A pitch deck is your chance to get your foot in the door. It has to be more than just informative, it has to be intriguing enough to get your potential Venture Capital Investors in Alaska, to call you back in for another meeting. You need to spend as much time fine tuning your pitch deck as you do on every other part of your first investment meeting put together. Read on to learn the fundamental principles of building the perfect pitch deck.
An Emotional Opening
Money decisions are made on emotion, not just on facts. Alaska Investors invest in things they care about more than things they don’t. Alaskans have a keen ability to decipher true passion and sense of adventure. Therefore, your very first slides have to make them care about whatever it is you are pitching. This means you need to start by describing the problem that your idea is intended to solve. Make them empathize with the people or companies that are affected by the problem. Make them care about solving the problem. Then show them how you intend to solve it.
Stress the Uniqueness of Your Idea
Alaska investments are unique which leads to the economic business atmosphere being unique in Alaska as well. It’s a great idea to have some (Alaska grown) references to show the uniqueness of your idea strewn through your pitch deck. Show how your idea is different from everything else out there. There’s quite a bit of opportunity still remaining in Alaska with a not so competitive market You can use this to your advantage and You want them to start looking at your pitch as a rare investment opportunity, and this will help them do just that.
Give Them the Broad Strokes
You are going to need to give the Alaska capital investors the facts about your product or service. Give some descriptions of any prototypes you’ve tested. Tell them about the test runs of your services. However, only give them the broad strokes. Summarize the data wherever you can. The last thing you want to do is bog the investors down with a level of detail they don’t need at the moment. Boring them is a sure way to shoot yourself in the foot.
Get Some Expert Testimony
If at all possible, find some well known experts in your Alaska industry and have them review your idea. If your pitch deck contains thumbs up from names local or global investors recognize, you’ll have a much better chance of getting called back.
Be Careful What You Reveal
Although you want to give your potential investors a good picture of your proposal, you don’t want to reveal too much. Make sure your pitch deck doesn’t contain any trade secrets. You don’t want to give anyone the idea they can just implement your idea without involving you.
Use Catchy Comparisons
Never assume your potential investors will remember a great deal of detail. Give them a short, memorable description of your idea by using simple comparisons, such as “It’s like Uber Eats, but for groceries.”
Get the Presentation Details Right
A good pitch deck needs to have between 10 and 20 slides. This gives you enough room to give the venture capital investors the facts they need without going on so long that you lose their attention. Use large fonts, and keep the number of words per slide low.
End on a Strong Note
Your conclusion should be brief, but it should make a powerful impression. There are three points that it is important to address in your conclusion. One is to show your potential investors once again why your pitch is better than anything your competitors can do. The second is to hit the highlights of your strategy for risk mitigation. The third is to tell them your strategy for reimbursement.
The Takeaway
Putting together the perfect pitch deck takes time and effort. It takes testing it out, getting feedback, and doing it over again, probably several times. However, if you do the work your pitch deck will leave your potential Alaska business investors wanting to know more, and calling you back to get it.
Get support with Alaska Start Ups and Venture Capital in Alaska. We provide services for Alaska Venture Capital, Growth Equity or Private Equity. Venture North Group will provide Alaska entrepreneurs a clear understanding of what next steps to take and how to raise Venture Capital in Alaska and beyond.