I recently presented at a SDForum event called “Crafting a Fundable Roadmap“, which included 40+ entrepreneurs and was held in San Francisco.  My presentation was about creating a presentation that is suited for meetings with potential investors.  While there a lot of resources available for creating the “right” pitch presentation, I have my own thoughts as to what should and shouldn’t be included in an initial meeting with an investor.   Given that I meet with hundreds of entrepreneurs a year, I have a sense of what works within a presentation.  The content that I provided is descriptive, so need to summarize that, but wanted to provide a few key takeaways.

1. More slides does not mean you have a better business, 12 slides in more than enough for an initial presentation
2. Do not have more than four bullet points (not sentences) in each slide and don’t read the bullet points to the investor (they can read) elaborate/expand on each bullet point
3. Use visuals when appropriate (customer logos, demo/screen shots,  competitive landscape graphs/charts, financial charts) – no need to flying visuals or complex “builds’
4. Have passion when presenting, this is your company/idea, you should be excited to present

Investor Presentation Template