Tips, tricks and insight.

Pitch Deck

Teams competing in the finals will give a 4 minute pitch using a Pitch Deck (google slides).

Download the official IEC Pitch Deck template. This template is a guide on what slides are required.

1. PROBLEM: Try and distill your customer’s problem down to its simplest form.
2. SOLUTION: Explain exactly what your product or service is.
3. MARKET OPPORTUNITY: Explain exactly who your target audience is and how you intend to acquire customers.
4. TEAM: Why are you and your partners the right team?
5. GO-TO-MARKET: Describe your competition and exactly what is unique about your product or service.
6. FINANCIAL MODEL (HOW WILL YOU MAKE MONEY?): What is your revenue model?  What kind of expenses will you incur?
7. PROGRESS TO DATE: Talk about what your venture has accomplished, upcoming goals and when you plan to achieve them.

Pitch Tips

1. You only have 4 minutes for your pitch.  Choose the best way to convey your unique solution in this short period of time.
2. Turn your pitch into a story.
3. Be laser focused and wildly enthusiastic.
4. Practice! Practice! Practice! Practice! Practice! Practice!

Tips From Past Judges

1. Assign a team member to capture judge feedback and questions.
2. Spend more time pitching your idea and less time on problem definitions and team introductions.
3. Focus on the value proposition.
4. Be prepared and laser focused.
5. Practice, practice and practice your pitch again!

Possible Judge Questions

These are examples of questions the judges might ask. Try to think of other questions. Be prepared!

• What proof is there that this is a real problem?
• What proof is there that this is the right solution?
• What is your defensibility? (i.e. Why won’t an existing company do this? What can you do it better and/or faster?)
• How big is the market? (i.e. How many people can potentially use this solution?)
• What will be your phases of product and business development?
• How will you monetize and scale?
• Why is now the right time to solve the problem?
• Why is your team the one who can pull this off?

Problem

Problems slide: It’s very picture oriented. They used a solid background picture and minimal text to tell their story.
The slide complements the pitch, not vice versa -Like the following:

Solution

Solution Slides should not be wordy. Pictures of your product or service help. A simple break down of your solution’s process can help too. The following are good examples:

Market Opportunity

Market opportunity should generally include, TAM, SAM, SOM (learn more). Most pitches will highlight the overall market and then specify the market (and size) they are initially trying to target. Examples include:

Team

Solution Slides should not be wordy. Pictures of your product or service help. A simple break down of your solution’s process can help too. The following are good examples:

Go-To-Market

Go-to-market slides should help judges understand how you plan to launch and grow your idea. This slide can also be used as a “what’s next” slide. Examples include:

Financials

Financials slides make or break teams. This “section” of the pitch can be broken down into multiple sections.

After hearing your pitch, judges should:

1. Understand your business model (i.e How do you make money)?
2. How does your revenue compare against your company expenses?
3. What does your financial growth projections look like?

Progress

Traction slides should show what you have already done, not what you will do. Examples include: