270. A Smaller Deck With Less Information Artwork

VC Minute

Quick advice to help startup founders fundraise better. Founders, do you feel like you're fundraising on an uneven playing field? You are. The VC minute is here to help you level up. Venture capitalists navigate pitches and negotiate investments every day. They know the ins and outs and are up-to-date on the current funding environment. But as a founder, it may be your first foray into fundraising, and no matter how much success you've had in other areas nothing truly prepares you for the fundraising journey. The VC Minute was created to help founders close this gap. While it may seem like securing an investment at the seed stage is mostly driven by luck, there are steps founders can take to increase the odds of successfully raising a round. And that's what we're going to cover on the VC Minute through a series of short episodes. I'm going to share with you insights to help navigate the seed stage financing dynamics. I'm Rich Maloy, Managing Partner at SpringTime Ventures with 25 years business experience a dozen years in the startup ecosystem. I've applied my experience from sales, finance, and venture investing, to help startup founders fundraise better.

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VC Minute

270. A Smaller Deck With Less Information

October 25, 2024 • Rich Maloy • Season 4 • Episode 270

Text your thoughts directly to Rich.

Don't answer every question in your deck. Give just enough information to pique curiosity.

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.

Rich: 0:01

Closing out this week with pitch deck advice, I'm going to circle back around to season one, episode 26 of the VC Minute: The Deck Gets the Meeting. The point of the pitch deck is not to get an investment. The point is to get a meeting. You don't have to answer every question in your pitch deck. In fact, you don't want to answer every question. What you need to do is tell your story, pique the investor's curiosity and make it impossible for them to not reach out, to learn more. That is the point of the pitch deck. What I think happens to a lot of founders is they go out and they share their pitch deck and they get feedback. Oh, you didn't include this? Well, what about this? What about this piece? And what about that piece? And I didn't understand this, and you should definitely have that slide in your deck. If you ask 20 people about your pitch deck, you're going to get 20 different opinions. And you're going to end up with 20 slides. What you need to remember, you have maximum number of slides. Let's call it somewhere between eight and 12 slides. No matter how many different people are telling you, you need more and more slides, I'm here to tell you, and Justin was here to tell you, you need fewer slides, with less information. That's all for this week. As always, time is our most precious asset. I'm grateful that you would spend some of it with us this week. And I'm grateful for AVL Growth Partners For supporting the VC minute. Why go fractional? Picture this: a CFO with an average of 19 years of senior finance CFO experience, alongside controllers and accountants with 15 years under their belts. This isn't just bookkeeping. It's the expertise your company needs to navigate economic challenges. If you want to take your company to the next level and need the experience required to make it happen. Visit AVL growth.com right now.

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Rich Maloy

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