How to get a term sheet for an investment? Start with a great investor presentation.

The investor presentation is the most important document you will ever need to create for your company. It will most likely be one of the first impressions that potential investors would have about your company. The challenge is: it must catch attention instantly or you will lose your prospective financiers.

The challenge is: it must catch attention instantly or you will lose your prospective financiers.

So how do you create a winning investor presentation? Keep in mind that there is no such thing as a “perfect” investor presentation. Every company is unique and it is up to you and your team to determine the right way to tell your startup story.

Even though there is not a one-size-fits-all template, we will present you the core elements that must be covered in any investor presentation and will help you create the one (the winning one) most investors would be interested to see.

Here are some suggestions made by Guy Kawasaki:

Slide #1: Introduction/Title

Who are you? Who is your company? Provide your name and title, the name of your company, email, address and phone number

Slide #2: Opportunity/Problem

Present the problem you are solving and the opportunity you are after.

Slide #3: Value Proposition

Explain the value of the problem you are solving and the importance of the opportunity.

Slide #4: Underlying Magic

Describe the magic, the technology behind your product or service. The less text-the better. This would be the right time to present a prototype or a demo.

Slide #5: Business Model

Explain how do you make money, where the money lies now and how you are going to get it into your pocket.

Slide #6: Go-To-Market Plan

Explain how you are going to acquire your customer.

Slide #7: Competitive Analysis

Provide the complete landscape of your competition

Slide #8: Management Team

Introduce the key players of your team. Highlight your team’s strengths, commitment, dedication, and passion. This is what investors are looking for.

Slide #9: Financial Projections and Key Metrics

Provide a 3-year forecast. Show the key metrics, such as a conversion rate and a number of customers, not only numbers. Tip: prepare a bottom-up forecast.

Slide #10: Timeline/Current Status/Accomplishments to date/Use of funds

Explain the current status of your company and of your product or service. Describe how the near future looks like, how will you use the money you are looking to raise and try to awaken their imagination.

To get you inspired, here are some of the examples of how some of the best investor presentations look like.

1. Kickfolio (now App.io)

2. Buffer

3. Biogrify

4. Airbnb

5. Moz

A few final touches:

Keep each of the slides short, concise yet appealing, straight to the point, and backed by research and data.

Always try to be visual.

Demo your product whenever possible.

Don’t let the presentation be like a lecture, have a conversation with the audience instead.

Remember, investors are interested in amazing people first, amazing ideas last, and there somewhere in between is about how much and how fast they are able to earn.

Have you tried any of these tips before? What are your thoughts about this? Let me know in the comment section below.

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