Investor Pitch Deck a Critical Tool for Start-up Success

“A journey of a thousand miles,” Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu once wrote, “begins with one single step”. The single most important step an entrepreneur takes is to START. Stressing the importance of this step, Vusi Thembekwayo, said “If you have a business idea just start. Start badly. Start scrappy. Just START.”

When an entrepreneur starts a company, particularly one offering an innovative product or service, a challenge they have to deal with is funding. Essentially, start-up funding is raising capital which supports your business venture. There are various options available to fund a start-up which Linda Shiba, an investment banker and economist, discusses in this article.

To access equity financing, i.e. raising money by selling shares in your business to investors, one critical tool you need is an Investor Pitch Deck. This is a concise presentation about your business that you prepare for potential investors. Last month, Pinaco & Co. and GoGetta, a South African equity-based crowd-funding platform, co-hosted an Investor Pitch Deck Webinar attended by more than 25 entrepreneurs and innovators.

Unpacking GoGetta’s vision of “crowdfunding Africa forward”, the company’s co-founder and Director Sthembiso Zwane said, “As GoGetta – a licensed financial service provider, we understand that it is hard for a start-up to raise funding, be it venture capital or bank loan.  We have built a platform that allows African entrepreneurs to raise equity from various investors. We connect entrepreneurs to venture capital investors, private equity firms and other funders based on the work they do.” Click here to watch part one of the webinar recording (Passcode: hashtag#EH4ZwB&)

The Webinar was curated for Eswatini entrepreneurs seeking to raise capital, attract partnerships and communicate their business idea to potential investors.

Addressing participants, Pinaco & Co. Founder and Senior Partner, Lwazi Ian Dlamini, said, “When I imagine Eswatini half a century from today, I get excited about the country’s potential to produce a unicorn i.e. a privately owned company with a value of US$1bn or more.” Eswatini may have a small population, he noted, but the country has great entrepreneurs with great ideas who can build global businesses.

GoGetta Business Development Manager, Bartholomew Siwane, stressed the importance of registering your start-up whether as a sole trader, partnership or a limited liability company ahead of developing a pitch deck. Outlining the process of coming up with one, he explained that a pitch deck should be concise and must provide an overview of what you are offering to the market. Siwane further mentioned that whilst the contents of a pitch deck depend on the product or service a company is offering, the structure is always the same.

The main features of a Pitch Deck presentation (which can be presented in a PDF or PowerPoint format) are; a cover slide/page containing the business logo; a real problem you trying to solve, description of products, your target market, competitors, business model and revenue projections. Click here to watch part two of the webinar recording. (Passcode: hashtag#EH4ZwB&)

At the end of the Webinar there was a question and answer session where participants had an opportunity to reflect on the presentation, engage with the speakers and discuss challenges faced by Eswatini entrepreneurs.

A question of interest asked was, “How do I ensure that my Intellectual Property (IP) is protected when seeking funding?”

In response, GoGetta’s Sthembiso Zwane suggested that in their Pitch Decks entrepreneurs should provide a high level summary of the business model to avoid giving away too much information. This should be in addition to signing a Non-disclosure Agreement (NDA) – a legally binding contract that establishes a confidential relationship. Echoing Zwane’s words, Siwane said, “Besides signing an NDA, it is also very important to file a patent that will protect your invention.”

The Investor Pitch Deck Webinar, supported by GoGotta Co-founder and Director, Leat Sacharowitz, is one of many that Pinaco & Co. host for Eswatini entrepreneurs through strategic partnerships with local and international organizations. Dates of the next Webinar titled, “Raising Capital on Eswatini Stock Exchange” will be announced soon.

These educational initiatives are meant to pave way for Eswatini start-ups to become large businesses that create jobs, contribute to the country’s  economic growth and compete in global markets. If you are a start-up in need of equity financing or technical assistance in developing a Pitch Deck, contact our Business Development Consultant, Zanoxolo Tsabedze, at business@pinacoandco.com.