Hi, everyone. This is Alejandro Cremades, and today we’re going to be talking about
how to crush it with your pitch deck on demo day. Before we get started, make sure that
you hit that Subscribe button, and this way, you will never miss out on any of the videos
that we roll out every week. Demo Day is a very big deal for startup founders,
especially those that are going through accelerators and through incubator programs. In today’s
video, we’re really going to be breaking it down for you with all the insights, with
all the step-by-step processes to make it happen in a really big way. So with that being
said, let’s get into it. Demo Day is the graduation day. This is the
point of the company going through the three or four-month process that is the actual length
of the accelerator program in a place where they come in, where they go on stage, and
where they present a sea of investors. When you go to Y Combinator, you’re seeing
at least 1,000 investors that are watching every single minute of your presentation,
which is going to be anywhere between five to ten minutes. Here, essentially, you are
going to be pitching the story; you’re going to be letting them know what you’re up to
and also inviting them in the possibility of potentially making an investment in your
business. They also leave some networking time so that
after all the presentations, they leave the opportunity for the investors to meet the
founders on a more personalized networking type of environment. And demo days are the
combination of a three-to-four-month process where essentially the accelerator program
has helped you on the product, on the way that you’re looking at things, or your story,
or maybe thinking about the team and how you’re going to be assembling that rockstar team
of individuals, and the 18 to 24-month plan in terms of the execution that you have in
front of you. So, the idea is that from the point that you actually join to the point
that you’re actually graduating and you’re at the demo day, you have been able to increase
your KPI, which is your metrics, at least 10 to 15% week over week.
So you need to know your investors. You want to understand who is going to be in that room
during demo day. Maybe get a list of those investors. Try to see which one of those investors
is actually excited about your specific segment, about your industry, about your financing
cycle, about perhaps the way that you’re looking at executing, maybe like team members
that they have a certain affinity on the background and the skillsets.
You need to do your research so that you’re going after the investors that are most inclined
to actually make an investment in your business because here’s the thing: the amount of
time that you’re investing on others is going to be time that you’re taking away
from really investing on the people that are most likely to invest in your business. So
be very careful and know who is going to be in front of you at all times.
Know your competitors. There could be competition as part of that batch, as part of the people
that are going to be presenting that day. So, again, you want to speak with the organization
and maybe try to see the way that they’re going to be handling their own presentation.
You want to go out there and make sure that you are seen as the clear winner because,
in many instances, they may not be direct competitors, but they may be indirect competitors,
and they’re going to be competing for that money. So make sure that you’re coming out
on top and that they are going to be viewing you as the leader of the pack.
You want to tweak and tailor your pitch deck. Here, typically, you’re looking at 15 to
20 slides, but you also want to make sure that there’s not a lot of text and that
you also have the visuals in there so that they can actually connect with you, connect
with you on what you’re saying, on the way that you’re describing it. It needs to be
storytelling because storytelling is everything. At this point, in the early stage, you want
to have them get excited about the future and the possibility because that’s ultimately
what they’re investing in. Now, you’re always going to be having the
short pitch deck version and the long pitch deck version. The short is the one that you
would be using at a demo day where it’s all about visuals and then connecting with
you. Then the longer version is going to be that version that perhaps you distribute via
email where there’s a little bit more information where maybe if you’re not there, and you
can’t see the body language, it self-describes some of those elements to address their concerns.
And, by the way, you can use the pitch deck template below on the link that you will see
under this video where there are founders all over the world using it to raise millions.
So, don’t start from scratch. Grab that template and get in motion.
You want to also get comfortable with the setting. You want to know where you’re going
to be pitching, in front of who, who’s going to be there, what’s going to be the arrangement.
The more visibility that you have, the better, so that you know what kind of room you’re
heading into. That’s going to help you; it’s going to give you more confidence,
more security, more of an understanding as to what’s going to happen every step of
the way, and knowing and anticipating in your head what that’s going to look like. The
problem is if you go into it not knowing what’s happening with the uncertainty, not sure,
not confident – you definitely don’t want to come across that way.
Rehearsing is everything. You want to rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse. What exactly is going
to be your narrative? And how that narrative is going to come in parallel with the slides
as you’re going from one slide to another. But the thing is that you want to sound authentic.
You don’t want to sound like a robot because people don’t connect with robots.
And as I said earlier in the video, they all want to connect with you, and that’s why
they’re placing the investments. So, come across authentic; let them see that you’re
actually doing this, you’re breathing this, you’re living this. This is your life, and
that passion is going to come across. It’s going to get them contagious, and you’re
going to be able to touch them, move them, and inspire them, so they actually end up
becoming investors. So hit a Like on this video, and subscribe
to the channel so that you don’t miss out on all the videos that we’re rolling out
every week. Then, also, leave a comment below and let me know what you’re thinking in
terms of your demo day, how you’re going to be preparing it, and so forth. And if you’re
raising money, send me an email at alejandro@pantheraadvisors.com. We’d love to help out. Thank you so much
for watching.