Ask HN: Does it make sense to create pitch deck for an early stage company? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Does it make sense to create pitch deck for an early stage company?

4 pointsshafyy5 comments

More background: We're starting a company, and while we have a first pilot customer and some revenue already, we're very early. We've been doing it as a side project, and will go full-time in January.

We need to raise some money, because it's not a pure software business. It's a e-commerce logistics company, and we need expect to invest around $1m before we can reach the needed economies of scale for profitability.

Our strategy is to raise money from angel investors. My question is: Do angels who invest so early in companies expect a pitch deck? If yes, what would I put in the pitch deck? It's not like we have a ton of insights and numbers to show at this point.

Should we focus on the problem, on the market opportunity and on the team?

I'd love to hear from founders who have successfully raised from angels, and of course from angels who have invested in companies.

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A pitch deck is a necessity at every stage.

Not just for investors, but for you and your team.

Having the company laid out in a simple deck allows you to tell a story. Getting people to buy into a simple story can be a huge force multiplier. Even if you’re not raising a round it is a good idea to have a snapshot of your company narrative in a deck format.

I want to warn you that creating a pitch deck will not guarantee anything. It will take a lot of time and effort, and people will tell you a million times to change the deck. Add slides, delete slides, make that slide purple, should be hockeystick revenues, ah no, maybe not, scrap that, where is your financial model? market too big, too small, to salty, whatever.

Investors have a million ways to tell you NO. And a pitch deck won't change anything. If they don't like the idea or they think it's not big enough (even if they are totally wrong or clueless), you won't get funded. If you don't have the right connections that can bring the stamp of approval or other social signals investors are looking for, you are going to have a hard time. If the idea is not something that is HOT RIGHT NOW, you probably won't get funded.

I'm pretty fed up with reading advice on HN that you just need a good deck and can raise money purely on that deck. Sorry if this comes over as abrasive. I've been there and want to give you the raw story so you can make the right decisions. We never got funded despite having a lot going for us. We wasted valuable time and money on models, decks and what not.

You should have a pitch deck.

Angel investors might not necessarily require the same quality of presentation that VCs do but they will certainly appreciate it.

You've got your own reasons why you think your business is a good idea and having those in a pitch deck is going to help you clarify your vision (it's a red flag that you don't have a "ton of insights" and "numbers to show") It is not a waste of time compared to other activities because it will help you communicate with employees, customers, vendors and others.

It always helps to look like you are pretty far along. Over the weekend somebody showed a demo that was spiffy in some ways, less so in other ways, but thinking about it now the most remarkable problem is that they put no effort into branding and I think insufficient effort to communicate the brand promise. It's true that they might change the name, logo, and all that, but putting effort into that shows that the founders understand the importance of it, investors really need to understand the brand promise, and if they see something that these important things in place everyone is going to think that this is a company that has it together more.

>We need to raise some money, because it's not a pure software business. It's a e-commerce logistics company, and we need expect to invest around $1m before we can reach the needed economies of scale for profitability.

Sounds like you don't have much leverage in a negotiation. A pitch deck wouldn't hurt.

Yes.

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