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Activa

By Activa Venture Advisors

Pitch Deck Blueprint (& Checklist)

Welcome! (Click Here To Read More)
Welcome on board! And thank you for making us a part of your journey…

Over the next few hours, you’ll be taken through a lot. The information provided here, is through trial and error, and leveraging off the the mistakes made, so you don’t have to!

While you may want to jump around, I suggest following the order laid out – this will help you grasp things faster. And at any point in time, if you have a question – don’t suffer in silence, send me an email on [email protected]

If you’d like to connect with me on Linkedin or if you’d like to read my personal rants and raves, check out https://jpmartin.com – where you can also learn a bit more about who I am and what I think.

Now, let me get this off my chest. You can have all the information and knowledge in the world, but if you don’t apply it – or take action – there’s no use. I will treat this endeavor as a success, not by the number of students who have signed up, but by the number of people who have put this knowledge to use, and become wealthy.

I’d love to hear from you, so don’t hesitate to contact me and tell me about your capital raising journey so far!

Jose Paul Martin

P.S. If you’re short on time, and just want to absorb everything in one sitting – then dive right in and watch the entire training here ⇣. There are no breaks, no pauses. Grab a coffee or your choice of beverage, and set aside 41 minutes to go through everything.

STEP 1 - ChecklistSTEP 2 - TemplateSTEP 3 - ResourcesSTEP 4 - Favor?STEP 5 - Review
DOWNLOAD Pitch Deck Checklist & Cheatsheet

Once you’re done watching the video. [Click Here To Download] the power packed checklist & cheatsheet, with tips and everything. No need to take any notes! You can also view the extra notes we have in the sections below.

DOWNLOAD The Pitch Process Pitch Deck Template

BEFORE YOU ACCESS & DOWNLOAD THIS TEMPLATE:

  • Go through the training videos at least once (it’s 41 minutes).
  • Access the Google Slide Template [click here], designed based on the PITCHPROCESS Blueprint & Checklist.
  • Start filling out the slides, read it in conjunction with the downloaded Blueprint & Checklist.

You can always customize the theme (see below ↓ ) or improve the aesthetics later on. You can give it to a professional designer (or get some help from the presentation design services listed at the end).

Pitch Deck Blueprint - Template Customize

Perfection Is Achieved, Not When There Is Nothing More To Add, But When There Is Nothing Left To Take Away.Antoine De Saint

If you’re looking for the PowerPoint (PPTX) version, you can download the file below.

DOWNLOAD Extra Resources

According to the latest study (highly recommended read) of 200 startup pitch decks by DocSend, investors spend an average of 3 minutes and 44 seconds reading one deck.

In the vault, we also share interesting downloads, resources and tools that you may want to explore:

You might not be an artistically gifted designer and when you want to get the best, it’s best to pay for someone else do something you suck at. Don’t worry, we’ve got some suggestions for you:

Storytelling is the most underrated skill. Companies that don’t have a clearly articulated story don’t have a clear and well thought-out strategy.Ben Horowitz
ACTION Can I ask you for a favor?

Hey, thanks for taking this training!

I hope by now, you’ve made some progress in your journey to getting funded. But it’s not over.

I want your help!

This course is spread by word of mouth. And right now, the best people to recommend it are the ones who have taken action to complete it. Can you tell your friends about “The Perfect Pitch Deck Blueprint & Checklist”?

Here’s how you can do it:

  • Forward the link to your friends and ask them to sign up: https://act.vc/pitchdeck
  • Share the above link on your social media!

Thank you!
Sign Off - JPM
Jose Paul Martin

P.S. If you want to go a step further, you know what would be really great? Email me your testimonial about the course or use this form and tell me what you learned from this, and how do you think it will help others! (Do that and I might surprise you!)

ACTION Are you ready to do a review?

If you purchased the 1-On-1 Pitch Review option, when you’ve finished going through the video tutorial, and implemented the blueprint in your pitch deck – then book a one time review session with me. (Once you’ve booked on my calendar, you can send me your pitch ahead of session). If you haven’t purchased a 1-on-1 review, you can do so right now. Please note, once you request a pitch review, you CANNOT be considered for the Activa Venture Fund.




Introduction
According to the latest study (highly recommended read) of 200 startup pitch decks by DocSend, investors spend an average of 3 minutes and 44 seconds reading one deck.

As a best practice, rule of thumb – use a rough 2 minutes per slide calculation, so a 20 slide presentation is going to be 40 minutes. Keep this in mind, and draft you presentation.

Commandment # 1 - The Cover (Launch / Takeoff / Elevator)
You have 90 seconds, if you’re lucky. If you can’t make your point persuasively in that time, you’ve lost the chance for impact. Facts and figures are important, but it’s not the only criteria, you must present in a manner that generates expertise and confidenceRobert Herjavec (Private Equity Investor & SharkTank Panelist)
Commandment # 2 - The Market Opportunity
The market is the most important factor in a startup’s success or failure. Why? In a great market, a market with lots of real potential customers, the market pulls product out of the startup. The market needs to be fulfilled and the market will be fulfilled, by the first viable product that comes along.Marc Andreessen (Venture Capitalist & Founder of Netscape)
Commandment # 3 - The Market Problem
The bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity. Nobody will pay you to solve a non-problem.Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures
QUESTION Are you selling a pain killer or a vitamin?
Commandment # 4 - The Value Proposition (Solution / Demo)
Nothing else to be said here. Move on to the next commandment.
Commandment # 5 - The Magic (Competitive Advantage)
Nothing else to be said here. Move on to the next commandment.
Commandment # 6 - The Market Fit (Competition)
I wasted so much time worrying about our competitors. All these [now defunct] companies that I still remember the names of because I cared so much about them and I paid attention to everything they were doing, it was so stupid, and I wish someone had told me that it was absolutely not going to matter at all.Garry Tan, Initialized Capital
Commandment # 7 - The Business Model (Revenue & Expense)
The two most important metrics are Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and the Lifetime Value of Customer (LTV). You want the LTV to be much higher than the CAC. Check out this great post by Andrew Chen on How To Calculate CAC.
Commandment # 8 - The Projections (Hockey Stick Or Not?)
Like many things in life, less is more in fundraising slides. You can explain your business in mind numbing detail or you can inspire an investor. Fred Wilson, Union Square Ventures
Commandment # 9 - The Dream Team (Who Makes It Happen)
Nothing else to be said here. Move on to the next commandment.
Commandment # 10 - The YTD (Traction / Performance / Milestones)
Read Andrew Chen’s article on How To Calculate CAC
Commandment # 11 - The EXIT
The Missing Slide & Why Investors Are Looking For This…
Investors are looking for a way to “monetize” their investment (if I may borrow the startup jargon). This is important for investors, as they want to know the timeline for how they will generate liquidity on the investment. There are two basic exit options:

  • M&A – Mergers & Acquisitions: Don’t be afraid to use this, as almost 90% of startups go through an M&A. In fact, many companies are started with that in mind, to sell to a larger player, sometimes even a competitor. So mention big players in your sector and any recent acquisition transactions. Discuss potential synergies that will arise from acquiring your company.
  • IPO – Initial Public Offering: The remaining few actually make it to the IPO stage. If you’re only focused on this, then discuss a timeline and plan for becoming a public company. Here you can mention recent IPOs and their performance since their IPO.
Commandment # 12 - The Close (The Ask, The Intro & The Call)
WAIT! One more thing…

How much time you spend on a presentation should be proportionate to what is at stake. Now that you’ve spent a good deal of time on it, it’s essential to summarize it into a One-Pager or Executive Summary or Tear Sheet as some like to call it.

If you can’t summarize everything into one page, you better go back to the drawing board and get that done. Heck, you should even be able to use a One-Liner to describe your value proposition. If you can’t summarize, imagine what trouble investors would go through, just to remember. Go back and look at the key slides, and bring it all into one single slide… your one pager:

PitchProcess One Pager