Venturing into Fashion Tech

VC Series: Crafting the Perfect Investor Pitch Deck with Rohan Bansal

• Beyond Form • Episode 69

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The Perfect Investor Pitch Deck:

The perfect investor pitch deck combines storytelling, market understanding, and founder credibility to stand out in the competitive venture capital landscape. Venture capitalists typically spend just over three minutes reviewing each deck, with only 1% securing funding. In this episode Peter and Rohan breakdown what makes a great deck and the red flags that investors see.

Tips & Tricks Explored in this Episode:

• Storytelling is crucial as humans connect with narratives and founders must demonstrate how their experience is relevant to the problem they're solving.
• Market sizing should be realistic and calculated using a bottom-up approach.
• Red flags include co-founders with too-similar backgrounds and unrealistic growth projections
• A disorganised pitch deck often reflects disorganised thinking, and the questions "Why now?" and "Why you?" must be convincingly answered.

Connect with Rohan on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rohan-bansal-50328179/

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The show is recorded from Beyond Form, a fashion tech innovation platform. We build, invest, and educate fashion tech entrepreneurs and startups. We’d love to hear your feedback, so let us know if you’d like to hear a certain topic. Email us at podcast@beyondform.io. If you’re an entrepreneur or fashion tech startup looking for studio support, check out our website: beyondform.io

Peter Jeun Ho Tsang:

Hi, I'm Peter Jeun Ho Tsang, founder and CEO of Beyond Form. We're kicking off the first mini-series of 2025, and it's all about VC investing in the fashion and retail tech space. I'm going to be joined by Rohan Bansal for four episodes where we explore what it's like going into the VC investing world, what's hot right now in terms of deal flow, technology, startups to look at and everything in between.

Peter Jeun Ho Tsang:

On today's episode, Rohan and I dissect what makes a great investor pitch deck One of the most important marketing tools that a startup funder needs to work on, especially if they want to get on the venture capital raising train. It can mean the difference between gaining that first meeting with a potential investor or getting lost in a very busy and saturated world of entrepr eneurship.

Peter Jeun Ho Tsang:

However, it's not easy telling your story and also selling a vision that makes sense from a business case.

Rohan Bansal:

deck is really a reflection not just of the startup but also of the founder and the team itself. Unclear and unorganized deck perhaps speaks of their own thinking, their own structuring Some of the most successful companies from 10 years ago, some of their decks were not great but at the same time what they had was a great story and they had a great vision.

Peter Jeun Ho Tsang:

Let's get this conversation going with Rohan on today's episode of Venturing into Fashion Tech. How are you today, rohan?

Rohan Bansal:

Doing great. How are you, peter?

Peter Jeun Ho Tsang:

I'm good, thank you.

Peter Jeun Ho Tsang:

We're talking about storytelling today and what makes a great pitch. I think that is one of those questions that I get asked the most often by a founder. It is part art, part science, part magic. In some ways, I'm interested to hear your thoughts in a second, but before we get going, I want to give some context to our listeners. So what makes the perfect pitch In today's fast-paced investment landscape? You've literally got around three minutes and 20 seconds to make your mark. This is the average amount of time that investors spend looking at a deck, and that's according to research conducted by DocSend. Thousands of decks are created and distributed each day, but only around one percent of pitch checks actually secure funding, because it's a super tiny amount. For any start-up listening. A deck must convey your idea concisely and pack a punch from the get-go, which is a lot easier said than done. So, Rohan, you have seen literally hundreds of decks over the last few years investing from Paris. How important is storytelling in a pitch deck and what elements make a start-up story actually?

Rohan Bansal:

compelling. Oh, it's super important. I personally believe that we as humans understand stories better than anything else. Some of the earliest memories you have of your parents telling your story or just kind of remembering certain tales. And having a founder that can link their product or, let's say, their company to a story or origin is definitely great, because you can tell that they probably understand the problem quite well or they faced it quite a lot themselves and now they can problem solve it for a problem that they were facing for quite some time. And there's no fixed way to build a story and I think it kind of comes naturally to you over time as well, because as you spend more and more time refining a product, refining your business and strategy, the story kind of comes along with it itself. And it's super important to have the right story so that it's very clear as to how the product was developed, how you scaled, and being able to convey this within a coherent message and strategy is extremely important for securing VC funding.

Peter Jeun Ho Tsang:

I am sure, like myself, we have seen so many messy pitches previously and I think, as you mentioned their product, you know your journey and all that makes sense. I have them quite fine at the start of all the founders. They go all over the place with their storytelling, with their pictures. Quite often it's not grounded in anything that makes sense objectively, like data, or they have proven something along the way as a startup, and it makes it so much difficult, so much more harder, as some looking at the pitch deck or listening to their pitch and it's actually what you're trying to do, especially when they are strangers, we've never met them before like how can you expect anyone to understand you if you've not practiced?

Rohan Bansal:

essentially, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's, it's exactly the case.

Rohan Bansal:

You can tell sometimes when it's an unpolished pitch, and there's nothing more frustrating where you know that you have a long call to make with this person and they haven't really refined things in a clear and concise manner. Because, as a VC, you obviously trust a lot your first instincts, but at the same time, you need to fight it because you might find something out further down the line which makes sense, you know. So storytelling is super important and first impressions matter a lot, especially in a game where, as VC, you're looking at, you're having multiple calls each week. You're having five or 10 calls at least with startups each week. So the one that has a clear story is the one that's still in your brain, and that's also the one that you're going to be spending more and more time doing TD as well, simply because you remember it. It left a lasting impression and because it left a lasting impression, now you're going to see if this thesis works or not. So that's why it's very important, yeah, and I think many founders forget that, obviously.

Peter Jeun Ho Tsang:

You see, I think you're a human right Rohan, yeah, yeah.

Rohan Bansal:

Last I checked, can you get effective just now? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, especially since I turned 30. Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Peter Jeun Ho Tsang:

Exactly, and that's why that storytelling is so important, because you are dealing with another human at the other side of the table. You know you've mentioned in previous episodes of this podcast series that traction metrics are super important in the life of a startup and go through those fundraising stages. So when we're speaking specifically about H-Tech, what key metrics are you looking for in H-Tech that tells you, okay, this looks positive for this solution.

Rohan Bansal:

It really depends on the stage as well, but the one underlying factor that almost always comes out is that you don't invest in a company, you invest in a person. So, especially at early stage, because they might not necessarily have traction, but what you want to understand is how is their experience relevant to what they're doing now? Is this the right person? Can they scale? Can they wear multiple hats?

Rohan Bansal:

If you're in a very early stage startup, you need to be able to juggle and wear five different hats. You need to be an R&D guy, you need to be a sales guy, you need to be a marketing person, you need to be a business development person, you need to be a product person as well. So it's extremely important to have have the right, let's say, profile and story around it. Yeah for sure. Another thing that obviously we look at is a market as well, seeing how big the market size actually is. Traction at early stage perhaps is not always there, especially if you're in an industry which requires a lot of R&D expenditure. So I think really, it comes down to seeing if this person that you're talking to is credible, can they solve problems and can they address concerns that you have clearly and make you feel as if you are investing the right person and the right product, because products don't change, people don't change.

Peter Jeun Ho Tsang:

And you mentioned that, market numbers. I would say that this is one of the trickiest slides to get right with our founders Is the number too big? Is the number too little? And we always have endless debate as to what is that final number in regards to the time and the song. Now, how can such effectively demonstrate their addressable market size in a pitch deck? How do we calculate it?

Rohan Bansal:

Oh yeah, yeah. So there's a bunch of different approaches. We have top-down and bottom-up. I'm personally more of a big fan of bottom-up, where you first understand how much you're selling the product for. So let's say that you're selling it as a recurring business model, where you sell it per user or per license for $100 a month, and so you know that you can charge $1,200 per client or per user. What have you? Then? You find out the number of companies that are potentially there in this, or number of people that can be addressed within a geography or within a country or region. Once you have that, you multiply that.

Rohan Bansal:

You obviously discount it as well in certain ways. Say, for example, certain generations or certain people would not be, or certain companies would not be necessarily using it, or you need to discount the incumbent share that's there. For example, if you're investing in e-commerce, you almost always or logistics and e-commerce you almost have to discount it by 20%, simply because you know that Amazon is always having 20 to 25% market share in most countries, especially in France and Europe. So you know that this is untouchable, because 20 and 25% will always just be taken out by the big guys like Amazon. So that's extremely important.

Rohan Bansal:

And also another thing as well is whatever is the size of the market that you say, ecs are going to take it skeptically, and most of the times the market is going to be a third or half the size of what you're saying.

Rohan Bansal:

So you need to be optimistic, but also not wildly optimistic in the figures, because that would then make it discreditable. Whatever number you give, ecs will obviously look to first understand how credible this number is, and they will in most cases come up with a figure that's half the size or one third the size of that, based on certain assumptions that they're using. So it's up to you to be but not to be wildly optimistic in your figures, because that could potentially destroy credibility with investors where they're like okay, this person doesn't even understand the market because they have figured, they have given such a big number, they'll never address it or they don't know who to address in the first place. So it's extremely important to do a right market sizing and not just base it on one industry, but actually to do it in a holistic manner so that you build credibility and VCs can also then challenge you, but in the right way, and you mentioned there that if a startup doesn't get their addressable market numbers correct, that's an instant red flag.

Peter Jeun Ho Tsang:

we can call it for the investor that they are speaking to. And, of course, we have seen many red flags aside from that specific slide in a pitch that before. So what are some of those red flags that you do see when you're listening to an investor pitch their company?

Rohan Bansal:

Where to begin. First of all, it's almost unheard of for an investment or a startup to not have any red flags. If you can't spot them, then either you're missing something or the founder is misleading you in some ways, because it's called venture capital, it's not called certain capital. So that's one thing, definitely ignoring that's in the market size, like we already discussed. Now, one of the things is founder experience, and if, let's say, the two co-founders have extremely similar background, really similar experience, um, that can be a potential red flag, because and you need someone with diversity, someone who can maximize your strengths and also minimize your weaknesses, so people that have the same strengths can potentially be a red flag. Then the other other thing as well is do they have relevant background and experience within this particular vertical? Do they understand the problems here? Have they faced them themselves? If they don't, that's a potential red flag.

Rohan Bansal:

Then another thing as well is unrealistic expectations. To say that you're currently doing, let's say, half a million revenues and then next year you're going to be doing 10 million revenues. You need to have some extremely, extremely strong assumptions to be able to justify that, because to do 20x in revenue growth, especially if you're doing half a million. One million revenues is very challenging unless there are some key assumptions that you have that you have. Other red flags also can be asking for too little or asking for too much.

Rohan Bansal:

Saying that, okay, you only need to raise 100K, but you want to hire three product guys, two sales and marketing guys. This 100K would go within two months. If this is your roadmap, then finally, another thing as well is very unrealistic assumptions or ambition Saying that you're right now three seed and you're going to be unicorn in two or three years. I understand that you obviously need to be ambitious, you need to be visionary, but, like you need to have tempered vision. If you're saying that's a big red flag, because then suddenly industrial thinking is this person like having their head in the clouds all over it?

Peter Jeun Ho Tsang:

so there's gonna be opening up a can of worms? Yeah, question further grilling. It's probably not gonna go anywhere, no, anytime soon. Basically with your specific pitch deck there. So then you know, we talked about the oral pick, we talked about the deck itself and the content. Being from a creative background myself, I'm being within fashion we like things nice and glossy. Details matter in terms of the visuals. How important is the visual design of a pitch deck?

Rohan Bansal:

Oh, quite important, Because you're not going to invest in a deck which is all over the place, because I think A deck is really a reflection not just for the startup but also of the founder and the team itself. An unclear and unorganized deck perhaps speaks of their own thinking, their own structuring. So, but saying that, if you've looked at some of the decks of some of the most successful companies from 10 years ago or 15 years ago, some of their decks were not great but at the same time, what they had was a great story and they had a great vision. If it's not a terrible deck, if it's something that has a story, it can still be possible.

Rohan Bansal:

But, like you're not going to say no to investment just because they have an unorganized deck, because sometimes you know, if you're a very product oriented or a very R&D guy, you might not be so good at deck building, but not be so good at deck building, but you're very good at product now. So it's up to you as an investor as well to kind of disassociate some of the bias you might have just from a beautiful deck, because it's very easy to follow a beautiful deck, but sometimes it's um, all filler, no killer, you know like we don't just want the floss, we want everything absolutely, but, of course, those visual elements if we're talking from a storytelling guiding perspective of the eye, it can help in many ways.

Peter Jeun Ho Tsang:

Absolutely so what's your overall advice then, to fashion tech founders that are currently creating, that invest in pitch tech or are looking to create their pitch tech?

Rohan Bansal:

So super important. I cannot emphasize enough on the market, emphasize the market, your experience, how it's relevant. Why now? Why are you doing this now? Is it because there's regulatory support? What are some of the tailwinds that you're having? You know that will potentially help you If you have traction. Who are you talking with right now? Do you have successful pilots? That's extremely important as well. And then also, just finally, what do you see the market in five years? Or where do you? How do you see an exit as well? It's very important because VCs. Of course, as much as we'd like to invest, we also need access at the end of the day, right? So it's important to understand that you are also aware of potentially what could be an exit, or what is your vision for the company in the next three to five years.

Peter Jeun Ho Tsang:

Exactly, and I think it's so important, like I mean, when you finally say, oh, I want to raise money from investors but like well, why is the first question, as you say that investors need to make money as well? So once you get on that VC train, you cannot get off until you have an exit or you have people after you. It says, because you are using somebody else money to make your dream come true. I think many people underestimate that. I think a super person you know you say you say why now? It's a super important question. Why now, on a purpose? Most importantly, why you as well.

Peter Jeun Ho Tsang:

I meet so many fashion tech founders that don't come from the fashion industry. They may come from a business background or a tech background, but the fashion industry is incredibly opaque and unless you know what you're doing in this industry, it's very difficult for me to believe that you know how to enter it. I think that would be my top advice for those non-fashion people looking to enter the industry. So I just want to finish off this conversation with a quick fire on a question as it comes to your head are you ready? Yeah, let's go.

Rohan Bansal:

The weirdest pitch deck you've ever received when to begin, I think I think I had one where was like sometimes people use a crutch too much, like they're saying we're the Uber for this or Uber for that. So I had one where it was supposed to be an Uber for the ice cream industry Such a niche product, such a niche market and I don't know who the target audience for that exactly was, and I thought I was being spoofed for the first like 10 minutes of the presentation, like we did not this person serious Okay. So they were being spoofed for the first like converse of the presentation.

Peter Jeun Ho Tsang:

It's like we're like no, this person's serious Okay so they were being serious about Uber, for Ice were you. Yeah, yeah, I'm not really sure how you can get Uber for Ice female. It sounds interesting. Well, interesting is one word. So yeah, okay, if you could ban one buzz for evaluating startups, what would it?

Rohan Bansal:

be being able to understand the founder's vision and smell the bullshit.

Peter Jeun Ho Tsang:

What's your secret talent that helps you in VC investing? Being able to see the big picture? What's the most memorable excuse you've heard for a startup's poor performance?

Rohan Bansal:

I had one where, oh yeah, a guy said to me he was getting married that same day, which is why he rushed to the presentation, and I am 90% sure he was getting dressed halfway to the presentation. Oh, wow, okay, yeah, that happened. Thank you so much for your time around. Yeah, it was a pleasure.

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