Trends: 3 rules for a perfect presentation based on the experience of 100 largest startups
Presium, a creative visualization studio, conducted a large study of the structure of presentations of 100 successful startups from 1999 to 2018 and revealed a number of interesting patterns that will be useful in creating a successful presentation of an idea or project.
But let's start with the main fact that the researchers have established. A compelling presentation is a key negotiating tool to achieve your goals, and the number of slides can make a big difference in your final investment. On average, one slide brought about $480 thousand to the analyzed startups. At the same time, the dependence of the volume of attracted investments on the number of slides was revealed, which is clearly shown in the picture below.
Often, at the initial stage of the search for investors, the company does not have a prototype of its solution. Therefore, it is so important to prepare not just a presentation, but a visual story of the idea with the right focuses. Recommendations for the use of separate semantic blocks are usually repeated and overlap each other. In their study, the Presium team compiled a list of the most common presentation sections to assess how often they were used in a sample of startups.
Rule 1. Plan the number and style of slides. Each of them can bring $500 thousand.
The results were as follows. Project team is the most frequently used section (in 87% of cases). Next come the sections Solution (84%), Market and target audience (81%). The least popular sections were Competitors (33%) and Road map (32%). Despite the fact that the key objective of startup presentations was to attract investments, this section was only in 41% of cases.
The study notes a trend in which, over time, startups began to pay more attention to the description of the business model and financial indicators, leaving aside the uniqueness of the product and the presentation of the team. Every year until 2017, the market and the target audience were studied more and more often. That is, the focus is gradually shifting from describing Who makes the product to How and For Whom it is made.
Rule 2. It is necessary to describe not Who does, but How and For Whom.
Based on a sample of the top 100 startups, the Presium team highlited the following essential elements of any successful presentation: the market, the target audience, and the uniqueness of the product. The most successful companies pay less and less attention to the team, competitors, indicators and decisions.
Thus, before demonstrating a presentation, you need to make sure that it contains information about the market, target audience, and uniqueness of the product. This is exactly what all those who managed to attract investments and become an open company did. Each pitch slide could theoretically bring in about half a million dollars or more. Of course, no one can guarantee this. But it does mean giving the presentation enough attention and time to create the best option for the right accents. It's worth it.
Rule 3. Tell about the market, the target audience and the uniqueness of the idea. The rest can be omitted.
In 2021, the administration of FEZ Grodnoinvest organized and took part in 78 offline and online events. Meetings were held with potential partners and investors from Belarus, Russia, Italy, India, Pakistan, UAE, Poland, Austria, Germany, Japan, Latvia, Hungary, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Denmark and other countries. During this period, more than 10 potential investors visited the investment sites of FEZ Grodnoinvest, 4 of which became new residents of FEZ.
Investors are increasingly choosing Grodno and the Grodno region for business development. Recently, the regional center was recognized as the best among the cities of Belarus, with the exception of the capital, in terms of demographic stability, the quality of the economy and life, social and political practices and tourist attractiveness.