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Pitch Decks
28 posts
How Pitch Videos Can Help Your Startup Get Funding
When you’re about to launch a startup, gaining the interest and support of startup investors is an important element in becoming a successful brand. These days, videos are a great way of communicating information and landing you anything from seed funding to crowdfunding. After all, a great pitch video can grab your investors’ and consumers’...
From Concept to Delivery: Tips for Perfecting Your Investor Pitch
Raising money for a startup is a long process, but an important one. Securing funding may not be easy, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. In order to successfully pitch investors, you’ll need to move through several steps, from concept to pitch deck to the act of pitching itself. Below are some pointers to help...
How Different Startup Sectors Project Revenues and What It Means for Investors
In partnership with ProjectionHub, STORY Pitch Decks researched the best way to project revenue for early-stage startups across B2B and B2C tech, D2C product, and marketplace business models. Financial projections can make or break an investor meeting. Too low, and the opportunity looks too small. Too high, and the investor might lose trust in a...
6 Tips for Entrepreneurs to Successfully Pitch to Women Angel Investors
The stats for women in investing are somewhat bleak. Only 11% of VC partners are women, and as a whole, women angel investors have only reached 22%. On the entrepreneur side, things look better, with over 40% being women. However, things are starting to look up even more. According to the Angel Capital Association (ACA),...
The Ideal Pitch Deck Is a Story, a Science and an Art
In the startup world, it's pitch decks, not business plans that get companies funded. A deck is often the first impression an investor will get at the company, so it needs to look stunning. Making a pitch deck is an art, a science, but most importantly, a story. The deck should achieve three things: It...
What I Learned Competing for Startup Money
Regardless of the type of business you’re starting, you need some money. Even if you plan to bootstrap, you still need to raise enough to live on and probably a small amount for operations. Considering that it takes most startups a few years to become profitable, budget for four to five years where you’ll need...
10 Ways to Create a Successful Business Pitch
Recently, the term "business pitch" has become as popular as the term "startup." A pitch is essentially a business plan that one presents verbally to potential investors of a business. A shorter summary of the complete pitch is an elevator pitch. The startup owner has to clearly explain the business opportunity to the investors, so...
This Angel Investor Shares 11 Tips for Entrepreneurs to Raise Smart Money
Oftentimes, I read articles offering tips for entrepreneurs that revolve around generic advice on getting started. However, what is often direly needed is how to appeal to investors and raise smart money — knowledge that is essential for fundraising and a master key to building, accelerating and scaling your new venture. The investment platform I...
StartupNation Radio: Shark Tank Tips and Success Stories
On today’s episode of StartupNation Radio, Jeff is joined by leading business coach and co-host, Jon Dwoskin. Together, they interview three entrepreneurs who have pitched their businesses on “Shark Tank.” Today’s featured guests are Renaldo Webb, founder of Pet Plate; Tate Stock, founder of Chirp; and Meredith Jurica, CEO of Makeup Junkie bags. Together, they...
How to Pitch Like a Shark Tank Winner
During my 20 years in the window industry, I’ve dealt with countless and constant complaints from my customers about the inherent problems with traditional window screens. I was beginning to feel more like a screen replacement man than a salesman, and I decided that there must be a better way. In 2013, I set up...
What We Learned From Turning Down a Deal on Shark Tank
When we appeared on Shark Tank to pitch our popular Zipadee-Zip swaddle transition product, we were thrilled to receive three different offers from the sharks. We ended up striking a deal on the show with Daymond John for $200,000 in exchange for a 20 percent stake in our company, Sleeping Baby. The last thing we...
5 Terms That are Killing Your Startup’s Pitch
Whether you’re (virtually) presenting before a group of investors or meeting an angel investor one-on-one via Zoom, the words you use to explain your company and your strategy are critical to securing funding. While the content of your presentation itself is essential, even the best business ideas can be derailed by poor word choice or etiquette. Investors...
6 Tips to Improve Your Odds When Facing Investors
It takes money to make money. But how do you get startup funds to get your business off the ground? How do you fund your expansion into new products or increase market reach? External funds provide outsiders the opportunity to invest cash in your company in exchange for equity, or partial ownership of that business....
How Pitch-a-Kid Connects Curious Kids and Entrepreneurs
Several years ago, startup advisor and mentor Mike Millard was hard at work on a resource website for startups in Austin, Texas, where he and his family live. When Millard’s daughter, Audrey, expressed curiosity about the project, it inspired the father/daughter duo to launch Pitch-a-Kid. The organization allows entrepreneurs to hone their pitches with kid judges...
The Entrepreneur’s Guide to the Modern Day Business Plan
For the past 20 years, my company and I have written business plans for thousands of firms. Interestingly, over this time, many aspects of business planning have stayed the same. Specifically, the three core reasons why entrepreneurs must create a business plan have not changed in decades. But today, business plans must deal with modern...
Practice Your Pitch: 5 Techniques for Success
Everyone wants to have an effective presentation that really captivates their audience's attention. If you are unprepared and relying too much on a script or reading directly from the slides, you're in for trouble. In order to have a successful presentation, you must communicate with your audience. Communicating with the audience means having the perfect delivery style, and...
How to Prepare Before Pitching Your Business to Investors
Several years ago, I was trying to raise capital for my business. I spent months working with a particular venture capitalist. After months of runaround, we ultimately got nowhere with the VC. Emails went unanswered and we were back to square one. As it turns out, I wasn’t the only entrepreneur to have this experience...
How to Design a Pitch Deck That Captures a Crowd
Starting a business is the ultimate dream for many, but often times, what stands in the way of reaching the pinnacle of success is the ever-dreaded pitch deck. Whether it’s for investors, a new partner or a networking group, presenting a pitch can be nerve-wracking. How can you create a deck that captures the attention...
How to Take Your Pitch Deck From Good to Great
What’s the difference between a good and a great B2B pitch deck? A good pitch deck clearly explains your product and what it does. It thoroughly illustrates product features, and it demonstrates how smart and credible your team is. It’s easy to build good B2B pitch decks. There’s just one problem with good pitch decks,...
9 Ways to Win Your Next Pitch Presentation [Infographic]
Considering what a rare commodity human attention is these days, it’s become more critical than ever for entrepreneurs to make an impact while giving a pitch presentation to prospective clients, investors and partners. Interestingly, when it comes to the all-important pitching process, 78 percent of clients admit they’re most influenced by the business that proves how...