TL;DR
Pitching your seed-stage startup effectively requires clarity, simplicity, and conciseness. Make sure investors can immediately understand what your company does, why it matters, and how you plan to grow. Focus on a specific problem, offer a clear solution, demonstrate traction, and provide a well-calculated market size. Keep the design of your pitch simple, engage your audience, and always include a clear ask for investment.
What Do You Do?
The first and most important part of your pitch is making sure that investors know exactly what your company does. This is often where founders go wrong. You must be able to describe your company in two sentences—anything more risks losing your audience’s attention.
Let’s take the example of Airbnb. A simple two-sentence description could be: “Airbnb lets any home or apartment owner rent out their space online. The company collects payments and takes a 15% fee per booking.” This is clear and direct, leaving no room for confusion. Now, to bring this concept home, provide a specific example. You could say: “Imagine you are a waiter in Washington, D.C., and during the Obama inauguration, all hotels are booked. By renting your apartment on Airbnb, you could earn enough money to cover several months of rent.” This example is relatable and grounded in reality.
Avoid using jargon or overly technical language. Investors are rarely your customers. Tailor your language to their understanding, not the vocabulary of your users. The clearer your explanation, the easier it will be for investors to grasp the value of your business.
Who’s On Your Team?
Investors care deeply about the people behind the product. Your team slide should introduce key members of your startup and briefly mention their roles, relevant accomplishments, and why they are uniquely suited to solve the problem you’ve identified. It’s crucial to highlight any experiences that demonstrate how your team has personally encountered or overcome the problem.
For example, if your startup helps small businesses with digital marketing, you could say: “Our CEO, Priya, spent 10 years working as a marketing lead for top brands and understands the struggles small businesses face in building an online presence. Our CTO, Arjun, previously developed software solutions for similar businesses and knows how to create effective tools to solve these challenges.”
Don’t leave investors guessing about roles. Make it clear who’s leading the team, who handles technology, and what each person contributes to the company. Highlight specific achievements if possible—whether it’s a past startup success, industry experience, or specialized skills.
Showing Traction
Traction is all about demonstrating momentum. Investors want to see that your team is capable of executing your vision, even if you’re still in the early stages. If you’re pre-launch, this could be shown through significant milestones like building a beta version, acquiring users for a pilot program, or securing partnerships.
For instance, if your company has developed an app and has just launched a test flight with 100 users within the first month, mention it. “In just one month, we launched our app in test mode and received feedback from 100 users, showing early interest in our product.” This shows progress and the ability to move quickly. If you’ve been working on your startup for two years and only have a handful of users, that’s a red flag—highlight speed and growth where you can.
Not all traction comes from revenue or user growth. In the early days, building the right team or gaining industry feedback can also be seen as traction. Avoid putting fake or inconsequential accomplishments on your traction slide; only show progress that genuinely matters.
Calculating Market Size
Calculating your market size is more than just showing a big number—it’s about explaining how you arrived at that number. Instead of citing broad industry figures, break down your market using specific calculations. Identify how many potential customers exist for your product, what you plan to charge them, and why they would pay that amount.
For example, if you’re building a subscription-based language learning app, you might say: “There are 100 million English language learners worldwide. If we charge $10 a month, our addressable market could be $12 billion annually.” Including comparable products can also help investors understand your pricing and market potential. Mention other companies, like Duolingo or Babbel, and explain how your offering fits into the existing landscape.
Don’t just throw out impressive numbers from big reports. Instead, show how you calculated your market size step by step. This demonstrates that you’ve done the research and understand the landscape.
The Ask
Finally, be explicit in your ask. Too many founders pitch without directly stating how much money they are seeking. Make sure you clearly outline the amount of funding you need, what milestones you will hit with that money, and how long it will last. For example, you could say: “We’re raising $1 million to scale our product and onboard 50,000 new users in the next 18 months.”
Avoid vague statements about what you will do with the money—focus on specific milestones, like revenue goals or user acquisition targets. Investors want to know how their investment will help you grow and when they can expect to see progress.
Questions to Ask Yourself After Reading
Can I describe what my company does in two clear sentences?
Does my team slide highlight specific accomplishments that are relevant to our startup?
Have I shown real traction that demonstrates momentum and progress?
Is my market size calculation grounded in realistic numbers, with an explanation of how I reached them?
Am I being specific about my ask and the milestones I plan to achieve with the investment?
Moving Forward
Your pitch deck should be clear, concise, and focused on the most important aspects of your business. The goal is to engage investors, make them understand your business, and get them excited about your potential. Ensure that every slide provides value, shows progress, and leaves no room for confusion. If you follow this approach, you’ll be more likely to hold your audience’s attention and get them on board with your vision. Remember, clarity and simplicity often win the day—don’t overcomplicate it.
