Common mistakes to avoid in your pitch deck
Common Pitch Deck Mistakes and How to Avoid Them:
Creating a compelling pitch deck is crucial to attracting investors.
Investors typically get thousands of pitches, and on average spend less than 2 minutes reading your pitch deck. Here are the most common mistakes to avoid:
-
Vague Business Definition
Clearly explain what your startup does, the problem it solves, and how you plan to stand out. If investors don’t grasp your core value quickly, they’re likely to move on. You should be able to distill this down to a sentence.
Too much complexity means your business it not yet refined enough to raise money. -
Missing Key Information
Include essential details such as financial projections, unit economics, financial forecasts, market size, competition, and go-to-market strategy. Skimping on this data makes it hard for investors to gauge your true potential, or evaluate how realistic you are being. -
Overloading Slides
Too many details can overwhelm or confuse readers. Keep text concise and prioritise the points that truly matter. Save deeper dives for follow-up discussions. -
Poor Design and Layout
Unappealing visuals or cluttered slides distract from your message and make you look unprofessional. Aim for a clean, professional design with consistent branding, quality images, and easy-to-read fonts. -
Ignoring the Competition
Failing to acknowledge competitors or industry benchmarks can signal a lack of market awareness. Show investors you understand the competitive landscape and how you plan to differentiate. -
Unrealistic Valuations
Overstating your startup’s worth without a solid rationale can undermine credibility. Present valuation figures grounded in market data and comparable metrics.
How to Get a Great Pitch Deck
-
On a Budget? Download one of our stunning pitch deck templates designed for PowerPoint.
- Need More Help? Hire the expert team at PitchBuilder to create your investor pitch deck, ensuring both content and design align with investor expectations.