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Hi John,

This week's newsletter features insights from Justin Izzo, DocSend's research lead, on what to include in a pre-seed pitch deck and why each section matters. Also, we share research on closing late-stage sales deals, announce our upcoming Funding Divide report, plus we invite early-stage founders to join us for the upcoming Pitch Deck Teardown in collaboration with Zendesk and top tier VCs.

Building your pre-seed pitch deck?

Pre-seed founders have to show a competitive edge. Justin Izzo dismantles the science behind building a successful pre-seed pitch deck and the make-or-break sections that go inside. Here’s what you should include in your pitch deck:

As pre-seed rounds continue to become more sophisticated, investors are spending more time scrutinizing pitch decks than in years past. Raising money successfully means that pre-seed founders have to withstand more scrutiny and show product readiness at earlier stages, and position their companies with a competitive edge.

In this blog, we explain what a successful pre-seed pitch deck looks like, how long VCs spend on each section, and the make-or-break sections pre-seed founders need to include inside. Download our free pitch deck template to get started with yours today.

What is the purpose of a pre-seed pitch deck?
The purpose of a pre-seed pitch deck is simple: to convince potential investors to take meetings with you. It’s one of the primary tools founders use to convince investors of their company’s value, and it lets them structure their company narrative in a way that’s more likely to capture VC attention.

“If it was not for DocSend, we wouldn’t have been able to complete our pre-seed raise in such a small time frame. Using specific links to track document analytics helped us focus our energy on reaching back out to the right investors who were actually interested.” – Alex Simon, Founder at Elude

How much time do investors spend on pre-seed decks?
Our research shows that VCs spend an average of four minutes and 10 seconds evaluating pre-seed pitch decks. While four minutes might not seem like a long time, it is when you consider how busy investors are today and how many decks are sent their way.

It’s simply not feasible for VCs to meet with every founder who reaches out. The pitch deck helps investors home in on the companies they’re most interested in and quickly pass on the ones that don’t make the cut. This is why it’s critical to not only create a compelling pitch deck, but also develop a comprehensive investor strategy for your pre-seed fundraise.

What does a successful pre-seed pitch deck look like?
While no two pitch decks are exactly the same, we find that all successful pitch decks are organized into clearly defined sections that tell their narratives in a compelling way. Pre-seed founders rely on this clear formatting, content, and slide order to tell their stories, meet with investors, and successfully raise funding.

What are the different sections in a pre-seed pitch deck?

We’ve found that the best way to capture VC attention is by building an 18-page pitch deck with the following sections (and in the outlined order!).

Below, we break down each of these sections, define their purposes, and offer do’s and don’ts for crafting messaging that captivates potential investors.

In the full blog post, we break down each of these sections, define their purposes, and offer do’s and don’ts for crafting messaging that captivates potential investors. You can also watch our Perfect Pitch video on YouTube covering the art & science of startup pitch decks.

Pitch Deck Interest Metrics Update

Last week was another up-and-down week in the startup fundraising marketplace. Investor interactions are down 5.34%, Time Spent per deck dropped 6.67%, and Founder Links Created jumped 9.68%. Here's the full analysis of last week's activity.

Funding Divide 2022: Tracking Bias in Early-Stage Fundraising

In our third year tracking these biases, we found that this year’s research shows how underrepresented founders got more investor interest, but for most, the dollars didn’t deliver. Pre-register now to get the full report on March 16th.

Recommended Reads

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Easing the fundraising farce at Seed & Series A: preparation

It takes huge amount of time, effort and (often and ironically) money to raise money from venture capitalists and other start-up investors. And, even then, many fundraising processes end in failure.Taos Grisdale of DMG Ventures summarizes some key steps to take before you approach investors.

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Solo Capitalist Firm Building

In this episode of The Full Ratchet, Nick Moran of New Stack Ventures and Matt Cohen of Ripple Ventures discuss solo capitalist firm building, supporting founder mental health, and navigating board dynamics.

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Pitch Deck Teardown with DocSend and Zendesk