The tail end of 2022 and the onset of 2023 have been frustrating for founders trying to extract even an ounce of investor engagement. Apart from a few thriving sectors that can boast strong investor engagement (hello, generative AI), startups across less hyped industries are experiencing what can only be described as an “engagement drought”.

Over the past year, we’ve seen a steep 25 per cent decline in investor engagement and response rates. The time investors spent reviewing decks plunged to a record low in Q4 of 2022, averaging a paltry two minutes and 18 seconds, according to DocSend. 

Concurrently, global funding dipped by 53 per cent YoY in Q1, with Crunchbase reporting a downturn across every stage of fundraising. Yet, the volume of pitch decks being sent by founders surged by 30 per cent, intensifying the scramble for scarce investor attention. It’s getting tough out there.

So, where does it leave startups seeking funding in 2023? One thing is clear: to increase your investor outreach success rate and land meetings, your pitch deck game needs to be inventive. In this article, we’ll dig into how to do precisely that.

With our global experience aiding early startups and unicorns in their fundraising efforts, we have accumulated a list of fresh and increasingly more effective practices to captivate investor attention. Many disrupt the longstanding conventions of how pitch decks should be created, partly explaining their particular effectiveness in the current climate.

Ditch the traditional problem-solution narrative

The problem and solution slide has been the cornerstone of investor pitch decks’ opening since the dawn of venture capital. Its concept relies on a simple yet effective narrative formula:

First, there’s a problem with the industry, supported by stats; then, there’s a solution the business offers.

Unfortunately, just like anything overused, the problem-solution narrative started to lose its efficiency, making investors numb to this rife approach. In most cases we’ve come across, it feels so homogenous and formulaic that it makes investors yawn and close the presentation after 30 seconds.

So, what’s the alternative?

Your pitch deck must open differently to stand out from the crowd and get investors’ eyeballs. But it’s not just about standing out — your pitch must immediately communicate how bold and ambitious your idea is.

The best way to achieve those things is to open with a powerful mission statement. Start by stating your ultimate goal and work your way backwards to explain how you plan to accomplish it. 

Also Read: 3 key strategies to master the art of value proposition pitching

Another effective technique involves underscoring the pain’s severity and the market’s immense potential. In essence, commence your deck with the most enticing incentive imaginable to pull investors in and get them to keep reading.

Make your story super tight 

Investor attention is scarce, so your goal is to get your point across quickly. With teaser pitch decks, less is indeed more.

The goal of a pitch deck is not to inundate investors with every minor detail about your business or product — it’s to prompt investors to contact you.

Still, we find that every other company we work with dedicates three-four slides solely to their product features! No investor will wade through four pages of product details. Rather, highlight the key features that define your product’s value proposition (preferably quantifiable) on just one or two slides or provide a demo link.

Focus on what matters to investors — your market, traction, why now, etc. Strive to provide all the essential numbers and context without going into minutiae or digressing.

Think of it as speed-dating: you only have five minutes to stand out among the other 40+ participants and forge a connection. Your goal is to be intriguing enough to spark curiosity and motivate the person to exchange phone numbers, not to divulge every detail about your life. 

The same principle applies to investors. Hence, highlight the most appealing aspects of your idea and leave the details for the call. Go through your deck a few times, cutting out any fluff you spot until it is super sharp and light. On average, almost all the decks we receive see can — and should — be trimmed by at least 25-30 per cent.

Forget standard headings

The conventional approach recommends using Ycombinator or Sequoia pitch templates that have straightforward headings like Problem, Solution, Team, etc. However, in today’s fiercely competitive climate, where the challenge is to capture and retain dwindling investor interest, mimicking what everyone else does is the least effective strategy.

Your slide titles must tell a story. Every headline should convey a standalone message, and every slide should sell a standalone idea. Investors must be able to open your pitch on a random page, read just the headline, understand the core concept, and be drawn to learn more. 

Here’s an example of how you can turn a vague, uninspiring Market slide heading into an engaging one:

But don’t just throw a bunch of disconnected slides together in the hope they stick — connect them logically and make sure they feed into your core business narrative. 

Bring your traction upfront

In early startups’ pitch decks, we often see traction being relegated to the end of the pitch since the startup hasn’t gained much traction yet. That’s a big mistake. According to the Docs data, VCs spent 40 per cent more time on this section in 2022 compared to 2021. 

For both nascent and mature startups, traction is one of the most scrutinised sections in your pitch deck and can be a make-or-break factor for your fundraising success.

If you have any (literally any) significant strides, move those upfront and underscore the juiciest parts for investors to notice right away. Have some strong retention indicators, rapid growth, or positive customer reviews? Put those forward as early as possible.

Also Read: Pitch deck for dummies: A compilation of top tips and advice from the community

Don’t have any traction yet? There always are ways to come up with something. Speak to 10-20 early users and collect testimonials on how they’re experiencing the pain you’re trying to solve to show that you have validated your idea.

If possible, display your early partnerships, growing social media following, or patent applications. Show investors that things are happening, regardless of how early on. 

Evoke a sense of FOMO

The “Why now?” question has always been crucial. The correct answer helps founders instil the FOMO and the sense of urgency into investors’ minds and stimulate the raise. In the current climate, when investors are hesitant to hand out cash, and the investment checks for post-Seed companies are generally down in the dumps, having a convincing answer to why they should pull out their wallets now is more crucial than ever. 

There are numerous ways to explain why now is the best (or even the only) time to cement your company as a category leader and why the momentum is as strong as ever. You can talk about the emerging trends in the space and how your company dovetails them. You can emphasize the severity/ubiquity of the problem and the competitive landscape that is yet to catch up. 

A well-crafted “Why now?” slide can also enhance the appeal of products in more traditional sectors.

Take an example from our experience: we assisted a client who was developing a sales automation tool—a market that’s oversaturated and currently lacks investor enthusiasm. However, we successfully repositioned it as the first generative AI-powered copilot for sales teams, a proposition only recently feasible. This AI-centric narrative helped our client secure US$4 million in funding in just a few weeks.

Weave ESG factors into your narrative

Compliance with ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) factors can severely increase your appeal to certain funds immediately. Many funds have mandates to invest in ESG companies, so if your business goes on to have a significant social or environmental impact, make sure it reads in your pitch.

But don’t dedicate a separate slide to it — it usually ends up being too vague and on the nose. Rather, weave it into the overall story by adding simple but powerful statements that reflect your ESG focus, like “We’re on a mission to do XYZ,” or “we want to help X millions of people to do/be X,” etc. 

This subtle touch will help better position your company towards funds that are looking to invest in this type of company and increase your company’s attractiveness among investors. 

Be smart about showing your metrics 

When it comes to demonstrating numbers, most companies we’ve come across just focus on growth metrics. That’s not enough to wow investors anymore. 

Also Read: Pitching 101: Questions that VCs will ask you during a pitch session

What investors care to see is that there is a fit between you and the market. Depending on your stage, many effective ways exist to demonstrate this fit. 

Pre-Seed – Seed stage

When pre-revenue, focus on demonstrating to investors you have a Founder-market fit. Early on, the goal is to prove that you and your team are the right people to bring this venture to success. 

Show that you know your customer persona and their pain inside out. Prove that you know how to sell to them. The best way to do this is by showing your previous achievements and relevant experience in the vertical. 

Maybe you were a customer turned provider who felt the problem on their skin and found the best way to fix it. Or maybe, you were part of a successful venture in the same space before.

The key is to show deep expertise in the industry and evoke trust in the founder and team. 

Series A

If you have recently generated your first revenue, on top of founder-market fit, investors will expect to see early proof of product-market fit. Do your customers love the product? Do they stick with it? If yes, here is how you can demonstrate that:

• Customer retention > 90 per cent
• Growing MRR
• User testimonials

Series B+

If you have over a year of revenue history, show investors that your business model is super efficient in generating money and that you have a business model/channel-market fit.

At this stage, investors are looking for startups that are profitable, capital efficient, and generally don’t bleed money. To prove your business model is bringing or on the track to bring in decent profits, don’t say what you’re doing and why – show it’s working through the following metrics:

• LTV: CAC > 3x
• Payback time < 12-18 months, depending on your ACV
• Conversion rates
• Rule of 40
• Previously raised vs generated capital (if you generated more than you raised)
• Burn rate multiple

With product differentiation diminishing as companies grow more and more homogeneous, what sets winners apart is their team, strategy, and execution. Don’t talk about influencers, TikTok, and all that stuff — everyone is doing that. 

Better talk about the flywheels you’ve set in motion and your unique strategies for generating a competitive advantage — through networks, community, technology, or else. All this will help you cut through the noise in an increasingly crowded yet homogenised market and get the investor engagement your business deserves.

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Singapore-based venture capital firm Resolution Ventures has made the final close of its first fintech fund.

An international community of fintech-interested institutions, unnamed family offices, finance executives and entrepreneurs invested.

With Resolution Fintech Fund I, the VC firm aims to invest in Southeast Asia’s founders developing solutions that have local, regional, and international applications.

The fund seeks to back pre-seed and seed-stage firms. The ticket size ranges between US$250,000 and US$750,000.

Also Read: Meet the e27 Connect investors that invested in SEA in the past two weeks

Resolution Ventures has already backed several companies from the first fund, including Oraan (a female-led rotating savings and credit association platform in Pakistan), Stemly (a working capital and inventory management platform), Dropee (an e-invoicing and ordering platform for FMCG goods), GIMO (an earned wage access platform in Vietnam), iPiD (a pre-transaction validation platform, PasarMikro (a platform that digitalises the payment processes for agricultural commodities), and Mayar (a payment platform for MSMEs in Indonesia).

Sam Gibb, Managing Partner of Resolution Ventures, said: “Considering the impact that we have had on our portfolio companies, we have no doubt that we will continue being an integral part of the eco-system as financial services infrastructure continues to develop in Southeast Asia,” he said.

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As I shared in my first e27 article, Hybrid and Remote: Myth vs Reality, the modern people-focused managers leading the teams of the future experience none of the challenges executives believe distributed work brings. 

These people-first managers reported increased productivity, high trust in their teams, and ease in managing them. These experiences sharply contrast with the executives at many of their companies. 

Brian Elliott, founder of the Future Forum, a think tank set up by Slack and others, hit the nail on its head in a presentation at the Running Remote conference. “We’re two generations of digital natives into our workforce, and older ones suffer from ‘executive nostalgia’”. 

After Musk’s “working remotely is morally wrong,” it was Martha Stewart saying that “America will ‘go down the drain’ if people don’t return to office” and “Google to crack down on office attendance.”

But Fortune editor Dr. Gleb Tsipursky wrote, “The forced return to the office is the definition of insanity,” and I couldn’t agree more.

“Despite the overwhelming evidence that flexible hybrid work is more productive than forced in-office work for the same roles, top executives are stubbornly herding employees back to the office like lost sheep, expecting productivity to improve miraculously. This, my friends, is the very definition of insanity,” writes Dr. Tsipursky.

And now, McKinsey released new data showing that those same executives will most likely want to work from home. In the research, people with higher incomes and seniority were far more likely to demand flexibility. 

Also Read: How Gen Z’s view on work-life balance can transform your business

“In a survey of 13,000 office workers in six countries published this month, McKinsey found the largest share of employees who strongly prefer to work from home were those who earn more than US$150,000.

That group said they were likely to quit their jobs if called back to the office every day and were willing to trade more than 20 per cent of their compensation to work their preferred number of days at home.”

Why the separation between execs and employees? It’s time to “grownupify” work, as ADP’s Amy Leschke-Kahle wrote in Fortune: “Employees are smart grownups who deserve to be treated as such. The onus is on employers, not employees, to break the cycle. Send a very clear message to your workforce: “We trust you to do great work.”

The power of flexibility for people and companies

As I wrote in my previous article, almost 75 per cent of employees prefer to retain a hybrid or remote working model. Asked to return to the office full-time, 15 per cent of employees would consider looking for a new job, and 59 per cent would return if needed.  

 

People love their flexibility and its benefits: improved work-life balance, productivity, diversity, and more.

Data from Brian Elliott’s Future Forum shows why organisations should care about this, too: hybrid and remote workers are much more likely to say that company culture has improved during the pandemic – citing flexible work policies as the reason why.

According to Deloitte research, people are more attracted to and likely to stay at an organisation that allows them more control and choice in how they use their skills in their work. 

Josh Bersin also emphasizes the importance of providing flexibility to remain competitive in the talent market. He cites Daniel Pink’s research on human motivation, highlighting the significance of autonomy, control, and mastery.

Work becomes more fulfilling when employees can make decisions about their work, take ownership, and excel in their roles. This is achieved by setting goals and objectives with autonomy and empowering workers to do what is best for the customer.

Understanding what’s behind the need for flexibility: Autonomy and Agency

To understand why people are so motivated by flexibility and why organisations should provide it, we need to understand two key concepts: Autonomy and Agency.

Also Read: 5 things to stop apologising for if you want work-life balance without feeling guilty

Autonomy refers to the level of independence in your work. If you have autonomy, you can make decisions, take risks, and exercise judgment without constant supervision. According to self-determination theory, autonomy is one of three basic psychological needs contributing to well-being.

Agency refers to our level of control over the work environment. This includes having a say in the company’s direction, the ability to collaborate with colleagues, and the opportunity to pursue personal and professional development.

Being able to make decisions and take ownership of our work leads to increased engagement, motivation, and job satisfaction.

Additionally, autonomy and agency improve performance because when people have more control over their work, they can tap into their creativity, innovation, and productivity by tailoring their tasks to their strengths and preferences.

This heightened sense of engagement and motivation also allows for better adaptation to changing circumstances and overcoming challenges, boosting self-efficacy and confidence.

Finally, when individuals have greater control over their work, they are more likely to seek out new challenges and opportunities for growth, which helps to maintain engagement and motivation over the long term.

Why and how we need to support our teams

The best-selling author on workplace happiness, Tracy Brower, reminds us in Forbes: “Adults are empowered to choose how they think about things, how they react, and how they shape their circumstances. But the structure is also critical—this is where leaders and organisations come in. Structure addresses the policies, practices, norms, and cultures which contribute to happiness—or don’t.”

Research shows that “high-autonomy employees report the highest levels of belonging, motivation, productivity, trust in the team, trust in leaders, work-life balance, and mental well-being. In some cases, these scores are more than 20 per cent higher than their low autonomy counterparts.”

Taking ownership, making decisions, and striving for development help our teams to stay motivated. By understanding their need for autonomy and agency, we can support people in getting more out of their jobs than a paycheck and, in return, earn their effort and loyalty. 

To offer autonomy and agency in the workplace, companies can take the following three practical steps:

• Implement flexible work policies that empower employees to choose how, where, and when they work based on their needs and preferences. Providing clear guidelines and support for remote work tools and communication platforms will enable employees to work autonomously while staying connected and collaborative.
• Foster a culture of trust and empowerment in which employees feel valued and respected for their contributions. Establishing psychological safety is the most impactful thing companies can do to transform truly. Creating opportunities for skill development, career growth and recognising achievements further empowers employees to take charge of their professional development.
• Embrace data-driven decision-making to promote autonomy and agency in the workplace. By using performance metrics, feedback surveys, and employee engagement data, organisations can identify areas where autonomy is most impactful and tailor strategies accordingly. This helps measure the success of their initiatives and make necessary adjustments to improve peoples’ work experience continuously.

Let’s embrace flexibility and usher in an era of choice and flexibility in the workplace.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

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Singapore-headquartered RNA technology company, Mirxes Holding, has completed its Series D funding round, securing US$50 million.

The round is anchored by existing and new investors, including Beijing Fupu, EDBI, Mitsui & Co., NHH Venture Fund, and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research.

Mirxes Holding will use the capital to scale the adoption and penetration of its stomach cancer blood test, GASTROClear, in major Asia-Pacific markets, including Southeast Asia, China, and Japan.

Also Read: Harnessing the power of AI to help improve gastric cancer detection

A portion of the funds will be used to accelerate the development and commercialisation of Mirxes’s maturing clinical pipeline, including a blood-based colorectal cancer screening test and the multi-cancer early detection test under Project CADENCE. Project CADENCE is a project to develop a single blood test for the early detection of nine high-mortality cancers powered by the company’s RNA technology and other complementary biomarker technologies.

“This fresh funding will fuel our ambitious growth plans and enable us to continue making a significant impact in the field of multi-cancer early detection,” said Dr ZHOU Lihan, Co-Founder and CEO of Mirxes.

Along with this, Mirxes has also announced that it has filed the listing application with The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (HKEX).

Founded in 2014, Mirxes is an RNA technology company making cancer early detection solutions accessible globally. It also delivers research and clinical testing services for preventive healthcare and precision medicine to key markets in Asia and beyond.

In 2021, Mirxes raised US$77 million in a Series C financing round led by CR-CP Life Science Fund and joined by global healthcare investment firm Rock Springs Capital, Charoen Pokphand Group (Thailand) and EDBI.

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Y Combinator-backed Peeba announced the setting up of its office in Indonesia, marking the first step of its Southeast Asia (SEA) expansion journey.

The online B2B wholesale marketplace wants to change the game for small retailers by enabling them to compete on the same footing as larger retailers through both online and offline channels. The company aims to do it by implementing a “sell first, pay later” model for small retailers.

In a press statement, Peeba says it that allows retail stores across Indonesia to buy products from thousands of curated
global and local brands on consignment, so they can pay for goods they are able to sell and return the rest to Peeba. According to the company, this means that small retailers do not need to incur hefty upfront payments, allowing them to stock high-quality products in their stores.

“Peeba takes care of end-to-end cross-border logistics, customs, duties and taxes while ensuring that goods are shipped to the retailer smoothly,” explains Jacky Lai, Founder and CEO of Peeba, in an email to e27.

“When small retailers are able to stock products from top brands, it makes them much more competitive as they can attract consumers a lot more effectively.”

Also Read: How express delivery services can become a key differentiator for e-commerce businesses

Lai also says that the platform uses machine learning to help predict what will sell well for stores in a particular category or area. “When retailers log on to Peeba, they automatically see recommendations that are most relevant to them.”

Founded in 2020 in Hong Kong, Peeba currently works with about 3,000 brands worldwide, connecting them with over 30,000 retail stores.

Understanding small businesses

When asked about the profiles of their targeted users, Lai describes them as independent online shops (such as Instagram and TikTok-based shops) and small retailers with physical stores.

“We are currently focused on serving retailers in the beauty, home and living, and baby and kids categories. We acquire them through a strong business development team that is in constant conversations with stakeholders in the retail ecosystem,” he says.

With regard to their revenue model, Lai says, “We make money when brands sell through retailers that choose to stock their products. Because of that, we review each and every brand application rigorously to make sure that they’re the right brand for the retailers that are on our platform.”

This year, Peeba aims to focus on its expansion plan in Indonesia, where the team has started hiring team members there.

“In the longer term, our goal is definitely to expand across Southeast Asia. We will take one step at a time and launch each market independently,” Lai closes.

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Image Credit: Peeba

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