Comments on: VC Pitch Template

By: Wrap-up #17: Bücher für Gründer, How to: VC-Pitch, Zitat der Woche

Wrap-up #17: Bücher für Gründer, How to: VC-Pitch, Zitat der Woche — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 22:03:25 +0000

[...] Dunford vom Rocketwatcher-Blog hat eine Liste entwickelt, die man bei der Präsentationserstellung berücksichtigen könnte. [...]

By: aprildunford

aprildunford — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:26:30 +0000

Matt, thanks for the comment. One of the most annoying things I found in doing VC pitches was that there was a certain category of VC that wanted to see a slide that showed that there was a billion dollar market opportunity, no matter how vague or unbelievable the methodology was that came up with that number. I’m seeing less of that in recent months but there are still some folks out there that want to see it. I think there are large markets out there that can be disrupted but it’s really hard to get credible numbers on them before the disruption has taken place.
April

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:27:33 +0000

Market size is irrelevant – anyone who says “it’s a billion dollar market so if I can just get 1% we’ll all be rich” should be shot on sight. Large markets mean low barriers to entry and high competition – no thanks! Niche market domination please

By: Damien Stolarz

Damien Stolarz — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:26:47 +0000

Another good VC Pitch Template / Business Plan Template http://bit.ly/SpeMG

By: Saeed Khan

Saeed Khan — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:50:20 +0000

I find it interesting that business model is so often ignored when VCs invest in companies. Really. I’ve seen quite a few outfits get money with no realistic business model to speak of.
While I agree that business model is critical, are there some VCs or some situations where it just doesn’t matter up front?

By: Stephanie Tilton

Stephanie Tilton — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:30:50 +0000

VC pitch template http://ow.ly/fU3v by @aprildunford

By: Roger L. Cauvin

Roger L. Cauvin — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:04:19 +0000

It would be interesting to see what Kawasaki would say in response to your points. I’m sure he would agree that market size is important, but I suspect he would address it in one of his existing slides. The “problem” slide may again be the right place for it, as market segmentaton and sizing really just classify the urgency, and quantify the pervasiveness, of the problem.
As far as strategic partnerships, they have a purpose – whether it be as sales channels, co-marketers, etc. I’d argue that info on partnerships should go in those slides. In one of my business plans, for example, the marketing section contains the information about partnerships, because the partnerships are a key part of the marketing strategy.

By: April Dunford

April Dunford — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:35:16 +0000

Thanks for the comment. I like Guy’s list but I would be very careful about getting rid of the market opportunity slide. That slide is not about the value proposition at all but rather about sizing the market opportunity. Specifically it’s where you look at the total size of the market you are going after and what piece of that market your product would be able to address. For startups it’s really hard to get an accurate view of this but ultimately it’s the slide that shows whether or not your idea has the ability to grow beyond 10-50 million in revenue to over 100 million in revenue. I’ve never presented to a VC where we didn’t have a long discussion around addressable market size.
The other piece that would be missing is what you will do around strategic partnerships. For some products that piece isn’t that important but for virtually any B2B product it is critical to early stage growth.
April

By: Roger L. Cauvin

Roger L. Cauvin — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:24:11 +0000

Guy Kawasaki also suggests limiting the number of slides to ten. His recommended template is:
1. Problem
2. Your solution
3. Business model
4. Underlying magic/technology
5. Marketing and sales
6. Competition
7. Team
8. Projections and milestones
9. Status and timeline
10. Summary and call to action
You might reconsider your “market opportunity” and “value proposition” slides. The problem, the market opportunity and the value proposition are essentially the same thing, or at least are very closely related.

By: Mark Harai

Mark Harai — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 01:21:09 +0000

“VC Pitch Template” http://bit.ly/fd3vA – via @aprildunford