The D-day is coming… Soon you’ll meet potential investors and it will be a breaking point for your great business idea. Your startup pitch will be the most important moment of your professional life, but hey, no pressure. 

We all know that funding and venture rounds are extremely quick because investors evaluate and pick who are they giving their money to, from a large number of entrepreneurs.

1. A Great Logo

A logo is the first impression, and you want to give the right one. Despite you’re not a skilled designer or have no clue on how to make a logo, make an effort to bring your A-game to the pitch. This symbol should represent your startup’s spirit, and also mean something that will change people’s lives for the better. 

When choosing templates, don’t feel bad about it, even the best graphic designers use online tools! It’s the best thing to do if you’re absolutely clueless about how to create a logo to use an online logo generator, such as Placeit's, you’ll get the best result –already created by professional designers– in just a few steps, and without even closing your browser. 

Beforehand, you’d better read these tips to get the best logo design possible:

• Keep it simple. Graphic lines must be clean, and shouldn’t be full of patterns or shapes. 
• Make it meaningful. It should represent something about your startup and relate to it. 
• Have the right shape. Curved shaped logos suggest comfort and nature, whereas sharp, pointy logos stand for durability and innovation. ‍

2. The Right Colors

Every color carries a message, and you should keep this in mind when choosing a palette that suits your brand. 

My first advice would be to avoid striking colors that don’t look great everywhere. For example, if you go for a neon-orange color that looks perfect over a dark background on the screen, it may be portrayed poorly printed on a white canvas. Instead, choose solid primary or secondary colors. 

In case you’re not very familiar with color theory, here it goes: the three primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. When they mix with each other, they create secondary colors, which are orange (yellow + red), purple (red + blue), and green (yellow + blue). 

There are also neutral colors, which include black, white, gray, and browns.

3. An Inspiring Video

Besides having the best visual identity, your goal for this pitch must be to engage people to be part of your startup.

People get involved in projects they believe in, otherwise, they feel they have nothing to do with a cause, or in this case, your business plan. Benefit from visual storytelling to inspire your audience, tell them how this project started, how far you’ve come, and what to expect from in the near future; after all, investors are also looking for a reward if they fund your idea. 

When creating an introductory video, the goal is to hook your audience, and leave them wanting to know more about your project. Take enough time to write a story for it and highlight the most important information: what’s the purpose behind the startup, and how will it grow from now on. 

4. Great Product Photos

Make sure you get professional pictures of your product. If you just have a prototype going on, make sure to display high-quality renders that clearly show textures, sizes, and other attributes.

If you’re hiring a professional photographer to get the job done, ask them to handle every file they take, both the raw material and edited pictures, so you can create a large stock of product photos that you may need in the future. 

For web design, you should optimize the pictures you’ve taken to make them look good, make them easier to index, and load them quickly. For an image on your website or pitch deck, keep it below 800 pixels wide, and set a 92 dpi resolution; all images should be less than 1 MB. 

5. Clear Charts and Graphics

It’s essential for you to portray clear numbers regarding your startup. Try to use high contrasting colors and simple typefaces to explain solid metrics, expected growth, and detailed budgets.

Include concise explanations of what these charts mean and highlight the important numbers, such as the amount you’re asking for funding, precise dates, and business estimations.

6. An Amazing Pitch Deck

Remember you’ll only get a few minutes, so having an eye-catching pitch deck ready is a must. At this point, you can gather all of the elements you previously prepared and deliver the best presentation ever. 

There are many ways to create the perfect pitch deck: you can choose to start from scratch and come up with great ideas from your own, or you can hire a freelancer or a marketing firm to do it online or in person.  Here’s more information on how much it costs to design a pitch deck. 

Don’t stress too much about it, every successful startup has gone through this at the very beginning. Even Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg used a pitch deck back in 2004 when he got a $500,000 fund from Peter Thiel. 

7. Unique Business Cards

Once you’re done talking about your startup and got feedback, hand out high-quality business cards to potential investors, so you can stay in touch. These don’t need to be extravagant or flashy, so you ought to keep them simple, include your logo, full name, website, email, and contact number. 

What Next?

Do you feel ready to pitch after reading this basic guide? Share your thoughts on creating a successful pitch deck! Also, if you have any advice on getting funds, feel free to write something in the comment section.