Speaker A
Hey guys, before you create any pitch presentation, you need to have these eight, or it's more like seven, eight specific slides. So that's what I'll talk about today.
Matt C Smith shares the 8 essential slides every pitch deck needs to impress investors and secure funding.
Key Takeaways
- A pitch deck must have a clear, branded opening slide with a compelling one-liner.
- Focus on selling the problem first to engage investors, especially if the audience lacks domain expertise.
- Use market size and growth metrics like CAGR to prove opportunity and momentum.
- Visuals should support but not duplicate spoken content during live pitches.
- Investors prioritize strong teams and clear execution plans alongside the idea.
What the video covers
- Introduction to the 8 key slides needed in any pitch deck.
- Importance of a strong opening slide with company branding and a clear one-liner.
- Emphasizing the problem rather than immediately selling the solution, especially for non-expert audiences.
- Presenting the solution clearly and associating it with the problem.
- Highlighting the market opportunity with data like compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to show momentum.
- Knowing your audience and tailoring the pitch accordingly to avoid losing attention.
- Using visual stimulation in presentations to complement verbal pitching without reading slides.
- Importance of demonstrating a strong, capable team and clear execution plan.
- Being transparent about weaknesses and showing awareness of competition.
- Ending with a strong, clear ask rather than just a thank you.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction to the 8 Key Slides
- 00:58Why These Slides Matter
- 02:56Opening Slide: Branding and One-Liner
- 03:56Presenting the Solution Clearly
- 04:44Visual Presentation Tips
- 06:24Market Opportunity and Growth Metrics
- 08:48Knowing Your Audience and Pitching Effectively
- 09:48Team Strength and Execution Plan
- 12:30Closing with a Strong Ask
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
100 day youtube challenge and today i wanted to talk about some just you know there's so many videos out there about different slide presentations and you know there's everything that you want to know but um i just wanted to make a very
Speaker A
All right, everyone, welcome back to my ninth video in my 100-day YouTube challenge. Today, I wanted to talk about some, just, you know, there's so many videos out there about different slide presentations, and, you know, there's everything that you want to know. But, um, I just wanted to make a very
Speaker A
company all right you're wondering why do i know what i'm talking about well i've been a venture capitalist for several years in london investing in two unicorns farfetch and vestier collectif which only recently became a unicorn and also i run an investor accelerator
Speaker A
brief presentation today and talk to you all about the eight bullet points that you should try to answer when making any presentation, whether you're pitching live or this is just a presentation you're going to share with people who are interested in your
Speaker A
about what to look for and what to include in a pitch deck so today i'm just going to go straight to it you know no fanciness straight to the point of the eight bullet points that you have to answer
Speaker A
company. All right, you're wondering why do I know what I'm talking about? Well, I've been a venture capitalist for several years in London, investing in two unicorns, Farfetch and Vestiaire Collective, which only recently became a unicorn. And also, I run an investor accelerator
Speaker A
know you're at any event and you're sort of you know pitching in an order of 10 to 20 startups right one of the slides that stays on the longest is the opening slide because you know you're gonna walk on stage the other
Speaker A
in Oslo, Norway, where I taught investors, people who wanted to learn how to invest in startups, how to invest in startups. And also, of course, I've run my own company, and I've also sold one. So I think I'm relatively qualified to talk
Speaker A
is really important because you want to associate your startups branding and logo with what you do right so you need to be immediately understandable so it's really important to have a sexy one-liner i'll give an example of what i
Speaker A
about what to look for and what to include in a pitch deck. So today, I'm just going to go straight to it, you know, no fanciness, straight to the point of the eight bullet points that you have to answer
Speaker A
and the reason that one's important is because those investors or those people in the room who are interested in that industry um will immediately go i should listen to this pitch because you know the last three have been in fintech
Speaker A
when creating a slide presentation. All right, let's get into it. Slide one. Uh, this is one that's often forgotten or overlooked, specifically because, uh, you know, hopefully when the world unlocks and you're pitching live again, if you're pitching at a demo day or you
Speaker A
that's number one number two selling the problem and you won't have to sell the solution right you've probably heard this one before but if you are pitching a medical technology company to an audience that aren't medical people you should sell the problem
Speaker A
know, you're at any event and you're sort of, you know, pitching in an order of 10 to 20 startups, right? One of the slides that stays on the longest is the opening slide because, you know, you're gonna walk on stage, the other
Speaker A
incredible product but i'm not a nurse and i don't understand how um you know er's emergency rooms work so they were just pitching to you know a completely ignorant audience it was a brilliant idea but it was lost
Speaker A
startup walks off stage, is that there's a handover of mics and things like that. So the one slide that often stays on to the audience seeing the longest is your opening slide. It's your slide that's your logo and your one-liner. So that first slide
Speaker A
importance of that issue even if it's a complex one try to break it down in a way that i would understand so there's a rule of thumb i always tell founders and i've always used myself you're pitching specifically when
Speaker A
is really important because you want to associate your startup's branding and logo with what you do, right? So you need to be immediately understandable. So it's really important to have a sexy one-liner. I'll give an example of what I
Speaker A
that are like industry specific you want to go in there and just be as obviously understandable as possible all right number three is the solution right what are you doing to solve that problem right now there's a really important
Speaker A
used to have. I'll link it up right now. It was Lunacorn, a mobile media brand, right? So immediately, I'm associating our company color profile, our logo with what we do, so the audience immediately connects with what you do.
Speaker A
solution right so and it's a win-win because if your solution is an obvious one then they're like oh you know why didn't i think of that okay brilliant for these guys and girls why are they doing that and
Speaker A
And the reason that one's important is because those investors or those people in the room who are interested in that industry, um, will immediately go, I should listen to this pitch because, you know, the last three have been in fintech,
Speaker A
yourself in the seat of basically uh you know brilliant people who have come up with an inventive idea that's never been thought of so either way whether your solution is obvious or not you're going to win the audience onto
Speaker A
and I don't, I'm not interested in that, but I'm interested in media, and the Lunacorn is a mobile media brand, so better pay attention, right? So you're just immediately kind of filtering the audience to those who should actually listen.
Speaker A
when you're pitching live that people's attentions are mostly going to be on you and then visual stimulation on so you know your presentation should be a visual stimulating um support of what you're saying verbally don't read the same thing as
Speaker A
That's number one. Number two, selling the problem, and you won't have to sell the solution, right? You've probably heard this one before, but if you are pitching a medical technology company to an audience that aren't medical people, you should sell the problem
Speaker A
is the winning solution but what's the size of the market so number four is the size of the market now i call this the market opportunity slide because you want to engineer the slide to convince the audience that your
Speaker A
because they probably won't understand the issue that you're trying to solve, right? So it's very important to sell the importance of the problem because I've had examples of that where people pitched presentations to me, and it was a nurse talking about an
Speaker A
their growth rates so there's one simple term you can include in your presentation which everyone understands in the start of industry but for those who haven't seen it before it's alienating it's kaggar let me know in the comments if
Speaker A
incredible product, but I'm not a nurse, and I don't understand how, um, you know, ERs, emergency rooms work. So they were just pitching to, you know, a completely ignorant audience. It was a brilliant idea, but it was lost
Speaker A
on last year's 25 so it's compoundingly growing every single 20 um 25 every single year now this shows that the market has momentum it's going in the right direction right so this is what you want to get people
Speaker A
on all of us, right? So we didn't invest, and, you know, we lost out on a great company because the pitcher didn't know their audience. So you should always know your audience and sell the problem to them. Try to show the
Speaker A
numbers because founders you should always know your numbers trust me um i want to ask a few probing questions specifically when i meet founders and i'm interested in investing whether from a vc perspective or a personal perspective you should always know your numbers
Speaker A
importance of that issue, even if it's a complex one. Try to break it down in a way that I would understand. So there's a rule of thumb I always tell founders, and I've always used myself: you're pitching specifically when
Speaker A
with you to find the compound annual growth rate and the momentum figures for this slide as i said you might have some competitors you should know who they are go on their websites see if you can find presentations that they've given
Speaker A
you're talking about the problem to a room of, um, 10-year-olds, right? So they have, there's not so much of a language barrier; they speak English, but there's a vocabulary limit, right? So you can't go in there throwing buzzwords
Speaker A
do uh you know acres and acres and acres of research look at your competitors and see what they've done all right slide five is the traction slide now this is a super important one because what the traction slide
Speaker A
that are like industry-specific. You want to go in there and just be as obviously understandable as possible. All right, number three is the solution, right? What are you doing to solve that problem? Right now, there's a really important
Speaker A
to know anyway so what traction basically means is it's momentum and it's proof of execution in your team and what you've done so um traction over time is basically just you know you've you're growing over time right so the
Speaker A
element here, which is sort of the power of persuasion and the power of yes, uh, where you basically psychologically convince the audience that they're right because you sell them a problem, and obviously now you're going to tell them the
Speaker A
have any traction but no uh it's about phrasing the traction so um traction obviously the gold standard is revenue and customers and month or month growth week and week growth and all that kind of stuff right if you don't have that kind of stuff
Speaker A
solution, right? So, and it's a win-win because if your solution is an obvious one, then they're like, oh, you know, why didn't I think of that? Okay, brilliant for these guys and girls. Why are they doing that? And
Speaker A
marketing co-founder we went out and found those people we brought them in that's traction you put a willing team together um traction is also sort of the early stage conversations with your audience whether you've um commissioned a research report
Speaker A
oh, you know, now I have questions. Are they the team to do it? What's their traction like? Right? Um, but even if it's a solution that isn't obvious, you're going to surprise the audience, and actually, you might put
Speaker A
because ultimately investors invest in great teams that can execute what's the best way to show that a timeline simple timeline so i'll give an example of a timeline i use in a presentation two years ago you know basically you know i want to
Speaker A
yourself in the seat of, basically, uh, you know, brilliant people who have come up with an inventive idea that's never been thought of. So either way, whether your solution is obvious or not, you're going to win the audience onto
Speaker A
forgotten to mention already is how do we make money right so the business model is an important one if you leave it out people will always ask that question so i do want to give you one tip if you're pitching live
Speaker A
your side. So think about that one, and again, same as selling the problem, uh, sell your solution in a way that's easy to understand, um, you know, whether it's just using simple diagrams, simple graphics. Um, just remember specifically
Speaker A
the business model because then you have engineered the questions you're going to get which means that you're ready and prepared with great answers for them right don't give me a financial model that's five years forecast and your company's
Speaker A
when you're pitching live that people's attentions are mostly going to be on you and then visual stimulation on. So, you know, your presentation should be a visually stimulating, um, support of what you're saying verbally. Don't read the same thing as
Speaker A
five year forecast that's broken down line by line 20 lines on a single slide when i want to see your financial models i will ask for it right so just give me some highlight figures that you're being ambitious that there is a
Speaker A
the presentation. Don't put too much content on the presentation because the presentation ultimately is meant to be there as a visual aid to support what you're saying. All right, number four, there's a problem you sold them on, you've convinced them that your solution
Speaker A
basically all right this is probably the most important slide uh this slide i've seen people open with after their one-liner you know logo pitch vision slide um is the team so in this slide it's so important to show that you are the right team
Speaker A
is the winning solution, but what's the size of the market? So number four is the size of the market. Now, I call this the market opportunity slide because you want to engineer the slide to convince the audience that your
Speaker A
weaknesses right instead of pretending that they know it all right so if you're a single founder or a double founder who have the same background talk about the fact that okay well we know that we're just two finance majors
Speaker A
market is growing. Um, investors invest in hot teams and hot markets, right? So an example of a hot market is fintech or, for example, blockchain. Those are hot markets in hot sectors right now. The reason that you can show that they're hot is
Speaker A
candidates but you obviously need to raise the money to be able to hire them right so you've already been active to find the people uh you know to solve the known unknowns because the last question i asked myself
Speaker A
their growth rates. So there's one simple term you can include in your presentation which everyone understands in the start of industry, but for those who haven't seen it before, it's alienating. It's CAGR. Let me know in the comments if
Speaker A
and if anyone's gonna pull this off is this the team that's gonna pull it off that's what i ask myself before i make an investment and even if that's a single founder i'm like is this individual enough of a magnet
Speaker A
you've heard of CAGR before. It's compound annual growth rate. What it means is basically over the next 10 years your industry is going to grow at 25 percent every single year. So, you know, year one it grows at 25, year two it grows at 25
Speaker A
the last on the eighth one is obviously a simple one like the first one it's sort of a half slide really it's the ask think about it this is a story right what's the punch line at the end of it
Speaker A
on last year's 25, so it's compoundingly growing every single 20, um, 25 every single year. Now, this shows that the market has momentum. It's going in the right direction, right? So this is what you want to get people
Speaker A
team to capture that now you're like okay but what what can you do for me what's the audience what's the individual looking or reading that these slides can do for you what are you missing do you need to are
Speaker A
in the audience or actually just reading this presentation to go, huh, wow, this industry is really growing. I should consider looking at this company and looking at this industry. Now, there's a hack to this doing research to try and find out your
Speaker A
ask a strong ask startups forget that too often they just go thank you so much goodbye and then connected thank you so much you know i'm the team why do startup founders always pitch in bloody company branded clothing
Speaker A
numbers because founders, you should always know your numbers. Trust me. Um, I want to ask a few probing questions specifically when I meet founders and I'm interested in investing, whether from a VC perspective or a personal perspective. You should always know your numbers
Speaker A
know whatever it is you're connecting a logo and a color to a name to a person so that people will come up to you afterwards um anyway so that's really simply my eight bullet points you have to include when
Speaker A
because if you don't know your numbers, then I'm thinking, like, have yo
Speaker A
tomorrow's vlog thank you oh ciao
Topics:pitch deckinvestorsstartup fundingventure capitalmarket opportunityproblem solutionteam executionpresentation tipsinvestor pitchstartup advice
