One Pager for Pitch Presentation – Secret Recipe for Success!
Do you know that over 94% of start-ups and new businesses fail during the first year because of a lack of funding?
Funding is like fuel for start-ups. It not only keeps them running but many times, it gives them the very first push to the market. Now, finding the fuel to get the job done is your responsibility, yes.
If you are a founder, just in the initial phases of your start-up, looking for the funds to bring your idea to fruition or you are eager to explore funding types best for the current circumstances of your start-up, then you are at the right place!
This article will guide you about the type of funding so that you never see the name of your start-up in the list that failed because of lack of funding. We will also discuss the investor pitch presentation for you to help you put your plan to action.
As time is of immense value and putting your dreams to hold is not something we recommend, so without any delay, let’s start.
Let’s begin with Bootstrapping.
They say “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps?” This exactly applies to your start-up in the beginning. Pulling together despite the odds and showing up!
Bootstrapping, more like self-funding is the safest funding option for start-ups in the beginning. Your start-up in the early phase might not only lack funds but the trust of the investors on whom you are relying on. This does not mean that your start-up idea lacks spark! This means you are being saved from all the nasty and formal complications that are involved in requesting funds as well as using them.
As a start-up in the budding phase, you should begin with utilizing your savings, be it from the cash, the credit card, or loan that you still have time to pay and invest in your passion project. This will push you to generate the revenues for the start-up sooner than ever because your start-up will rely on it.
That’s definitely a smart approach we recommend to all beginners. Why?
What we love about Bootstrapping is that with no investors involved, you don’t have to share your profit with anyone but only THE news in the market that you are in the game! Another advantage of Bootstrapping is that you are not answerable to anyone and can work independently, a skill necessary to survive whatever life throws at you.
As your start-up begins to catch a pace, you can consult crowd-funding as a funding option for your start-up.
Ever heard of feeding two birds with a scone? That’s what crowd funding does. It not only helps generate funds for your start-up but gains the attention of potential customers by posting about the start-up project on a crowd-funding platform.
Curious? Let’s talk more.
We are aware that the internet has changed the world, for the good. With just one tap, you have the whole world under your palm. Similar goes for you opting for crowd-funding. Besides pitching to investors, you pitch to the consumers by posting on the platforms like Kickstarter, Crowd Supply, Crowdfunder, Gofundme, and various others who pledge to donate or fund, based on criteria. What you need to keep in mind is that as you are pitching to your audience, you have to make sure that your fundraising deck is attractive and hits the right string!
Even if crowdfunding doesn’t help you secure funds, it certainly helps you build people’s interest in your business just by letting them know about the start-up’s vision and the impact it aims to generate by through your pitch deck.
Definitely not a bad deal when you are in the ‘start’ phase of the start-up! But moving ahead, as the start-up begins to get the attention; it gets to the ‘seed’ funding stage.
The seed-funding is a capital, more like a seed, that a start-up gets from the investors to move ahead with growing the seed into a tree. In seed-funding, the investors – including angel investors, VCs, banks, crowd-funding, friends, and family offer your start-up the money in exchange for ownership or share in your start-up.
What is unique about seed-funding is that this is the stage where your start-up’s vision gets recognized and is all set to dive into the rounds of funding by further building the product or service your start-up is offering. The capital infusion combined with product or service revolving around the demands, preferences, and taste of the customers helps the business unlock the next round of seed funding i.e. Series Funding Rounds with one target, AIM HIGHER!
With series funding comes VC financing.
In Knowing Investors, we discussed why the investor pitch deck has to be top-notch because VCs only invest where their pockets will grow deeper. Now when your start-up has a full-fledged developed product with an honest yet loyal customer base, that’s when you should get into the Round A of series funding!
The typical value that your start-up can raise in this round is $10 million to $15 million.
This round of funding is followed by Round B of series funding, where your start-ups’ long long achievement sheet will allow you to attract more investors without you trying for it. Sounds difficult but Google Ventures and Khosla Ventures are some series B investors. This means that start-ups do reach this level.
This is followed by Series C funding where the investors and VCs invest more capital for getting bigger and better results based on the expansion of the company happening. This source of funding is for the start-ups, however very few reach this stage but are always trying.
This is what we love about series funding, the sky is the limit!
This brings us to the final funding for start-ups, the Initial Public Offering (IPO).
The IPO is for start-ups eager to generate funds and further the progress of the company by selling stocks to the public for the very first time provided they are in a position to go public. This can be debt or equity offered based and the generated fund can be used by your start-up to get into research and development, further the agenda of start-up, pay off debts (if any), and see who are the potential investors you can work and grow with.
In a nutshell, for any founder or entrepreneur, it’s important to understand the amount of funds required at the stage. Besides, it is also good to know the investors, which really helps pitching to the investors the right way and flip the game of your life and that of your start-up.
Remember, your funding plea or investor pitch presentation reflects the position of your start-up. It is never wise to show more and expect more when you have less to offer. Start-ups that start small but grow wisely not only raise funds the right way but also stay away from joining the list of failed start-ups, because the haste leads to waste.
Your pitching to investors, no matter what the stage of funding, should create an impact and we at Pitch Edge Deck can do that for you. You can always reach out and leave it on us to design your investor pitch presentation that will guarantee you the funding you love and most importantly, deserve!
