Evaluate my pitch deck
We get requests to evaluate pitch decks. To be helpful, I thought I would start with a self-evaluations you can do. It's one that we use in our services, except of course we work together to do the ratings. The Content (present or not) is pretty straight forward. The Presentation is another matter.
| Evaluation Criteria | Content | Presentation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vital Stuff | |||
| Company Name, CEO, tag line (first slide) | 0/3 Missing | 0/3 Missing | |
| Business problem, solution, and market size | 0/3 Missing | 0/3 Missing | |
| Ask, valuation, use of proceeds | 0/3 Missing | 0/3 Missing | |
| Management structure, team, and experience | 0/3 Missing | 0/3 Missing | |
| Conclusion, contact details, and call to action (last slide) | 0/3 Missing | 0/3 Missing | |
| Marketing and Sales | |||
| Who sells what to whom? | 0/3 Missing | 0/3 Missing | |
| How is it sold? (sales sieve and comparison chart) | 0/3 Missing | 0/3 Missing | |
| Is it good for the world? (Environment, Society, People) | 0/3 Missing | 0/3 Missing | |
| Execution and Fulfillment | |||
| Who does what to fulfill? | 0/3 Missing | 0/3 Missing | |
| Execution capability, capacity, and cost control | 0/3 Missing | 0/3 Missing | |
| Intellectual Property and Special Sauce | |||
| How you got, get, and will get IP and sauce | 0/3 Missing | 0/3 Missing | |
| Barriers to entry, stickiness, and monetization | 0/3 Missing | 0/3 Missing | |
| Financial Situation and Path | |||
| Current financial situation (sales, burn, runway, performance) | 0/3 Missing | 0/3 Missing | |
| Projected financials and basis for projections | 0/3 Missing | 0/3 Missing | |
| Investment instruments and deal terms | 0/3 Missing | 0/3 Missing | |
| Risk mitigation | |||
| Corporate foundation, history, any impediments | 0/3 Missing | 0/3 Missing | |
| Then, now, and soon contracts and agreements | 0/3 Missing | 0/3 Missing | |
| Regulatory, compliance, and jurisdictions | 0/3 Missing | 0/3 Missing | |
| Average | 0 / 54 → (0%) | 0 / 54 → (0%) | |
| Rapid Deal Screening Score = 0 / 108 → (0%) | |||
Vital Stuff
Without this stuff, you probably should not bother to pitch at all. The first and last slide are really important to get right. You can't make a second first impression... and they won't get in touch with you if they don't have this information. If they don't know what you want, they are unlikely to give it to you. And if they don't know why, why should they?
Marketing and Sales
Nothing happens till some one sells something. Who does the selling, who they sell to, how they do it, and why someone would buy it are the big questions that most failing companies fail to answer well.
Execution and Fulfillment
If you cannot do what you say you will do, you are likely a fraud, especially after I paid for it. Explain how you will meet the demand you generate.
IP and Special Sauce
Given all the other opportunities in the same space, what makes you special? If you cannot keep others out or keep your customers in, how are you going to succeed?
Financial Situation and Path
I need to know where you are and where you are going financially to make it worthwhile. Remember, no matter how good it all is, if you don;t make the investors money, they could burn it on something they enjoy more.
Risk Mitigation
The investor is taking a big risk... the range of outcomes is wide over a wide range of time frames. How do you limit the range of outcomes to benefit the investor and the company?
Scoring
A perfect score is unlikely. But if you don't get over 90%, you are unlikely to make the cut. Scores are on 2 dimensions; Content and Presentation.
A call to action
Do you want your pitch deck evaluated? Come to our...
and we will discuss how it all works.
In summary
A good pitch starts with a good company presented well. This score card should help you get from here to there.
Copyright(c) Fred Cohen, 2024 - All Rights Reserved