Common unnoticed pitfalls while designing your Pitch Deck

Be aware of common mistakes that can go unnoticed – Pitch Deck Design

When designing a pitch deck, there are often common pitfalls that go unnoticed by many professionals. One of the most significant of these is failing to focus on the target audience. It is essential to understand the interests and requirements of your audience, and tailor your pitch accordingly. Another pitfall is attempting to include too much information in the pitch deck, leading to cluttered slides and confusion. With ppt slides, individuals can organize and convey information visually. Design slides for audience needs. Information flow between topics should be coherent. Well-organized slides are key for a successful presentation, giving structure and flow. Prioritize information and present it concisely. Avoid irrelevant or low-quality visuals. By sidestepping these pitfalls, professionals can create a pitch deck that effectively communicates and impresses the audience.

Top 50 unnoticed pitfalls in designing a Pitch Deck

1. Design and Alignment: Slides are vital for delivering engaging presentations. To create an effective PowerPoint, focus on facts and visual appeal. Find pitch deck ideas and tips for a minimalistic approach. Explore creative PowerPoint ideas and professional design practices to enhance your presentation. Look up pitch deck examples online for inspiration on successful pitching. Start with a business PowerPoint template for a cohesive and polished Pitch Deck.

2. Too many slides: Stick to the standard concept of 15 slides in the Pitch Deck. Investors have a very limited time. Talk less but explain clearly.

3. Loads of information: Keep it simple and clear. Do not present every single information on the slides.

4. Long paragraphs: Think about it as of presenting only headlines! So, use only keywords instead of long statements.

5. Only images and no plan: Use supportive images only in those slides, where they are essential.

6. Investors gauge your offering: Use the pitch deck slides qualitatively. Investors want to see methods, planning, and the correct approach when gauging your offering.

7. Local slangs and industry jargons: Do not forget that sharing local language slang with investors is not equal to being frank. And industry jargon cannot help you either.

8. Standard boring look: A wonderful business idea presented in a poor design look often gets ignored by VCs. Your commitment to your idea is reflected in the distinctive look of your deck. A PowerPoint presentation is a useful tool for creating slides aligned to a specific theme. The theme should be visually appealing and easy to read in line with your branding. Carefully select a theme to design your presentation effectively.

9. Your philosophical thoughts: Investors are not there to hear what others said. So, keep your philosophical thoughts out of the deck.

10. Pessimistic statements: Investors keep a positive business outlook to solve problems. So, avoid pessimistic statements.

11. Bad design: If the Pitch Deck designed poorly, many promising startups fail to achieve lift-off by investors. When preparing slides for a presentation, research template ideas for PowerPoint design online. A consistent, branded template helps maintain slide deck coherence. Viewing competitors’ designs can provide design insights. Blogs from top design agencies provide valuable tips for a PowerPoint presentation design and by reading them, you can get more ideas on the top design trends.

12. Company overview: A slide giving the company overview is vital – Summarizing your business, problem, solution, team, and traction that structure the big picture clearly.

13. Industry abbreviations: Investors may or may not identify the industry abbreviations. So, do not play with them. If necessary, provide a legend to explain their full form.

14. English version: Investors can send your deck for approval in any part of the world. Making a deck in the local language is good but having an English version of the deck is better!

15. Pitch Deck PDF: Make sure to send the pitch deck in a PDF format to prospective investors in advance of your meeting.

16. Underestimating the importance of storytelling: Nothing captivates an audience like a compelling story. After all, stories are easier to understand, share, and get excited about.

17. Market and Venture Capital Fit: Venture capital is money invested in a business, usually a start-up, that is seen as having strong growth potential. 

18. Market too small: VCs need to see 10-100x returns on the investment they make in your startup. If VCs feel, the multiples of return for the investment seems impossible, they will not plunge into that venture.

19. Too many target markets: If you are targeting two markets, it is better to reach them separately using marketing strategies.

20. Disruption: Focuses on the businesses, industries, or behaviors impacted by a transformative startup.

21. Pro Marketing Slides: Do not trade yourself to the investor. Introduce your business model as a value proposition instead.

22. Excessive financial data: Mention only crucial financial indicators in the slides. Keep the other financial data in the Appendix.

23. Complex business graphics: Business graphics are meant to represent complex things in simpler ways. Keep them simple.

24. Bloated facts and figures: Investors can research your facts and figures anytime by appointing experts. So, keep them real!

25. Niche need not give a competitive advantage: Being a niche product cannot be considered a competitive advantage by VCs. You have built a niche product. Still, it may or may not give a competitive advantage in the real world.

26. More slides on market, fewer slides on product: Dedicating more slides only to the target market will leave less scope to explain the offering, competitive advantage, business model, go to market strategy, and other important details.

27. Following the hype: VCs like to invest in innovative technology or unique product lines. Investors can easily identify whether you are just one of those who try to cash-in an on-going trend.

28. Customer Acquisition Costs: What costs will you incur to acquire a customer? What will be the likely lifetime value of the customer? What marketing channels will you use? What is the typical sales cycle?

29. Using VCs investment: Investors want to know how their capital will be invested and the company’s anticipated burn rate so that they can understand when you may need the next round of financing.

30. Unrealistic Valuation Expectations: Often, it is best not to discuss valuation in a pitch deck or a first meeting other than to say you expect to be reasonable on valuation.

31. No Demo: A demo could be screenshots, an app mockup, or a video. This helps potential investors visualize your product. This will improve their interest and feel secure in their decision to invest with you.

32. Addressing real and significant market: The pitch deck must convince investors that there is a real and significant market in which the company can capture a meaningful stake.

33. Traction – Progress: Traction shows the progress the company has made so far. This covers early customers, pilot programs, revenues, financial metrics, strategic partnerships, press and PR, and testimonials.

34. Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA): Make sure not to insist on an NDA (Non-disclosure agreement) being signed in advance. Most investors will refuse to agree to an NDA just to hear a pitch or get an overview of the company.

35. No proof of execution: Find a way to show a track record of relentless progress, if not with your current startup, then some previous relevant experience.

36. No team slide: The team is a crucial part of any investment decision. VCs are in a people business, and the Pitch Deck needs to build trust.

37. Your own credentials: Take the time to show your credentials and give investors a reason to believe that you are the best person in the world to launch and grow the business.

38. Insufficient network or connections: Lots of startups are attacking the same root problem, and investors see multiple startups that look very similar — therefore they cannot sign NDAs.

39. Evidence to back the bold claim: Communicate real progress and scale your boldness in proportion to your actual merits.

40. Confusing the investor: Stirring up the investor’s mind cannot help you win anyway. Be clear and simple.

41. Unrealistic plan and approach: Investors come across thousands of unrealistic plans every day. So, do not be one of them as they can easily spot out such pitches.

42. Unveiling all your cards: Unveiling ‘All key ingredients to success’ in the first meeting itself is not advisable.

43. Unrelatable problem: Make sure they feel the pain right off the bat to pique their interest in learning how you solve the problem and how VCs can help.

44. No clear call to action: Tell investors specifically what you are asking for and provide them with an easy way to follow up. Always finish your pitch with a clear ask – Usually funding.

45. Lack of idea clarity: Startups add too many details but fail to convey what they try to solve. State the crux of your idea or solution plainly. If the deck lacks idea clarity, it will not serve the purpose of the meeting.

46. Problem slide: Describe the biggest customer pain point. Explain how the customer will experience the pain? Explain how you are going to address this pain point with your best solution?

47. No Statistics: Add credible statistics to substantiate your claim. To provide authenticity, include sources wherever possible. If quantitative data is less, include success stories, customer testimonials, etc.

48. Complex problem slide: If the Pitch Deck presents a complex problem slide, this will create many doubts in the VCs mind.

49. Presenting unnecessary information: Avoid repetition. It is advisable to serve your product only once. Keep only relevant information and avoid your personal achievements. Avoid pitfalls and contradicting information in the deck.

50. No competition slides: Do not explain the competitive landscape generally. Be clear and specific. Explain market penetration strategies. Do not be afraid to educate the investors if they are learning a new market.

51. Downplaying the competition: Do your research. Try to learn as much as you can about your competition. Present all the important details with whoever you are pitching your startup to.

Why to go for a Design Agency?

Picture slides in presentations are crucial for visual aid and impact. They should have minimal text and a captivating picture. PowerPoint slides are popular for presentations, requiring time and effort for professional design. A presentation deck supports a verbal presentation. A PowerPoint deck uses Microsoft PowerPoint. A pitch deck is a condensed version for pitching business ideas to investors or clients. If unprepared, consider hiring a professional presentation design agency.

Are you Pitching your Innovative Business Ideas to Venture Capitalists (VCs)?

PowerPoint or PPT design can be tough, especially for many slides needed quickly for an investor meeting. Our team provides professional design services worldwide, creating impressive layouts that resonate with investors. Outsourcing this task saves time, allowing focus on product development. Pitch Deck crucial for investor funding. We design professionally, visualizing business strategy. Reach out and let us help design powerful presentations impressing VCs.

FAQs

1. What elements do you need to avoid when preparing a pitch deck?

When preparing a pitch deck, it’s important to avoid including too much text, using too many bullet points, having a cluttered design, and not clearly communicating your unique value proposition. It’s also important to avoid being too vague or too technical, and not practicing your delivery beforehand.

2. What is the problem slide in a pitch deck?

The problem slide in a pitch deck is a slide that outlines the problem or pain point that your product or service is addressing. It is a crucial component of your pitch deck because it helps investors understand the need for your solution and the potential market size. It should clearly and concisely explain the problem and how your product or service solves it.

3. How should a pitch deck be designed?

A pitch deck should be designed to be visually appealing, easy to read, and concise. Use high-quality images and graphics to support your message, but don’t overload the slides with too much information. Stick to a consistent color scheme and font style throughout the deck. And most importantly, make sure the design complements and enhances the content of your pitch.

4. Which three components are characteristics of a pitch deck?

The three key components of a successful pitch deck are a clear and compelling problem statement, a unique and innovative solution, and a strong business model and financial projections. These elements should be presented in a concise and visually appealing way to capture the attention of potential investors.

5. Why is pitch deck design important?

The design of a pitch deck is important because it can greatly impact the success of a pitch. A well-designed pitch deck can capture the attention of investors and effectively communicate the key points of a business or idea. It can also help to establish credibility and professionalism, which can be crucial in securing funding or partnerships. A poorly designed pitch deck, on the other hand, can be distracting, confusing, or unprofessional, and may turn off potential investors or partners.