Three Startup Pitch Deck Mistakes That Are Red Flags For Venture Investors
Fortunately They’re Really Simple To Fix!
You might think my job is about saying “yes” to founders, but statistically it’s *actually* about saying “no,” given we typically see 3,000+ companies annually in order to make 10–12 investments. Despite the volume, each opportunity to hear or read more about someone’s idea is a privilege and I try to treat it respectfully, despite not being able to spend meaningful time on the majority of inbound we receive. Hopefully every startup finds the right investors!
Some entrepreneurs are born salespeople, others find it more awkward but ultimately realize getting comfortable pitching — to investors, to the team, to potential employees, and so on — is part of the job. And without this talent, the risk unintentionally lowering the probability of building the success they desire.
The deck you send to an investor is often the first opportunity you have to tell your startup’s story, and there’s lots of great material out there on what a deck should do. But there’s fewer posts on the classic, and repeated, mistakes people make in these summaries. Here are three of them, which I believe will make most VCs lean towards the “PASS” button…
- Don’t Put an Exit Slide in a Seed Deck (or any deck…
