063. Pitch Deck Essentialism

I mentioned in yesterday's episode that I'm currently reading"Essentialism"by Greg McKeown.Hat tip to Kyle Westaway and his Weekend Briefing email that he sends out on every Saturday.I love this newsletter.Highly recommend you check it out on Substack.As we come back to fundraising advice in this episode,I want to talk about Essentialism in your pitch deck.I can't tell you the number of pitch decks that I see that vomit information.Every single slide,50words,a hundred words busy with graphics,way too much going on over explaining everything.I fall back on the YC pitch deck template all the time,because it really does boil down the only things that you need in a deck.Highly recommend checking that out.I'll provide a link to that in the show notes,as well as a link to"Essentialism"and Kyle Westway's newsletter on Substack.My favorite pitch deck of all time was FloatMe's seed deck.He followed the YC template and really nailed it.The first slide was the title slide had his contact information.Second slide was the frame-breaker slide:hockey-stick user growth up and to the right;it was amazing.Every slide after that had just a single point on each one.He talked through the problem,the solution,the product,the traction,the team.It was eight slides and he was done.It was one of the best because it was so clean and concise.And got us to a point where we were excited to have a first meeting.If you've got more than15words on a page,cut it down.The only exception to this may be with the founding team and your bio's and your background.This is a place to indulge in a little bit more information so the people are excited about you and working with you.Remember,the point of a pitch deck is not to get you the investment.The point is to get you to meeting.Go back through your deck and apply the principles of essentialism.What is absolutely essential?And I'll give you a hint,it's way less than you think.