Common mistakes in pre-seed/seed decks and pitches

A big part of being a VC is receiving hundreds of decks and pitches. Founders pour hours and hours into a pitch deck but often one mistake can ruin your chances of securing funding. 

I have written up the most common mistakes that I have seen in pre-seed/seed startup decks and pitches in 2024. 

Before we dive in, here is a great guide by YC for building your seed round pitch deck. 

To clarify, the list below is mostly applicable if you are raising venture capital (particularly from firms with LP/GP structures):  

1. “We are [insert jargon, buzzword, hype term] and [will change the world]” 

Investors see a large volume of decks and therefore, you need to be memorable. Help investors quickly understand the problem that you are solving, why and how. 

This is also an opportunity to showcase your ability to explain complex concepts in a simple and digestible manner. This is a crucial skill for fundraising, hiring, and sales. You should be able to explain what you do to your grandparents; as well as get into the technical details when needed, but start with the former. 

2. Not mentioning the founders (and other notable team members)

Early stage investors are mainly backing the team. Ideas and products evolve with market feedback and customer insights, but in the early days, the team is the constant and for most startups, it is their biggest asset. 

We are looking for the team that will weather challenges and figure things out so tell us who you are and why you are the best people to solve the problem that you are solving. 

During the pitch, talk about your team’s story and why you chose to work with each other (don’t just ramble through your CV but talk about how you work well with each other as well). Another key risk that investors are looking to mitigate is co-founder breakup risk so speak about why your co-founder relationship is durable. 

3. “We were founded in 2019 and are now ready to raise our pre-seed round” 

The only advantage startups have is speed. Therefore, investors are looking for founders with a strong sense of urgency. If your startup has been around for 4+ years and you are now raising a pre-seed/seed round without meaningful traction, explain why. What are the non-revenue milestones that you have achieved in that time? Help investors understand why you are now at an inflection point and will see meaningful growth from here. 

For example, if you are a deep tech company, you could be grant-funded, achieved significant technical milestones, and are now ready to commercialise and need to raise to do so rapidly. 

Or perhaps, you were bootstrapped, went through a significant pivot, and the current form of your company has only been around for 1.5 years. The main point here is to avoid giving the impression that you are slow (and are happy being so). 

4. “We will go for a trade sale in Year 4 for £80M” 

If you are raising from VCs, it is important to have a high level understanding of fund maths. A trade sale for £80M means that investors who put in £1M for 10% in the Seed round will make <8x return (with dilution); this is not a good return for a VC. 

Additionally, it shows mismatched expectations in ambition. VCs are looking for founders with transformative ideas, long term views, and an ambition to build multi-billion dollar companies. Not all companies need to have that outcome, but VC-backed ones need to have the potential to have that outcome.  

5. Sending a 30 page deck 

There are no prizes for the longest deck. If you send a deck to an investor, the purpose is to get a meeting, in which you go through the details that they’re interested in. 

A deck with repetitive content shows a lack of confidence in your messaging. A punchy 5-12 page deck is what you should be aiming for. 

6. Pitching on auto-pilot

This might be the 30th person you’re pitching to, but for a VC, it’s the first time we’re hearing about your startup. A common mistake is to show how jaded you are by switching into auto-pilot and going through your rehearsed pitch slide-by-slide.

So much time in pitches is spent getting founders and investors on the same page. Help investors get there faster with clear and concise language such that you can have a more meaningful discussion. Leave room for flexibility, keep it conversational, and dive into the areas that the investor is most interested in or has most concerns about. 

7. “We are the only company that exists” 

The need for a competitor slide is often debated. If you are to include it, it should be with an aim to help investors get up to speed on the landscape quickly, not to say “we are the only ones”. There are very few cases where this is true. If you do that when it isn’t true, it shows a lack of understanding of the market or hubris - both are red flags for VCs.

8. A complicated cap table; worse still, founders own <50% 

As we are mainly investing in people, it is hard to invest in a company where the founders own a minority of the business. We want to ensure that founders are sufficiently incentivised to build the company for the long run (7-10 years). Further, if an advisor has too much ownership, it raises questions as to whether the company is overly reliant on advisors / the founders haven’t sought the right advice before making such a significant decision that is giving away large chunks of their equity. 

Hopefully this is helpful for founders putting together a deck or pitching investors. Good luck!