There are many great resources on building decks to raise money. Unfortunately, most founders either don’t read these resources or don’t follow the advice in them.
After giving this advice to Magma founders over the years, I wrote an actionable list of how I would think about doing a deck for a pre-seed or seed stage Latin American startup. This advice is likely still applicable for Series A, but things start to change as you get farther along.
I’m sharing these tips, especially for underestimated founders. The quickest way for an underestimated founder to level up is to understand the rules of the game of VC.
The deck is the first time you are telling your story to an investor. It is your first impression. If you follow this process, fundraising should start to be easier.
The vast majority of investors look at your deck for 1-3 minutes and are trying to figure out one big question:
Should I take this meeting?
Build your deck with that objective in mind. It is not for telling an investor everything there is to know about you, your business and the industry.
10-14 slides max.
The deck should more or less be how you would tell your story if you were talking to someone. I should be able to read one slide, which gets me excited about the next slide. The slides should flow into each other, not in a random order.
Do not include more than one big idea per slide. Less is more.