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HZN Demo Day Pitch Deck Template & Prep

Step-By-Step Guide To Framing Your Pitch

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Reminders

Each team will have 5 minutes to present (this is a hard stop!)
Be ready to share your screen and present, find a quiet place with a strong wifi connection.
This will be livestreamed. Only share what you are comfortable distributing to a public audience.
We’ll send your information to the NEAR Backer Network immediately following demo day.
HZN2 demo day schedule

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Pre-Reads

Before moving forward, please take time to read and review the following resources:

The 23 Rules of Storytelling For Fundraising
Storytelling 101 (HZN Accelerator Module)
The Art of Deckmaking
A Template to Write Out Your Fundraising Pitch Narrative

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GOOD DECKS TELL STORIES

The goal is to get the audience to say “tell me more”.

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The TL;DR

Limit to 10-15 slides max.
If you can’t, your narrative is likely not concise. The longer the deck, the more likely you are to lose the attention of the audience.
What you need to articulate

You have identified a target customer with a painful need
You can serve the need with a product that earns a profit
The market is large enough to build a unicorn-scale company
The moat you will grow to protect your position and profits

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Company Name

Company Tagline

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The Vision

Include a vision statement that articulates your company’s impact 10 years from now.

Grab attention. Open the mind to big possibilities. What is the future world that you imagine?

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This Is A Painful Problem

On this slide, describe the searing customer pain.
What is the current solution? Why doesn’t it work?
Why is it broken? How do you know this to be true?
(Use this as an opportunity to showcase your unique insight on the market - teach us something!)

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You’ve Got A Solution

Explain your product (remove any technical jargon, be simplistic on the “what” - if this is unclear, you will lose the audience.)
Articulate the value proposition (why does this product matter?)
Demonstrate the impact on your customer (and who this product matters to)
Quantify the impact in dollars / time saved, etc. (why customers will choose you over your competitors)

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The Team

Name & Title

Quantify Your Experience

Consider adding school logos
Consider adding company logos

Name & Title

Quantify Your Experience

Consider adding school logos
Consider adding company logos

Show why YOU are the team to do this.

Emphasize your differentiation as an N = 1 Founder.

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The Market

Describe your market / target customer persona.

How big is the market? What are the market forces / drivers?

What makes this market venture scale? How will you break in (market wedge)?

Vestibulum congue

Market Segment 1

Market Segment 2

Market Segment 3

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Business Model

How does your company make money?
How is your product or service priced?
What are the unit economics that allow this business model to work?

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Competition

Frame the competition—who are the key players, how are you differentiated?

	Feature #1	Feature #2	Feature #3
Your Company	√	√	√
Competitor #1	√	X	√
Competitor #2	√	X	X

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Go To Market

Who is your target customer?

What is your customer acquisition approach?

What are key drivers and potential milestones?

Have you run any tests to validate your assumptions?

Our Wedge

Q1

How We Kick Start Growth

Q2

How We Win In The Market

Q4

How We Scale

Q3

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Product

Include pictures of your current product, and/or mockups of where you plan to be.
A picture is worth 1,000 words. Show, don’t tell.
What milestones are important for your product roadmap?
What is the timing of your product development efforts and feature releases?

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Make A Clear Ask!

How much have you raised to date?

How much are you seeking to raise in this round?

What will you do with the funds

Key hires
Product improvements
Traction and milestones

How long will your funds last?

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Appendix

This is where you include the details!

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Appendix

Advisors
Detailed Product Roadmap
Product Demo
Tokenomics (if applicable)
Financials
Customer Testimonials
Market Sizing / Market Research
Etc.