u/IndependentTasty2510

Quick context, I'm an early stage investor now and sit through 10-15 pitches a day. Putting this together to hopefully save founders and investors alike a bit of time and some back and forth.

Slide 1: Team

This one matters most. Investors are betting on the people, not just the idea. Show relevant background, technical skill, and why your team specifically is positioned to pull this off. Building a fintech product and you've got a finance or banking background? Say it clearly. Make the case for why you're the right person for this.

Slide 2: Problem

Skip the product description here and get into the pain point. Why is this bad enough that people will actually pay to fix it? Keep it simple and skip the jargon.

Slide 3: Why Now?

Timing is a real factor. Point to a shift, whether it's consumer behavior, technology like AI, or regulation, that makes this the right moment to build.

Slide 4: Solution

Stay simple here. What's the product, and why does it beat what's already out there?

Slide 5: Market Size

Skip throwing out a $100B number with nothing behind it. A cleaner method: multiply your potential customer count by your price point. Charging $3,000 for a SaaS product with 1,000 target firms gets you to $3,000,000. You want this landing above a billion ideally.

Slide 6: Business Model

Explain how the money comes in, subscriptions, commissions, SaaS fees, marketplace cuts. Keep it plain.

Slide 7: Competition

Not about claiming you're the only player out there. Show you understand the space and where you stand apart. A simple quadrant or matrix works well here.

Slide 8: Traction

Lay out what you've actually accomplished, revenue, user counts, anything real. An idea alone won't get you funded. Pilot users, a waitlist, revenue, usage data, anything showing real demand.

Slide 9: The Ask

State the amount and what it gets you. Something like: "Raising $50,000 to reach $150k in revenue within 12 months."

Slide 10: Roadmap

Show what's coming over the next 12-18 months, milestones, launches, hiring plans, anything you're targeting before the next raise.

Notes:

- Keep every slide short and direct

- Don't overload slides with text or data

- Stay within 10-12 slides total

- Use pitch simulators like chαtvisor beforehand to get feedback and practice the Q&A

- The goal is convincing investors this could become a company worth hundreds of millions

So many grad students in my program basically read straight off their slides word for word, you can tell they're just reciting a script. I used to do this too, and my mentor called me out on it.

I was genuinely annoyed about it for a full week, I didn't really get why, I felt like being well prepared wasn't a bad thing. But thinking about it more, the best presentations I've ever sat through never felt scripted, I couldn't even tell if the person was working off notes or not. I'm working on this skill now. Prep obviously still matters, but learning to present without leaning on the slides is part of that prep too. I've got an important presentation coming up in two weeks, and instead of only fine tuning the slide details, I've started practicing presenting without my notes with a few friends. I've also been using presentation simulator(chαtvisor) on the side to run through it and get feedback.

When I brought this up to my classmates though, a lot of them pushed back a bit. Some said they genuinely deal with presentation anxiety, so leaning on the slides isn't wrong for them, we're researchers presenting our work, not doing a TED talk.

But I still think you should know your project well enough that you could talk through it clearly without looking at any notes at all.

Curious what everyone thinks.

So many grad students in my program basically read straight off their slides word for word, you can tell they're just reciting a script. I used to do this too, and my mentor called me out on it.

I was genuinely annoyed about it for a full week, I didn't really get why, I felt like being well prepared wasn't a bad thing. But thinking about it more, the best presentations I've ever sat through never felt scripted, I couldn't even tell if the person was working off notes or not. I'm working on this skill now. Prep obviously still matters, but learning to present without leaning on the slides is part of that prep too. I've got an important presentation coming up in two weeks, and instead of only fine tuning the slide details, I've started practicing presenting without my notes with a few friends. I've also been using presentation simulator(chαtvisor) on the side to run through it and get feedback.

When I brought this up to my classmates though, a lot of them pushed back a bit. Some said they genuinely deal with presentation anxiety, so leaning on the slides isn't wrong for them, we're researchers presenting our work, not doing a TED talk.

But I still think you should know your project well enough that you could talk through it clearly without looking at any notes at all.

Curious what everyone thinks

Public speaking is actually really easy if you don't respect a single soul in that room. I've had an incredibly easy time delivering speeches when I hated everybody I saw and they all thought I did amazing because my disdain was read as confidence. I don't have any tips for you I'm just telling you a fact.

Hi, I started my first job out of university as a project manager in IT, been here about five months now. Over the last month I've been attending more high stakes meetings with stakeholders and even leading some myself. I get really anxious before these meetings and honestly just feel socially awkward in general.

In two days we've got some clients coming in for a workshop and I'm really nervous about it. I don't want to come across as stupid or awkward.

Does this kind of thing get easier with time?

Hi, I started my first job out of university as a project manager in IT, been here about five months now. Over the last month I've been attending more high stakes meetings with stakeholders and even leading some myself. I get really anxious before these meetings and honestly just feel socially awkward in general.

In two days we've got some clients coming in for a workshop and I'm really nervous about it. I don't want to come across as stupid or awkward.

Does this kind of thing get easier with time?

I recently quit my mid-senior role, but I’m stuck in a miserable 3-month notice period and cannot properly disengage.

My boss keeps asking me to kick off brand new projects with 6-month timelines. He acts as if he completely forgot I leave in 90 days. There is absolutely zero transition planning. I manage a team of five, and they have no clue who will lead them. HR is pointless and has no answers either; they haven't even decided if they will replace me.

I’m already checked out, but it’s mentally exhausting to pretend to care about these long-term initiatives. I’d much rather spend my remaining time handing over knowledge to my team so they aren't screwed when I leave.

How do I navigate a boss who is in total denial about my departure?