At TechCrunch Disrupt, three investors took to the stage to analyze what constitutes a pitch deck and what goes into it. Jyoti Bansal, founder turned investor. Defy's Medha Agarwal. and Jennifer Neundorfer of January Ventures shared their candid thoughts with the audience about what works and what doesn't in pitch decks.
What is their biggest complaint? Too many buzzwords.
Agarwal said the more a founder says about AI in their pitch, the less likely the company will use it. “People who are doing really innovative things talk about it and it's built in, but it's not the core of their pitch,” she told the audience.
Mr. Bansal, who founded and sold several companies before becoming an investor, distilled investor expectations into three key questions. First, ask if there is a large enough market to address. Does the founder's idea have the potential to become a huge company? And is the problem he or she is trying to solve actually worth solving?
The second thing investors want to know is why this founder should start the company. “There has to be something unique about you,” Bansal told the crowd, adding that this includes having a special member of the founding team or having special skills. “Why would you win? If the problem is interesting, there are probably 20 other companies trying to solve it. So why would you win? And what opportunities do you have?”
Bansal said the third thing investors want to see is some validation. “It’s traction with customers,” he said. “Validation can be initial customer feedback, revenue, etc., but it’s some kind of validation.”
Bansal noted that all three of these questions lead to the ultimate litmus test: “Can this become a billion-dollar company?”
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The panel discussion also addressed how AI startups can differentiate themselves as the field becomes saturated. Mr. Bansal emphasized the importance of domain expertise and a clear competitive strategy. Neundorfer said the companies that interest her are those that enable new behaviors, not just incremental improvements to existing processes.
Agarwal said they need to provide more tactical advice to founders and explain how AI technology will enable their products. Articulate a clear go-to-market strategy. and demonstrate how your business can be more efficient than incumbents.
It's also very important to be honest about what competitors exist, she added. Some “lost faith in me because it wasn't on the slides,” she told the founders in the audience.
Finally, investors shared advice for navigating the rapidly evolving situation. Agarwal urged founders to stay abreast of developments in the industry. Neundorfer recommended staying connected to founder networks to share tools and insights.
Bansal's advice was simpler: “Focus on building the product.”