The document provides guidance on the key elements to include in a good pitch for funding. It recommends explaining: the vision for the business, the current market problems, the proposed solution and its advantages, the potential market size and growth, the business model and unit economics, any early traction or customers, the competition and competitive advantages, the long term potential size of the business, the founding team's experience and skills, the requested funding amount and intended use, and a simple financial model projecting the next 5-6 years. It also notes what investors like to see, such as founders with a clear passion for solving the problem, a differentiated business model that is difficult to replicate, and the potential for high margins, capital efficiency, and large

1. Ingredients
of
a
good
pitch

2. What
is
the
vision?
• Ambi%ous
• Focused
and
razor
sharp
• Simple,
no
fancy
words

3. What’s
the
fric5on
in
the
market
today?
• Who
is
the
customer?
• What
is
the
service
/
product
available
to
her
today?
• Why
do
current
solu%ons
don’t
work?

4. What’s
your
solu5on?
• Short
simple
overview
–
easy
to
explain
• What’s
the
difference
or
business
model
innova5on?
• What
is
the
hardest
problem
to
crack
and
how
are
you
solving
it?
• How
easy
is
it
to
do
this?
• Product
demo
if
possible

5. What’s
the
market
size?
• Ball
park
es%mate
of
size
–
local
/
global
if
applicable
– $
– Leading
metrics
/
proxies
• Growth

6. What’s
the
business
model?
• How
will
you
make
money?
• What
are
the
unit
economics?
– Gross
margins
– Unit
level
EBITDA
(if
applicable)
– Investment
required
– ROCE

7. What’s
the
trac5on
you’ve
got
already?
• Pre
revenue
metrics
if
nothing
else
available
• Revenue
– Growth
– Current
run
rate
• Investment
gone
in
already

8. Who
is
the
compe55on?
• Direct
and
subs%tutes
• Current
and
poten%al
e.g.
horizontals
v/s
ver%cals,
global
players
• How
are
you
different
from
them?
– Simple
2
by
2
oXen
helps
– Material
things
only

9. How
large
can
this
be?
• Long
term
view
• How
large
are
global
peers
–
US
/
China
– Revenue?
– Funding?
• Use
proxies

10. What’s
the
team
like?
• Founders
+
maybe
1-­‐2
management
team
• Educa%on
and
professional
background
• Core
skills/experiences
that
are
relevant
• Other
interests
/
passions

11. Funding
requirement
• What’s
the
raise?
– Don’t
over
raise
– Ball
park
1.5-­‐2X
current
run
rate
or
enough
to
last
you
for
18-­‐24
months
• Broad
areas
where
it
will
be
used
– Investors
dislike
secondary
and
debt
re%rement
specially
early
on

12. Web
resources
• Airbnb’s
first
ever
pitch
deck
• LinkedIn’s
Series
B
Pitch
to
Greylock
• The
Ul%mate
Pitch
Deck
to
Raise
Money
for
Startups
–
Forbes

13. Financial
Model
• Bobom
up
but
very
simple
–
not
more
than
3-­‐4
sheets.
Gives
insight
into
how
you
are
thinking
• Basic
hygiene
e.g.
assump%ons
separate,
units
men%oned,
avoid
hard
code
• Five-­‐six
year
horizon
• Not
a
GIGO
exercise

14. What
investors
like
to
see

15. Founders
• Drive,
confidence,
clarity
of
thinking,
ability
to
sell,
missionary
• Why
this
team
for
this
problem?
– Passion
/
personal
story
– Complimentary
skill
sets
–
Tech?
Commercial?
– Unique
insight
into
the
problem
/
market

16. Business
model
innova5on
• Sufficiently
differen%ated
and
not
easily
replicable
• Abrac%ve
economics
– High
margins
at
scale
– Capital
efficient
• Ability
to
scale
and
very
large
outcome
if
successful