Ackerson, Pete, 130
acquisition strategies, 36
active voice, 67
advisers, 167
Allis, Ryan, 82
analogies, in elevator pitches, 18
Andersen, Fred, 176
angel investors, 1, 10, 148, 154, 158–163
AngelList, 3, 159–161, 194, 221
Arison, George, 118
Aristotle, 173
articles of incorporation, 220, 221
The Art of Game Design (Schell), 199
how to make, 212
progress updates after, 215–218
scripting and practicing, 213
types of, 214
assumptions
articulating in pitch decks, 14
in financial models, 31
in industry stories, 47
testing/iterating critical, 11–12
traction slides on, 24
background profile template, 195
background slides, 37
The Back of the Napkin (Roam), 62
Ballard, Jason, 130
Band, Zvi, 86
beachhead markets, 27
beaming review pitch, 138
Beekman, Jonathan, 110
Bieber, Justin, 47
binding, 72
biographies, 32
Blah, Blah, Blah (Roam), 62
Blakely, Dave, 167
Blank, Steve, 11
blueprints, 37
body language, 141, 192, 193, 214
boldness, 17
Boosted Boards, 204
bootstrapping, 146
borrowing money, 146
Borsje, Stefan, 106
branding slides, 35
breakeven points, 31
building relationships, 169, 170, 189–201
finding commonalities and, 197–198
handling objections of, 201
listening and asking questions in, 198–199
perspective taking in, 192–193
burn rate, 31
Burt, Ronald S., 177
Business Model Canvas, 37
business models
improving by committing to paper, 14
in pitch decks, 10
business processes, 28
bylaws, 221
capital, types of, 4
capital tables, 221
Cappaert, Tony, 86
Carbonella, Jeff, 86
case studies, 37
Cassanego, Tony, 90
venture growth story of, 47–49
charts, 62
Chegg, 179
Chi-Hua, Chien, 144
Christensen, Clayton, 27
CircleUp, 156
clarity
from good design, 54
in overview slides, 17
in text, 67
in use of funds slides, 34
close-ups, 60
clusters, in social graphs, 178
coffee shop pitch, 140
commonalities, finding, 170, 195, 197–198
competitive advantages, 28, 29, 37
conclusion slides, 38
confidence
asks and, 211
industry stories and, 46
showing, 196
in teams, 32
consistency, in financial projections, 30
Contee, Caen, 82
for data visualizations, 61
writing style and, 66
contingencies, 213
cost breakdowns, 30
cover slides, 16
Cozzens, Cory, 78
crash points, 59
Creative Market, 61
crowdfunding, 10, 147, 154, 156
customers
acquisition stategy for, 36
describing, 25
differentiating, 26
in elevator pitches, 18
financial projections on, 30
pitch decks for, 10
quotes by, 37
storytelling about, 21, 43–45, 52
use cases for, 22
Dastoor, Sanjay, 204
data visualizations, 54, 55, 61
Death to the Stock Photo, 60–61
debt, 146
Delaware C corporations, 220
delighting investors, 171, 203–208
data visualizations in, 54, 61
elements of, 54
format in, 68
images and photography in, 54, 59–61
product design/blueprint slides, 37
what not to do in, 54
what to do in, 55
Diamandis, Peter, 167
differentiation
of customers, 26
slides on, 36
Dorsey, Jack, 47
Dos Equis, 196
drunk Hemingway pitch, 139
d.school pitch frameworks, 137–139
Duarte, Nancy, 50–51, 53, 56, 57, 61
due diligence, 12, 159, 160, 220–221
DuPont, 11
Eisner, Michael, 69
e-mail scripts, 4
for building trust, 183
for following up after meetings, 206
for introductions, 184–186, 187
employees
recruiting, 10
training in PowerPoint, 12
entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship
definition of, 224
difficulty of, 225
numbers of, 3
as problem solving, 21
equity, selling, 147
equity-based crowdfunding, 156
equity financing agreements, 149–151
executive summaries, 35
exit slides, 37
exit strategies, 37
Eyerly, Wade, 78
Farnsworth, Reed, 78
e-mail script for, 183
handling objections and, 201
Feld, Brad, 149
financial history, 221
financial literacy, 30
500 Startups, 157
flowcharts, 63
founders, common mistakes by, 74, 78, 82, 86, 90, 94, 98, 102, 106, 110, 114, 118, 122, 126, 130
frequently asked questions (FAQs) slides, 34, 201
Friedman, Jonathan, 98
friends and family, funding from, 10, 155
friendships, 5
building with investors, 191
from angel investors, 1, 10, 148, 154, 158–163
creating connections and, 45–47
crowdfunding, 10, 147, 154, 156
equity financing agreements and, 149–151
from friends and family, 10, 155
friendships in, 5
history of for startups, 10–13
questions to ask before, 166
snares in, 168
through borrowing, 146
through donations, 147
through profits, 146
through selling equity, 147
types of capital in, 4
unexpected miracles in, 5
from venture capital firms, 10, 12, 148–149, 154, 164
Gaal, Robert, 106
GM, 11
Goldsmith, Jonathan, 196
Gong, Sam, 110
go-to-market strategy, 37
Graham, Kevin, 130
gridlines, 56
growth plans, 36
growth stage, 154
Gust, 221
haiku pitch, 139
hard charger asks, 219
venture growth story of, 47–49
Haughey, Chris, 126
Haughey, Will, 126
Heath, Chip, 212
Heath, Dan, 212
Heddleston, Russ, 90
hero’s journey stories, 42, 43
The Hero with a Thousand Faces (Campbell), 43
hockey-stick graphs, 24
Hopkins, Adam, 176
how it works slides, 36
hue, 58
iContact, 82
IDEO, 167
images and photography, 35–36, 54, 58, 59–61
as backgrounds, 61
charts, 62
flowcharts, 63
maps, 62
portraits, 62
resolution of, 61
timelines, 63
improvisation, 193
incorporation, 220
industry knowledge, 28
Ingersoll, Minnie, 118
intellectual property, 28
interactive demonstrations, 22
introductions, 169, 170, 173–187
creating great, 187
e-mail scripts for, 183, 184–186, 187
knowledge/relationship gaps and, 180–181
luck surface area and, 179
trust building in, 182
investment highlight slides, 35
angel, 1, 10, 148, 154, 158–163
asks to, 34
building relationships with, 169, 170, 189–201
crowdfunding and, 10, 147, 154, 156
demonstrating traction to, 24
finding commonalities with, 170, 195, 197–198
handling objections of, 201
importance of design to, 53–54
intriguing with elevator pitches, 18
name and needs lists on, 180–181
perspective taking by, 192–193
risk aversion of, 11
venture capital, 10, 12, 148–149, 154, 164
invitation, in the friendship loop, 171, 209–222
planning, 212
progress updates after, 215–218
scripting and practicing, 213
irony, 18
jargon, 67
Jedi Mind Trick exercise, 136
Johnson, Steven, 177
judgment, demonstrating sober, 29
Keynote documents, 72
Knutson, Morgan, 118
Koslow, Dave, 90
Kristof, Nicholas, 46
LaVoy, Anima Sarah, 82
lawyers, 221
Lean Canvas, 37
The Lean Startup (Ries), 11
learning, 35
Lee, Paul, 13
Levitt, Ted, 18
LinkedIn, 221
liquidation preference, 150
location slides, 36
Loomis, Evan, 130, 191, 198, 205
luck surface area, 179
Lyft, 224
Maples, Mike, 159
maps, 62
Marcyes, Jay, 94
margins, 54
markets
beachhead, 27
defining, 25
problem slides on, 21
served addressable, 27
McCandless, David, 55
McCloud, Scott, 53
McClure, Dave, 159
McDaniel, Michael, 114
McLeod, Justin, 102
McNamara, Brad, 98
medium shots, 60
meetings, 4
Melamed, Zachary, 82
Mendelson, Jason, 149
Mercy Ships, 41
metrics, 24, 37–38, 78, 102, 122
mission statements, 35
momentum asks, 219
Morley, Ryan, 78
networks, 28, 159–161. See also introductions
offering access to, 208
Newsle, 194
obituary pitch, 138
objections, handling, 201
Ohler, Christian, 118
opportunity analysis, 11–12, 26–27, 177
Orwell, George, 67
overview slides, 17
paper quality, 72
asks, 219
as competitive advantage, 28
pitch decks for, 10
strategic, 37
origin stories and, 43
in overview slides, 17
in team slides, 32
passive voice, 67
patent slides, 35
PDFs, 72
Pedraza, Francis, 167, 175–176, 177, 210
photography. See images and photography
picking a fight, 18
pictures. See images and photography
Pink, Daniel, 189
pipeline slides, 37
benefits of, 12
business model slides in, 29–30
common mistakes in, 74, 78, 82, 86, 90, 94, 98, 102, 106, 110, 114, 118, 122, 126, 130
cover slides in, 16
customer/market slides in, 25–27
definition of, 10
digital, 72
one-pagers, 72
overview slides in, 17
printing, 72
sending, 72
storytelling in, 12
templates for, 4
updates/versions of, 72
pitches
beaming review, 138
drunk Hemingway, 139
haiku, 139
obituary, 138
one-word, 137
proud grandparent, 138
storytelling in, 52
three-sentence, 139
with/without the deck, 140
Playbutton, 174
“Politics and the English Language” (Orwell), 67
portraits, 62
post-money valuation, 150
pre-money valuation, 150
presentation decks, 10, 66, 68. See also pitch decks
presentation software, 12
problems
customer pain from, 23
demonstrating what your company will solve, 17, 18
personalization of, 21
products
design/blueprint slides, 37
road maps on, 35
slides on, 34
profit margins, 31
profits, raising money through, 146
progress, demonstrating, 34
scripts for updates on, 216–218
in venture growth stories, 49
prototypes and prototyping, pitch decks as, 13–14
proud grandparent pitch, 138
Quora, 221
rapport building, 32
Ravikant, Naval, 159
reading decks, 10, 12, 66, 68. See also pitch decks
relationships. See friendship loop; friendships
repeatability, 23
rewards-based crowdfunding, 156
Rhode, Joe, 69
Ries, Eric, 11
risk slides, 36
road show, 168
Roosevelt, Teddy, 225
Rothenberg, Mike, 190
rule of thirds, 59
sales funnel slides, 36
scalability, 23
Schell, Jesse, 199
Schouwenburg, Kegan, 122
screenshots, 36
scripts
for building trust, 183
for following up after meetings, 206
for introductions, 184–186, 187
scripts for openings, 197
Seedcamp, 157
seed stage, 148, 154, 155, 157, 158
senses
design and, 54
engaging in storytelling, 49–50
served addressable markets (SAM), 27
Shyp, 18
SilverCar, 18
Snyder, Blake, 18
spy dry runs, 141
startup platforms, 4
Stocksy, 61
archetypes of, 40
structural holes, in social graphs, 178
super connectors, in social graphs, 178, 182
suppliers, pitch decks for, 10
supply chain slides, 36
Surf Air, 78
Suster, Mark, 194
swagger, 17
Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard (Heath & Heath), 212
technology slides, 38
Techstars Jedi Mind Trick exercise, 136
term sheets, 220
testing the waters, 219
creating visceral experiences beyond, 69–70
Orwell’s rules for writing, 67
Tevanian, Avie, 176
thank-you notes, 207
Thomas, McKay, 94
thoroughness, 19
thoughtfulness, 205
three-sentence pitch, 139
Tichauer, Adam, 174
timelines, 63
Tisch, David, 106
titles, in cover slides, 16
To Sell Is Human (Pink), 189
total addressable market (TM), 26–27
traction
storytelling on, 52
TreeHouse Home Improvement, 1–2, 5, 130–133, 158, 191, 198
elevator pitch of, 18
trends, 20
building with investors, 191
e-mail script for building, 183
first impressions and, 192–193
typography, 54, 57. See also text
US Department of Defense, 11
use cases, 22
valuation, pre-money/ post-money, 150
valuation slides, 38
venture capital, 10, 12, 148–149, 154, 164
Venture Deals (Feld & Mendelson), 149
venture growth stories, 47–49, 52
vesting, 150
Wall Street Journal, 13
Washington, Joel, 118
weak ties, in social graphs, 178
Where Good Ideas Come From (Johnson), 177
Williamson, Brian, 130
Winshall, Walt, 136
Wish, Joel, 122
word choice, 67
Word documents, 72
working with people you like, 219
X Prize Foundation, 167
Yanosy, Paul, 130
Y Combinator, 12–13, 149, 157, 174
“Your Business Plan Isn’t a Fundraising Tool Anymore” (Lee), 13