In just a few In just a few short years, Vise has evolved from starting out on the Disrupt Battlefield stage to being a unicorn. Co-founders Samir Vasavada and Runik Mehrotra met Sequoia’s Shaun Maguire at an after party, and Maguire led a seed and Series A round while Sequoia led the Series B. Last week, Vise increased its Series C from $ 65 million and it was officially worth $ 1 billion after the money.
A good pitch deck is short and simple, and covers key points in less than 12 words per slide.
We sat down with Vasavada and Maguire to talk about the early fundraising process for Vise, especially the startup round, and to look at the startup’s first pitch deck. We discussed what Vasavada learned about providing a good fundraising pitch and what makes the pitch and product stand out for Maguire.
Simplicity is the key
Vasavada says he has made dozens of pitch decks since Vise launched, and that this early deck wasn’t his best because it tried to do too much.
“A good pitch deck is short and simple, and covers key points in less than 12 words per slide,” said Vasavada, adding that many founders feel they need to show investors every part of their business.
“The deck needs to show that you are solving an important problem, that you have figured out your path to an important solution, that there is a great market opportunity, and that your team is able to execute it,” he said. “Those are the only four things that matter. Everything else can be discussed in the questions and answers. “
The aim of a pitch meeting is not to get the “yes” immediately and to satisfy every curiosity, but rather to give the investor something to think about and a reason to have another conversation.
Vasavada explained to the audience that this early seed deck was certainly too detailed and too text-heavy. (You can check out the entire deck below.)
Why is this product going to be successful right now?
In addition to the problem, the solution, the market and the team, there is an additional X-factor that influences the pitching for fundraising.
Timing can make a start or break. Incredible ideas that belong to the largest companies in the world fizzled out and died because they were too early.