The Badass CEO

Photographer: Teemu Paananen | Source: Unsplash A pitch deck is a short presentation you need for your company to raise capital. It is a good idea to have a pitch deck from the beginning to make sure you are looking at all the essential aspects of your business. In essence, it is a condensed business plan. You shouldn’t have it be more than 12 pages or under 3-5 minutes to present it. You want it to be clear and concise. The primary purpose of a pitch deck is to generate excitement and interest to follow or invest in your company. Here is what I would include in your pitch deck. Explain the Problem Explain the Solution Why Now Market Size (Is the Tam big enough Business Model (How are you going to make money) Competition and Your Competitive Advantage Costumers and how you will distribute. Your Team Financials/ What metrics do you use? The Ask The pitch deck needs to explain the problem and the pain points your company will solve. How is it being done today? As a founder,...

Targeting the Right Investor When you are at the stage to raise money and begin to target investors, it is essential to do your homework first. Did you know most investors have an investment strategy or investment thesis? If you are a product company, you would not want to be pitching to a tech investor. It is a waste of everyone's time and makes you look a little foolish. An investment strategy helps an investment fund focus and filter through deals. Most firms tend to have a particular strategy to become experts in that space, thus increasing deal flow specific to that field. There are other details you should be aware of when reaching out to an angel investor, venture capitalist, or private equity firm: Check size range a company typically writes Stage of the company depending on their risk preference - the earlier stage the company is in, the riskier the investment Industry / Type of company Return expectation- different sectors expect different returns The time horizon for the...