Your first slide obviously important to an offer; first impressions and having a solid intro goes a long way. It seems that founders often forget that the last slide is just as important.
There’s a simple reason for that: It’s easy for investors to see hundreds of presentations a month, and it’s hard to remember them all. Sure, startup names are often catchy and fairly easy to understand (Lyft, DoorDash), but it’s hard to remember that Orange refers to a car charging company, not fruit. Companies often give brief summaries of the businesses they are working with. In the case of Orange, it could be, “You know, the company puts chargers in apartment buildings.” Everyone around the table said, “Aaaah, yes,” and the conversation continued.
As a founder, you have the opportunity to influence how others summarize your company. The way to do that is to reinforce your message on the first and last slides. What is a good shorthand for your company? Are you? Dollar Shave Club for Underwear? Are you? Turo for caravans? Are you? New book on aircraft ownership? Well, those are all useful abbreviations – but you can get even more creative!
You need a closing slide
When giving a presentation, you start with your best stuff first and work from there. The last slides are usually where you show your weakness. If you don’t have the closing slide, your biggest weakness can be left on the screen while you talk to investors and answer questions. As you can see, it’s not a great way to get the pump going, and you’ll end up being hit by your finances, your team, your reach, or whatever else you’ve added at the end. deck as an afterthought. Instead, set up for success with a good closing slide. Remind your audience who you are and what your company will do.
In this story, we are diving into over 45 pitch deck splits done so farand choose some closing slides from our library of presentation examples. Top tip: it’s 100% worth signing up for TC+ just to get these insights and Our amazing library of pitch tips. But then again, I wrote most of it, and I’m very biased. Still. Ordered. Go on. I promise it will be the most money you spend this year.
Some examples of closing slides in action
Alto closes the slide. Image credits: Pharmacy Alto
Alto raised $200 million to build a better pharmacy. Choosing to end with an inspirational slide instead of shadowing any conversation is one thing. But the brief selection of “a better pharmacy” rounds out the slide for an A+. View the full summary of the offer.
