Succinct and Clear
Two powerful takeaway from interviewing Antler Malaysia
Day zero investing, the words that caught my eyes and a recent networking session has given me an opportunity to speak with Antler, early stage global venture capital firm partnering with Khazanah, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund in bringing impact to the local startup scene. In spirit of that, today’s post is about the key takeaway on pitch decks from our interview with Antler Malaysia.
Context - Day Zero
Day zero is a very powerful statement in my opinion, as it tells me, they will fund your startup even at its infancy. My first thought? Your pitch deck better be sending a heck of a message to be able to persuade someone for funding when you have limited supporting information such as traction. My second thought, I had to ask them on their views about pitch decks!
Don’t Use Too Much Jargon
…whether this startup is succinct in delivering their message in the pitch deck.
One of the key takeaways from the interview when asked about the filtering process when receiving a deck is to see if the information is succinct. Succinct is defined as briefly and clearly expressed. It was revealed to Omni that a convoluted deck may do more harm to the pitch as the jargon show that the founder(s) is not able to articulate in an easily understandable manner hence may be a precursor to the lack of understanding in the subject manner.
If you can't explain it to a six-year old, you don't understand it yourself. - Albert Einstein
As Albert Einstein once said, “If you can't explain it to a six-year old, you don't understand it yourself.” This seems to have stood the test of time and is still relevant even when drafting pitch decks.
You Want People To Remember Things From Your Deck
Venture capitals and private equity firms go through a lot of pitch decks in their day to day work. Making it easy to go through in about FIVE minutes would help them to recall your startup and proceed to further discussions. What makes a deck easy to go through?
Content: Succinct
Balance between use of graphics and words but not too short like in a presentation.
Aesthetically pleasing.
Be wary of writing essays in a pitch deck as it would be too dense and discourage them to read through while being too short and lack of content would not get the message across.
Keeping it Succinct Throughout
Keeping things brief and clear is not just limited to the problem/solution statements but a tip that has to be applied throughout the entirety of your 10-12 slides pitch deck. Do follow our page for more tips on startup as we expose more from our interview with VCs and PE Firms!
If you’re a startup founder check out Antler Residency!
Antler Residency
Through the Antler Residency, founders would receive intense one-on-one coaching to help them through the ideation process and validation execise, including guidance on how to improve their pitch. If you are looking to build your startup with Antler, one of the most active early stage investors globally, you can apply to their Residency program at https://www.antler.co/location/malaysia
Their 2nd cohort starts in April 2024.