Dos and don’ts for your investor pitch deck

18 Mar Dos and don’ts for your investor pitch deck

Posted at 09:20h in News by

Many budding startups will be looking forward to the 15th annual BIO-Europe Spring conference next week. It’s expected to bring together over 2,500 top executives from global biotech, pharma and finance – a perfect opportunity to gain exposure to an international audience of potential partners and investors.

A critical tool for all entrepreneurs and startups is an investor pitch deck. Since capital is the lifeblood of any early-stage company, having a coherent deck that communicates your ideas and asks effectively, but also stands out from the crowd, is vital.

We understand that preparing a perfect pitch deck can be challenging and time consuming, so here are our dos and don’ts for you to consider when starting this process:

Do:

  1. Tell a compelling and interesting story that shows your passion for the business and wider industry – even better if you can share a personal experience!
  2. Have a soundbite for investors to remember you by – a short, snappy tagline is always favourable.
  3. Include visually interesting diagrams and images to help explain your concepts and remove the need for lengthy sections of text.
  4. Show off your team! Investors want to know who, as well as what, they are investing in. Show why your team’s experience means they can deliver your business plan.
  5. Make sure the content is accessible to your audience and not only a minority of experts – there is no guarantee that investors will have the same level of scientific knowledge as you, and they may get lost amongst jargon and acronyms.

 

Don’t:

  1. Be afraid of repetition, telling your audience your key messages throughout the deck will provide clarity and impact.
  2. Use an out-of-date deck. Continuously update your presentation as new information and metrics become available.
  3. Make the deck more than 20 slides long or you will lose the attention of your audience. You can always include further information in an appendix or follow up email.
  4. Use poor layouts and low-quality images – images should be at least 300dpi and a true representation of your brand and offering.
  5. Make the investor access your deck via Google Docs, Dropbox, or another online service, as this just creates a barrier to the investor actually reading it. Always be ready to share your deck in a simple PDF format in advance of a meeting.

 

To chat to us about how we can support your investor relations, get in touch with OVID Health at [email protected].