This template has been carefully crafted to help entrepreneurs, startups, and small business owners create a professional and compelling pitch deck that will help them secure funding, build relationships with investors, and grow their businesses.
With a focus on simplicity and ease of use, this free template is perfect for anyone who wants to make a big impact with their pitch deck, regardless of their design experience. So, whether you're an entrepreneur looking to take your business to the next level, or a small business owner looking to expand your reach, this template is sure to be a valuable resource for you.
Canva is a popular online platform for design and publishing aimed at non-designers. But did you know Canva wasn't their first name? It started off as Fusion Books Online Publishing System. That's a mouthful!
Their first pitch deck helped them raise $6.6M in a Seed round. However, we noticed that this presentation felt too dull. Like it was for a high school assignment instead of an investor pitch. It needs to be sooo much more visual, so much more engaging! After all, these guys are selling design, so the presentation has to reflect those values all the way through.
And they knew this too, so they changed their pitch deck four times to keep raising funds.
A well-crafted pitch deck can help secure funding and attract top talent, while a poorly constructed deck can send investors running in the other direction. Such was the case with Canva when they first began seeking funding. However, through a process of trial and error, they were able to turn their pitch deck around and secure the funding they needed to grow their business.
At the beginning of their fundraising journey, Canva made several mistakes that hindered their progress. For starters, they didn't include any information about their revenue in the deck, despite experiencing 100% year-over-year growth. Additionally, they used a straight-line revenue prediction, which is not an accurate representation of industry-based financial projections.
Another issue was their concern about intellectual property theft. They labeled their deck as "strictly confidential" and asked potential investors to sign NDAs. This can send a red flag to investors, who may feel the company does not trust them or have a solid enough idea to protect it.
Finally, the timeline for their projections was unrealistic and not backed by any solid data. All these factors together made it hard for them to convince any investors to fund their company.
But as they kept working on the deck, they made some much-needed improvements. Firstly, they added a "Gap in the market" slide, highlighting their unique selling points and how they differentiated from their competitors. This helped them to clearly communicate the value of their product.
Another great improvement they made was the inclusion of a "Pro Design" slide. This slide provided information on the costs of designing anything and the value of the design industry. It also had an infographic that explained the design process, which helped to educate investors on the industry and Canva's place in it.
To address the tough questions from investors, they also iterated their deck to put the most difficult questions at the front of the deck, so they could address them head-on rather than avoid them.
Lastly, they added more traction to the deck, showing their growth and traction numbers to help demonstrate that their product was in demand. This was an important step, as it helped to show that the company was not just a pipe dream but a viable business.
