Oct. 21, 2024

266. From Three Sentences to the Structure of a Solid Pitch, feat. Justin Izzo from Dropbox DocSend

266. From Three Sentences to the Structure of a Solid Pitch, feat. Justin Izzo from Dropbox DocSend
Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Spotify podcast player icon RSS Feed podcast player icon Amazon Music podcast player icon Castbox podcast player icon Castro podcast player icon Deezer podcast player icon Goodpods podcast player icon iHeartRadio podcast player icon Overcast podcast player icon PocketCasts podcast player icon TuneIn podcast player icon
Season 4

Text your thoughts directly to Rich.

If your pitch deck should form an argument, the best way to formulate that argument is by writing it out in three sentences. 

About Justin Izzo
Justin is the Lead Data and Trends Analyst at Dropbox Docsend and trusted insights professional with 15+ years of research and leadership experience. He is the driving force behind DocSend's pitch deck metrics and annual slide-by-slide analysis reports, also hosting pitch deck teardowns to provide founders with actionable next steps. Justin loves designing research and strategies that leverage his unique Ph.D. background in the humanities and social sciences. He has an expert understanding of narrative, language, and culture coupled with a talent for deriving human insights from the social world.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-izzo/

About DocSend
DocSend enables companies to share business-critical documents with ease and get real-time actionable feedback. With DocSend's security and control, startup founders, investors, executives, and business development professionals can build business partnerships that have a lasting impact. Over 30,000 customers of all sizes use DocSend today. Learn more at docsend.com.

About AVL Growth Partners
AVL Growth Partners, founded in 2009, is the leading fractional Finance and Accounting firm supporting organizations in pivoting from growth to scale. AVL brings an experienced team of CFOs, Controllers, and Accountants to your organization, delivering transparent, strategic actions for short and long-term success. Transform your financial approach affordably with AVL, supporting companies coast to coast - get to know AVL Growth Partners at avlgrowth.com. (Sponsored)

About SpringTime Ventures
SpringTime Ventures seeds high-growth startups in healthcare, fintech & insurtech, and logistics & supply chain. We look for founders with domain expertise, forging a path with a truly transformative technology. We only invest in software-based businesses in the USA. We bring a people-focused approach, work quickly, and reach conviction independently. Our initial check size is $600k. You can learn more about us and our approach.     

Transcript
WEBVTT

00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:08.667
This is Rich Maloy with SpringTime Ventures, bringing you the VC Minute, quick advice to help startup founders fundraise better.

00:00:09.271 --> 00:00:12.031
We're going to continue this week with a theme of pitch decks.

00:00:12.531 --> 00:00:16.740
We'll hear a little bit more from Justin, and then I'll wrap up the week with some of my thoughts.

00:00:17.240 --> 00:00:22.451
But first, AVL has fueled the success of over 1200 early stage companies.

00:00:22.951 --> 00:00:32.268
Specializing in raising capital, M&A, financial modeling, scaling, and bringing financial transparency and a disciplined approach to the companies they work with.

00:00:32.768 --> 00:00:40.356
AVL works seamlessly as a member of your team and has the experience to support both VC-backed and bootstrapped companies.

00:00:40.856 --> 00:00:46.226
Head to AVLgrowth.com and explore how they can be pivotal to your growth.

00:00:46.726 --> 00:00:48.076
AVL Growth Partners.

00:00:48.476 --> 00:00:49.496
Your success.

00:00:49.796 --> 00:00:50.996
Their expertise.

00:00:52.046 --> 00:00:59.259
All you can do is build the best possible narrative for your business, for your raise, for a given macro environment.

00:00:59.741 --> 00:01:08.409
This may come down to having a very solid company purpose statement, a very solid problem statement, and a very solid solution statement.

00:01:08.751 --> 00:01:10.575
These can be done on three distinct slides.

00:01:10.575 --> 00:01:12.194
Usually company purpose comes first.

00:01:12.525 --> 00:01:29.635
It's a little more than a slogan and a little bit less than a problem solution, explanation, I like to think of it as a sentence and a half, maybe not two sentences, that communicates, at a high level what you want to achieve, but also much more directly, the kind of problem you're solving and what the stakes are.

00:01:29.885 --> 00:01:36.358
These three slides, all taken together, present The broad stakes of an argument for a pitch deck.

00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:38.418
Our company has a broad purpose.

00:01:38.528 --> 00:01:39.709
We want to do X.

00:01:39.759 --> 00:01:44.239
If we are wildly successful, make hundreds of millions of dollars, this is what we can achieve in the world.

00:01:44.679 --> 00:01:49.590
In so doing, we are addressing a specific business problem and proposing a very specific business solution.

00:01:50.168 --> 00:01:50.567
Period.

00:01:51.007 --> 00:01:55.531
These are three sentences that one could, frankly should, write out by hand.

00:01:55.540 --> 00:01:56.662
I like to write things by hand.

00:01:57.162 --> 00:02:01.552
But these can be your thesis statement for the pitch deck, but really about your business as a whole.

00:02:02.001 --> 00:02:11.012
it's also about focusing your thinking about the business, and many founders also need that, especially at the earliest stages, where they might be running with an idea and a prayer and a good team.

00:02:11.512 --> 00:02:17.508
Now, from there, what founders should do is, okay, what are the best points of support for this argumentation.

00:02:17.518 --> 00:02:29.360
Well, our team is perfectly set up to solve this business problem because we worked at x company on these kinds of problems before, and have spun out to do a completely different, company, but solve similar problems.

00:02:29.631 --> 00:02:34.881
if that is your best selling point, start with the team slide, and go from there, but make this architecture apparent.

00:02:35.066 --> 00:02:37.126
to yourself before putting it in a pitch deck.

00:02:37.645 --> 00:02:44.515
I always suggest writing it up by hand, simply because you can see very visually, the relationships between the parts of the pitch deck and the sections.

00:02:44.846 --> 00:02:46.495
So we start with three sections up, top.

00:02:46.514 --> 00:02:47.574
This is our main argument.

00:02:47.854 --> 00:02:49.064
And then traction.

00:02:49.145 --> 00:02:50.044
Traction says this.

00:02:50.085 --> 00:02:51.275
How does it relate back to the argument?

00:02:51.634 --> 00:02:52.724
Team says this.

00:02:52.935 --> 00:02:54.254
How does it relate back to the argument?

00:02:54.909 --> 00:03:07.569
What you put on these individual slides might vary, but it should relate back architecturally, to those three sentences that really set the tone for the deck and shape the argumentation to come.

00:03:08.437 --> 00:03:24.007
One reason I really advise founders to do this by hand, is because it forces the information into your brain and you can see, and you are invested in drawing out the relationships between these sections in ways that many founders, don't always think of in advance.

00:03:24.276 --> 00:03:28.637
For the same reason that they aren't necessarily thinking about, their own assumptions about the market side.

00:03:28.796 --> 00:03:35.067
They're too close and they take for granted that everyone sees their argument about their business as clearly as they do.

00:03:35.477 --> 00:03:50.586
And this is why, really forcing that pen to paper moment, to happen helps founders get it all out, onto a page, but also shows them that there are clear relationships, between these pitch deck sections and sub arguments, through which founders can draw a narrative thread.