你即将面对一位杰出的投资者，发表你的演讲, 但是你不确定你是否把所有的事情都安排妥当了. 就像你之前听过很多次一样， 90% 所有创业公司都失败了. 听起来很吓人, you could be looking at joining that 90% if you aren’t able to secure the funding needed to take your business to the next level. In a world of rising economic uncertainty, your pitch deck has become more crucial than ever.

不要担心. 事实上，你正在阅读这个博客就是一个好的开始, as it shows you are mindful of the problems you are likely to encounter when delivering your pitch deck. 正如爱因斯坦著名的 说, “If I had an hour to solve 一个问题 I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.”

换句话说, once you have worked out the likely mistakes you will encounter in your pitch deck you are at least halfway there.

帮助你到达那里, I’ve put together a list of the top five pitch deck mistakes based on my extensive experience in fundraising advisory, 演讲准备, 金融建模, 资本结构, 欧博体育app下载. 在这些常见错误中, I also highlight pitch deck best practices and show you how to write a perfect pitch deck.

1. 没有预料到问题或反馈

An 投资者 is unlikely to sit there and hear your pitch deck without having questions or feedback for you. If you aren’t prepared to answer the most fundamental questions associated with your pitch deck, 那么这将不利于你获得潜在投资者的青睐.

这就是练习成为关键的地方. 在理想的情况下, 你会在同事面前练习你的演讲, 同行, 朋友, 和家人，寻求他们的批评反馈. 如果你不能当场回答他们的问题, it’s likely you may struggle to answer similar questions under pressure in front of an 投资者. Bear in mind that an 投资者 will want to see you think on your feet; they won’t want a deferred or delayed answer.

If an 投资者 is asking you questions, it means they are likely engaged with the subject matter. 你可以提出潜在的问题 预计 从投资者那里听到的问题包括你的团队和管理, 还有关于市场机会的问题, 财务和关键指标, 的风险, 竞争的加剧, 投资者的资金将如何使用, 知识产权, 诸如此类.

如果你没有准备好，即使是简单的问题也会把你绊倒. 彭妮·李, a senior advisor at public affairs firm Venn Strategies and a member of the K Street Capital angel group 解释当她的团队问一个简单的问题，比如“我们怎样才能帮到你??“很多企业家最后都站在那里，一脸茫然.

2. 提供不切实际的预测

This is another area where doing extensive homework will likely pay off in the long run. Investors don’t want to see outlandish and unrealistic evaluations where you are forecasting a multi-million dollar projection within the span of three years.

There appears to be nothing more frustrating for an 投资者 than to see multi-million figures thrown in the air that are not based on any demonstrative evidence.

You also need to take into account all the factors that could affect your numbers in the long run. 例如, it would be wise to take note of the identifiable risks and competition in the market (both existing and anticipated) so that you can provide more accurate projections to the 投资者.

在一天结束的时候, 如果你在预测高端数字, 你需要用证据来证明这些数字的合理性.

3. 不能讲故事

你需要销售你的产品，但你需要用一种清晰而合乎逻辑的方式来销售. 要做到这一点，最简单的方法是识别问题. 正如美国发明家查尔斯·凯特林曾经恰如其分地说过的那样, “问题说得好，问题解决了一半。.”

你应该做的第一件事就是向投资者提出问题, 不是解决办法. 让问题具体化，目的是让投资者同意问题的存在, 事实上, 一个问题, 不要试图一次解决太多的问题. 要清楚问题的严重性, 为什么这个问题很重要, 以及你在为谁解决问题.

一旦问题确定，你就可以提出你的解决方案.

用这些简单的术语来思考推销将最终帮助你提炼你的 商业计划书 说到基本原理, 这将, 反过来, 使你能够清晰连贯地向投资者推销你的想法.

4. 没有做作业

做家庭作业的重要性怎么强调都不过分. 你的家庭作业策略必须包罗万象. 你不能相信你有一个伟大的商业想法, 一个伟大的团队, 一个伟大的建筑, 增长潜力. 如果你花费了时间，这将最终证明是毫无价值的, 钱, 还有向一个不感兴趣的投资者推销能源.

首先, you wouldn’t want to be pitching anything to an 投资者 unless it is clear the business is in a space he is interested in. One Washington-based partner at the world’s largest venture capital firm also told the 华盛顿邮报》 that entrepreneurs would do well to research the type and size of investments the firm or 投资者 has made in the past. 查看我们的 《欧博体育app下载》 想了解更多.

Even sending an executive summary or business plan unsolicited to a potential 投资者 is generally seen as a no-no. Investors are inundated with an immeasurable amount of correspondence on a daily basis. 有地位高的中间人(例如), 一个律师, 投资者, or colleague) to refer your work in the first place will likely get you further traction than if you go in alone.

5. 没有专业的演讲平台

你的演讲需要看起来很专业. 它不应该看起来像是一个业余爱好者做的. 这将需要你有一个强大的, 具有专业外观设计, 有组织的内容, 很好的过渡, 和像样的图表或图表. The presentation should also not look as though you have merely plugged information into a template. 让它成为你自己的.

演示幻灯片不应该文字过多. 在这方面，少即是多. The presentation itself should not be overly long and would ideally be less than 15 slides. 如果投资者对企业感兴趣, 总会有时间和地点向他们提供进一步的信息.

值得庆幸的是, 网上有很多模板示例可供参考, 包括演示文稿 薄荷.com这家初创公司最终以1.7亿美元的价格卖给了Intuit. 你也可以访问谷歌 templateFacebook也是如此 原始 2004年的演讲文稿. We’ve also compiled a list of tips from our network here on how to write a pitch deck: 专家专区:融资成功的技巧.

如果需要的话，雇一个 设计师. 现在可能要花钱(大概300-500美元), but it will be a small amount to pay in the grand scheme of things if it gets you that deal you have been waiting for.

结论

These are just five of the classic pitch deck mistakes that you are likely to encounter. 然而, avoiding these five key mistakes and preparing in advance for them will automatically put you in good stead.