cold call a VC.
4. Be open and a team player.
71

72. @alexsergiwa
Advisors
1. If you do not have a VC or sophisticated Angel
then your “VC” lawyer is your next best advisor.
2. Choose your advisors very carefully with up to
1% equity.
72

73. @alexsergiwa
Term Sheets
1. Valuation.
2. Other terms.
3. Push on one and you lose on the other.
73

74. Questions?

75. AmCham Workshop
Pitch deck archives
http://bestpitchdecks.com
http://startupbeat.com/category/features/
startup-pitches/
http://www.slideshare.net/PitchDeckCoach/the-
ultimate-pitch-deck-template-by-pitchdeckcoach

76. Thank you!
Alex Sergiwa
G51 Capital Management
@asergiwa
Markko Karu
CDO of Funderbeam
@markkokaru