Who are you, and why should I pick you to help me with my pitch deck?
Check out my founder and VC and investor testimonials. For a deep dive into my 30+ year career — including dozens of testimonials — check out my LinkedIn profile page. The headline is I have 30 years of founder/CEO/CMO/product marketing experience. I have 8 startups, 6 exits, one $1B IPO, and one $11B Secondary under my belt. I'm not aware of anyone else with my level of successful startup experience offering 1:1 pitch deck coaching services. Anyone can make your pitch deck pretty. But you need a startup veteran like myself to nail your pitch.
What pitch deck services do you offer?
Check out my services. It boils down to as little or as much help as you need. I work on an hourly basis so you only pay for what you need.
What kind of startups do you help?
My typical pitch deck clients are early-stage startups looking to raise their seed or series A round. While I am based in the United States, I have no geographic preference and have helped clients from almost everywhere in the world including North America, South America, and Europe. Recent clients include B2B SaaS companies, web3 companies, and industrial product companies.
How much do you charge for a pitch deck?
Budget $4-5,000 for your new pitch deck. Anyone charging less is not taking the time required to understand your business and work with you to make your pitch deck story significantly better. I provide a range because some decks require less work than others.
Why does a pitch deck cost so much?
As in all things, you get what you pay for. It takes time to learn your business and dig deep for the information I know investors need. My pricing is based on a reasonable fee for the time I expect to invest in your deck.
How long will it take you to build my pitch deck?
Depending on my workload and your availability, 2-4 weeks. I can sometimes do it faster if necessary.
What's your pitch deck process?
There are 3 steps in my process.
- Step 1: Research — I'll work with you to learn everything I need to know about your startup.
- Step 2: Outline — I'll develop an initial version of your story in Google Sheets for us to review and finalize together. You wouldn't build a house without a blueprint. Similarly, you shouldn't build a pitch deck wtihout an outline. The goal is to get the flow and words right without the distraction of slide layout and design.
- Step 3: Deck — I'll turn our finalized outline into slides for us to review and finalize together.
How will we work together?
I'll create a shared Google Doc with tabs for your deck outline, research links, competition info, and your financial model. We'll meet regularly on Zoom. And we'll set up a WhatsApp group for quick and efficient Q&A outside of our Zoom sessions.
I already have a pitch deck. I just want feedback. Can you help?
Yes. I charge by the hour. We can review your current deck and work from there. If you've done most of the work, you'll only need a few hours from me to polish it up and make sure you've avoided common mistakes.
Will your pitch deck get my startup funded?
It depends. As I explain in my pitch deck guide, investors are looking for the highest returns with the least risk. So your chances of getting funding are directly tied to your startup's risk and return profile, which is something I cannot control.
My guarantee is that I can help you proactively addresses the four common risk factors — market, product, team, and execution risk — while also providing an attractive financial model that promises superior investment returns.
Put another way, I'll help you deliver the best possible pitch with what you've got to work with. I'll also identify where you might have information gaps to plug before you approach investors. Those two things will not guarantee you get funded, but they'll make it far more likely.
I've seen several pitch deck templates. Why do I need your help to fill in the blanks?
Because it's not as easy as you might think to fill in the blanks. Especially if you're doing it for the first time. If you're able to produce a great pitch deck from a template without any help from me or anyone else then great. But most founders don't build pitch decks for a living, so they inevitably waste time without expert guidance.
How important is pitch deck design?
Content is king. Deck design is icing on the cake. While your pitch deck must obviously look clean and professional, pitch deck design alone is not going to get you funded. When it comes to design, less is more. Investors care far more about your answers to their questions than your deck design. The best deck design enhances your content but does not dominate it. Take a look at AirBnB's classic pitch deck and note how its clean and simple design conveys professionalism without overpowering the pitch.
Will I have a say in my pitch deck's design?
Absolutely. I'll ask you to provide a visual style guide plus examples of deck designs you like. If you don't yet have a visual style guide, I'll use your website design as a proxy style guide.
Do you offer investor introductions?
Sorry, no. But I can give you some suggestions on where and how to build your target investor list.
Can I pay you with company stock?
Sorry, no.
Will you sign an NDA?
Sure, if you really think it's necessary. But know that most investors will not sign an NDA before reviewing a pitch deck.
Where are you located?
I'm in Newport Beach, CA, about an hour south of Los Angeles. I work on Pacific Time.
I'm interested. What's our next step?
Purchase one of my pitch deck services or contact me and let me know how I can help you.