I see thousands of pitch decks a year.

Some are incredible. Some are…not as incredible.

(Cough, resources to help, cough.)

Some are almost incredible but they have surprising red flags!

Every investor is different and pitch deck preferences can vary wildly depending on industry, company stage, and personality.

So I can’t speak for everyone but here are 3 things I consider pitch deck red flags that you may not expect!

Not deal breakers but something to dig into further…or just fix them now ‘cause you know I’m including #PROTIPS!

Let’s turn those red flags green and get to raising! 💚💚💚

1. Too Many Words

“I would have made this blog shorter but I didn’t have time.” - me, every week.

Also, Mark Twain.

Also, sometimes, founders.

Telling a concise story takes time and clarity.

The tighter you can tell the story, the better.

If you need lots of words to explain who you are and what you do, it’s a red flag that:

• you’re trying to be all things to all people

• you don’t really know who you are as a company

• you’re not good at storytelling (aka sales, #1 job of a founder)

Also, I literally mean “words.”

Can you use pictures, graphs, key stats to convey the same idea? How skimmable is your deck?

Investors don’t know how to read are moving quickly. Make it as easy as possible to get the main point!

#PROTIP
Use your 4 word elevator pitch to anchor your deck. Put it on the opening slide. Here’s tips on how to find your very short company description.

2. No Revenue or Customers

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again:

If you don’t list your revenue early and often…I THINK YOU DON’T HAVE ANY!!

Put your revenue front and center, please and thank you!

It’s possible to raise without revenue or customers, but 9 out of 10 times you’re better off getting some early customers (lots of scrappy ways to do this!).

Then you can raise money more quickly with better terms.

Even raising a pre-seed round (which can be pre-revenue), most founders will have compelling data.

#PROTIP
Have your revenue, customer logos, or hockey stick ARR graph at the beginning to grab the attention of your audience!

Include (short) customer quotes, a snapshot of your many 5-star reviews, or a quick ROI metric from a real customer (screenshot from an email or dashboard!) as social proof of your value and legitimacy.

Let your customers tell your story for you.

Don’t forget to mention your business model. Investors care about random things like how you make money! 🤑

3. Too Many Advisors, Employees, or Executives

Here’s what I think happens — founders want to establish credibility and/or want their company to seem “legit.”

Or maybe someone tells them, “How do you know what you’re doing? You don’t have experience in XYZ. Bring on people who can do XYZ.”

(I get SO annoyed at this advice!!!)

Enter the slide with 20 pictures of people with big titles.

^^ EEEEEK! That’s either a time drain, money drain, or both!

A few people who are awesome? Great. Approved!

But more than 3 or 4, is like, what is going on here???

I know that you have many smart, wonderful people on speed dial. They love you and want you to succeed. No need to include them all!

Also weird:

• Having too many employees for your company size/revenue. Having a bigger team is not necessarily better. Investors just see higher burn and low output (revenue) per dollar spent. (This changes if you’re Series A or higher. Org charts and team are part of due diligence.)

• Having too many senior/exec types. They are expensive and not great at scrappy startup work. That you recruited 1 senior exec to join you is a good sign. But 3-4 when you’re <$1M ARR…red flag!

#PROTIP

Craft a personal elevator pitch for you and your top advisors, investors, or employees. What are the key highlights? How can you explain who they are in as few words as possible?

Company or school logos work well here! A picture is worth a thousand words.

Have you heard of other red flags? What surprised you about raising or pitching? Any other #protips?!?