How I changed my startups pitch deck to raise $2.3 MILLION

Summary

The speaker shares the secret to raising $2.5 million with a concise pitch deck, emphasizing the power of storytelling in fundraising. He details his journey from a failed first attempt to creating a memorable and minimalist deck that intrigued investors. The deck's success hinged on simplicity, a clear narrative, and strategic information presentation, ultimately securing meetings and investment without revealing too much. The speaker's experience in startups and venture capital, coupled with his coaching of other founders, lends credibility to his advice on crafting an impactful pitch.

Takeaways

• 📈 The speaker raised nearly $2.5 million for their startup with a concise pitch deck, emphasizing the power of a good story in fundraising.
• 🎓 The success was not due to a privileged background or education but rather the ability to craft a compelling narrative.
• 📑 The speaker's experience includes working at a startup accelerator and a venture capital firm, and they have personally raised millions of dollars.
• 🤝 The speaker has helped other founders raise tens of millions of dollars and continues to coach founders, demonstrating a deep understanding of the fundraising process.
• 🚀 The startup's initial idea was to host virtual events for brands and influencers using small group video calls, capitalizing on the shift to remote interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• 📉 The first pitch deck was ineffective, leading to a realization about the importance of information arbitrage in fundraising and the limited time investors spend reviewing decks.
• 📝 The speaker's approach to creating a pitch deck involved making it minimalist, easy to read, and memorable, with a focus on storytelling rather than overwhelming details.
• 💄 The use of a large beauty brand as a customer example in the pitch deck was a strategic move to attract interest and illustrate the startup's potential market.
• 🔑 The 'modern Tupperware party' tagline was used to draw parallels with a successful historical business model and to resonate with investors looking for innovative digital solutions.
• 💼 The team slide was positioned early in the deck to establish credibility and to frame the team as the best fit for the business challenge they were addressing.
• 📈 The deck used a story format to convey market size and potential, suggesting a massive opportunity that the startup had stumbled upon, which is an appealing narrative for investors.

Q & A

How much money was raised for the startup with the pitch deck?

Almost two and a half million dollars.

What was the key factor attributed to the success of the pitch deck?

A good story.

What was the speaker's background in relation to startups?

The speaker dedicated their life to startups, worked at a startup accelerator and a venture capital firm, raised millions of dollars, and helped other founders raise tens of millions of dollars.

What was the startup's initial idea in July 2020?

The startup aimed to use small group video calls to host virtual events for brands and influencers.

What was the problem encountered with the first pitch deck?

The first pitch deck was boring, confusing, and did not effectively convey the startup's value proposition to investors.

What is the concept of 'information arbitrage' in the context of fundraising for startups?

Information arbitrage refers to the strategic exchange of information between founders and investors, where founders aim to reveal as little as possible to secure funding, while investors seek as much information as possible to make investment decisions quickly.

How long do investors typically spend reading pitch decks?

Investors spend no more than two to three minutes reading pitch decks if they are interested.

What was the approach taken to make the pitch deck more engaging and memorable?

The approach included using minimalist design with big, bold text on white slides, focusing on one clear point per slide, and telling a compelling story.

What was the tagline used in the pitch deck and why was it chosen?

The tagline was 'modern Tupperware party'. It was chosen because it resonated with the concept of Tupperware's multi-level marketing success and was something investors were interested in seeing in a digital format.

What was the significance of the 'beachhead' strategy in the pitch deck?

The 'beachhead' strategy was used to show investors that the startup understood how to enter the market effectively by focusing on a small, specific area before expanding.

What was the final message of the pitch deck and why was it important?

The final message was an invitation for investors to help make buying anything an experience. This was important as it aligned with the investors' goal of backing companies that could potentially become very large and successful.

Why is storytelling considered effective in a pitch deck?

Storytelling is effective because it helps control the narrative, making the information more relatable and memorable for investors, which is crucial for engaging their interest.

Outlines

00:00

📈 The Power of Storytelling in Fundraising

The speaker emphasizes the importance of storytelling in securing significant funding for a startup, using their own experience of raising nearly two and a half million dollars with a concise pitch deck. They highlight their background in startups and venture capital, having worked at a startup accelerator and a venture capital firm, and having helped other founders raise substantial amounts of money. The speaker recounts the initial failure of their pitch deck and the realization that fundraising is a game of information arbitrage, where the goal is to convey just enough information to pique investor interest without giving too much away. They stress the need for a pitch deck that is exciting, quick to read, and memorable, and describe their approach to creating such a deck, including minimalist design and a clear, singular point per slide.

05:02

🚀 Crafting a Compelling Pitch Deck

This paragraph delves into the specifics of the speaker's pitch deck strategy, starting with the team slide to establish credibility and context. The speaker uses the narrative of building a product for consumers that brands ended up wanting, mirroring the patterns of successful companies like Facebook, Airbnb, and Slack. They discuss the importance of market sizing presented as part of a story to create excitement, and the strategic use of an experiment slide to demonstrate traction and business model viability. The speaker also explains the significance of a 'beachhead' strategy for go-to-market, using a large beauty brand as a case study to show traction and potential. The deck concludes with a clear, concise explanation of the company's value proposition and a call to action that invites investors to be part of a transformative business idea.

10:02

🌟 Positioning for Success in Startup Fundraising

The final paragraph focuses on the concept of positioning in fundraising, explaining how it controls the narrative and influences perceptions. The speaker argues that humans are naturally inclined to understand information through stories, which is why they chose to spin a narrative in their pitch deck. They discuss the importance of making the startup seem exciting and compelling, even if the reality is less so, and the role of positioning in sales, hiring, and product development. The speaker encourages founders to think about how they can position their company more effectively and to tell a great story, concluding with an invitation for founders to reach out for advice and support.

Keywords

💡Pitch Deck

A pitch deck is a presentation tool used by entrepreneurs to communicate their business ideas and plans to potential investors. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of a pitch deck in fundraising, stating that despite having a simple and concise pitch deck, they successfully raised a significant amount of money for their startup. The script details how the deck was designed to be memorable and quick to read, which is crucial for capturing investors' attention.

💡Fundraising

Fundraising in the context of startups refers to the process of seeking financial support from investors to launch or grow a business. The video's theme revolves around the speaker's experience with fundraising, highlighting that a compelling story within a pitch deck was key to raising nearly two and a half million dollars for their startup.

💡Information Arbitrage

Information arbitrage is a concept where one party has an advantage over another due to possessing more or better information. In the script, the speaker describes fundraising as a game of information arbitrage, where founders aim to reveal just enough information to entice investors without giving away too much, thus maintaining an advantageous position in negotiations.

💡Storytelling

Storytelling is the art of telling stories to engage an audience and convey messages or ideas in a compelling way. The video emphasizes the power of storytelling in a pitch deck, as it helps to create a narrative that investors can relate to and remember. The speaker shares that their success in fundraising was due to the good story they told through their pitch deck.

💡Virtual Events

Virtual events are online gatherings or experiences that replace or complement in-person events. The speaker's startup focused on hosting virtual events for brands and influencers through small group video calls, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic when in-person events were limited. This concept is central to the startup's business model and pitch.

💡Tagline

A tagline is a brief and memorable phrase that encapsulates the essence of a brand or product. In the video, the speaker mentions their startup's tagline 'modern Tupperware party,' which was used to intrigue investors and draw a parallel to a familiar, successful business model from the past.

💡Traction

Traction refers to the progress or momentum a startup has gained, often in terms of customer interest, sales, or user engagement. The script describes how the startup generated initial sales and secured a commitment from a large brand, which they used as evidence of traction to attract investors.

💡Go-to-Market Strategy

A go-to-market strategy outlines how a company plans to reach and sell to its target customers. The speaker discusses the importance of clearly communicating this strategy in a pitch deck to show investors that the startup has a plan for scaling and success.

💡Beachhead

In a business context, a beachhead refers to a focused entry point in a market that a company uses to establish a foothold and then expand. The video describes how the startup identified a specific segment of the beauty industry as their beachhead to demonstrate a targeted approach to market penetration.

💡Positioning

Positioning is the process of defining how a product or service is perceived in the minds of customers or investors. The speaker explains that successful startups are adept at positioning, and their pitch deck aimed to position the startup as an exciting opportunity that could become a major player in the market.

💡Social Commerce

Social commerce refers to the buying and selling of goods or services through social media platforms or other online communities. The video's final message suggests that the startup's goal is to revolutionize the buying experience, aligning with the concept of social commerce and hinting at the potential for significant growth and impact.

Highlights

Raised nearly $2.5 million with a concise pitch deck under 100 words.

Success not due to wealth or education but a compelling story.

Dedicated life to startups with experience in accelerators and venture capital.

Raised millions personally and coached others to raise tens of millions.

July 2020 saw a shift to a virtual event startup during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Initial pitch deck was ineffective, leading to a rethink on presentation.

Fundraising is an information arbitrage game between founders and investors.

Investors spend minimal time on pitch decks, emphasizing the need for brevity.

Aim for a pitch deck that excites without revealing too much, prompting a meeting.

Adopted minimalist design for clarity and ease of reading.

Used a tagline 'modern Tupperware party' to intrigue investors.

Highlighted team strengths to build investor confidence.

Told a story of accidental success to mirror patterns of successful startups.

Market sizing was presented as a stumbled opportunity rather than a calculated figure.

Shared an experiment that led to significant sales, hinting at business potential.

Emphasized traction gained without a product to signal experienced founder behavior.

Used a customer's payment as a business model reveal, sparking investor curiosity.

Highlighted a 'beachhead' strategy for go-to-market, showing understanding of sales tactics.

Featured a major brand as a customer to add credibility and excitement.

Ended with a clear, reiterated value proposition and a call to action.

Discussed the importance of positioning and storytelling in pitch decks.

Encouraged overselling to appear as an exciting opportunity to investors.

Offered to help other founders with fundraising and positioning.

Transcripts

I raised almost two and a half million

dollars for my startup with a pitch deck

that had less than 100 words it wasn't

because I had a rich dad it wasn't

because I went to Stanford it came down

to one simple thing a good story now let

me show you why it works so well so you

can avoid having another boring pitch

deck that every investor forgets

now I'm no genius but I have dedicated

my entire life to startups and have a

bunch of relevant fundraising experience

I worked at a startup accelerator and

Venture Capital firm I've actually

raised millions of dollars myself

pitched top VC firms like a16z Union

Square Ventures Lightspeed and many

others and I've helped other startup

Founders raise tens of million dollars

and continue to coach Founders to this

day

okay with that said let's get into it

in July of 2020 I decided to quit my job

at a startup accelerator to work on a

company that used small group video

calls to host virtual events for Brands

and influencers it was the height of

covet so companies couldn't engage

customers through in-person stores and

experiences so our startup would find a

cookware company or a beauty brand and

host cooking or beauty classes over

video calls surprisingly this worked

kind of well

so we built a pitch deck and got ready

to raise millions of dollars so we could

be the next billion dollar Tech founders

but we quickly encountered a problem our

first pitch deck kinda sucked and no one

wanted to give us money

it wasn't really worse than most startup

pitch decks in fact it had all the

typical slides you would see it was just

really boring and left investors

more confused than when they started

this is when we realized something

fundraising for startups is a game of

information Arbitrage you as a Founder

are trying to give away as little

information as possible to get money

while investors are trying to get as

much information as possible from you

Founders so they can say yes or no to

investing in your company faster on top

of that investors spend no more than two

to three minutes reading pitch decks and

that's if they're interested in your

company

so we thought to ourselves how can we

write a pitch deck that did a couple

things first how do we write a pitch

deck that gets investors excited but

doesn't give away that much information

so they have to meet with us if they're

intrigued second how do we write a pitch

deck that takes an investor one minute

to read start to finish

lastly how do we write a pitch deck

that's memorable

this is what we ultimately came up with

we realized we were really bad at design

so we went as minimalist as possible big

bold text on white slides this combined

with no more than one clear point being

made per slide made the deck really easy

to read

our Starbucks biggest customer was a

large Beauty brand so we decided to

throw a pair of sexy red lips right on

the title slide so it would lure folks

in and get them to wonder what the

these three dudes were building

our tagline modern Tupperware party was

something a couple investors had told us

our company sounded like

for those that don't know Tupperware

became popular through a multi-level

marketing scheme your grandma would host

lunch parties for her friends and then

at the end would start putting away

finger sandwiches into Tupperware this

caused all of her friends to buy the

plastic containers and many of them

actually began hosting their own

Tupperware parties billions of dollars

worth of Tupperware was sold this way

and investors in 2020 really wanted to

see a digital version of this scheme so

we decided to lean into that deck and

use it as our tagline

next we have our team slide I'm a big

fan of putting your team slide first

that way as the investor reads the rest

of your deck they already know who is

building this company and if you frame

your team's backgrounds in the right way

you can make it seem like your team is

the best possible team to be working on

this problem in our case our Co was the

sales guy I was the startup guy and our

CTO was the crack shot Google engineer

next we establish context and begin

telling our story We Tell investors that

we built huddle for consumers and in the

next slide we tell them Brands ended up

begging for it these opening slides

accomplish two things first they

establish a common pattern investors see

in successful startups most successful

companies like Facebook Airbnb and slack

start as one idea and end up finding

success elsewhere slack built a video

game and then they became where

corporate slaves go to die AKA an

instant messaging platform for work this

is a pattern that investors love and so

we open our deck matching this common

pattern and immediately they're hooked

second it tells them who our company is

selling to which is other companies AKA

Brands this is important because our

video app is actually used by consumers

and Brands but we don't want investors

to be confused by this fact which is a

common problem a lot of startups run

into

slide 5 is our Market sizing slide but

delivered in story format we make it

seem like we once again stumbled into a

massive opportunity but in fact

experiences sell more than 500 billion

dollars of products every year so we're

actually underselling the market which

investors will probably know we bet this

would make them excited in the next

slide we tell investors that we ran an

experiment once again this is our

attempt to match patterns of other

successful companies inexperienced

startup Founders build products without

testing first experienced Founders run

experiments and get traction without

building a product first we use this

slide to signal to investors that we

know how to run an experiment and we set

up the next slide which will tell them

the outcome of the experiment

we then state that the outcome of our

experiment led to fourteen hundred

dollars worth of sales from one huddle

this implies to investors that our

businesses running these so-called

huddles you'll notice that nowhere in

the deck do we say what a huddle

actually is it could be a website it

could be a video call it could be an

advertisement we wanted investors to be

100 clear about what we did and not be

confused about how we did it start of

Founders are often get so hung up in

explaining the how around their business

that investors read a pitch deck and

misunderstand what they do explaining

both what and how in a deck is really

hard so we avoided it completely and

just focused on the fact that we sold

products from huddles we saved the

Nuance of how we were doing this for

when we spoke with investors alive

remember the goal of this pitch deck was

just to get a first meeting

on slide 8 we follow up our fourteen

hundred dollars sold with the fact that

a customer of ours baking steel paid us

15 of the fourteen hundred dollars this

is our business model slide if investors

do back of the napkin math they'll find

that from a single huddle we made 210

dollars if we had just stated this

outright it might seem less exciting but

by delivering these two slides in story

format it leads investors to wonder what

if these guys did a thousand huddles a

day what if they did ten thousand

huddles a day maybe this could be a

really big business and just like that

we made a tiny amount of traction seemed

like a really big deal to investors all

because we delivered the information as

a story

we then say that we started Building

Product immediately this makes investors

think holy these guys got traction

without a product experiencing

successful Founders get traction without

Building Products first once again we're

matching the patterns of other

successful Founders in this deck slide

10 is the beginning of the end of the

deck it frames the fact that all the

other stuff we mentioned before is in

the past and now we're focused on an

exciting future next we have our go to

market slide your go to market is how

you get your product into the hands of a

lot of people it's your sales strategy

it's one of the most important things

investors want to know and it's often

communicated poorly or left out of decks

entirely we use this slide to show

investors that we understand go to

market and we do that by using the term

beachhead the term originates from World

War II when the US and Allied Forces

storm Normandy a beachhead in business

is when you focus resources on a small

area in a market which allows you to

break into the entire market after this

then leads us into our next slide where

we tell them what our beachhead is

this is our sexiest piece of traction

Smashbox is a large Beauty brand owned

by Estee Lauder one of the largest

companies in the world

they really were planning on using

huddle to engage their loyalty customers

and had agreed on paper to pay us three

thousand dollars a month we save this

information for the end of the deck so

that it could act as a finale to our

story had we share this information

earlier it wouldn't have seemed nearly

as exciting to investors

slide 13 states in plain English what we

do this is essentially just reiterating

our tagline which if you remember is

modern Tupperware party we're not

reintroducing any new Concepts here

we're just synthesizing everything we've

alluded to in the previous 12 slides in

one clear sentence and then in slide 14

we say remember Tupperware parties this

ties it all together and after the

narrative we just laid out for them it

makes investors think that we're going

to be the next big social commerce

company

on our final slide we finish by asking

investors to help us make buying

anything an experience this alludes to

the fact that our company can become

really big which is exactly what

startup investors want to hear they only

make money from companies that can

become one billion dollars in size at a

minimum and unlike most decks we don't

ask for a specific amount of money here

because we want investors writing any

check size to be interested in talking

with us

to understand why this pitch deck works

so well we gotta talk about the content

to position

positioning means how do you control a

narrative or get people to think what

you want them to think human beings best

understand information that's relating

stories that's ingrained in our biology

it stems back from when we used to sit

around campfires in our case we didn't

just assume people would understand

facts related on a pitch deck instead we

spun a narrative that made them think

what we wanted them to think and we

didn't expect everyone to buy into that

narrative by the way we just wanted more

people to buy into that narrative than

if we had just built a typical boring

pitch deck the reality with our startup

huddle and the reality of most early

startups is that in the beginning your

business and traction just really isn't

that exciting

in our case huddle had one large company

that agreed to use it but hadn't started

using it yet and we had a couple smaller

companies that had used us and were

selling products but that also wasn't

that great and if we just stated these

facts and slides and built a normal deck

it really wouldn't be that interesting

so instead we used a compelling story to

make us seem like the next big thing and

that may seem misleading but the truth

is every successful startup is great at

positioning and trust me

the pitch is not the time to undersell

what you're doing if anything it's the

time to oversell what you're doing and

make yourself seem like hot

and investors know this by the way they

want Founders who are great at

positioning because great positioning

will help you with sales or hiring great

employees or Building Product so if

you're a startup founder think about how

you can position your company to be more

exciting and compelling and tell a great

story thanks for watching this

is my first video so if you found it

helpful

consider liking subscribing or

commenting below maybe even get in an

argument with me and then at the end we

can become friends and sing kubaya but

more importantly if you're a startup

founder that's trying to raise money

consider reaching out I work with

Founders like you every day and I love

to chat and see if I can be helpful

I can't believe anyone would take me

seriously holy