Watch the masterclass
Angel Investing MasterclassIn short
- The first two or three slides decide whether the rest gets read. Lead with your strongest point.
- Keep it to 15 slides at most. The deck starts a conversation; it isn't the whole story.
- No traction yet? Ask for guidance, not money.
Chapters
- How an angel reads a deck, slide by slide (opens on YouTube)
- How long should a pitch deck be? (opens on YouTube)
- Pitching with no traction (opens on YouTube)
- Top pitch deck mistakes (opens on YouTube)
- Customising your pitch (opens on YouTube)
- Live pitching tips (opens on YouTube)
- What makes an angel say yes (opens on YouTube)
- Viewer questions (opens on YouTube)
Key takeaways
- Lead with your strongest point: team, traction, growth or earlier funding, not a template.
- 15 slides at most. A reader spends a few minutes on it.
- The deck should look like you. Help with design is fine, but investors notice when the pitch and the person don't match.
- Don't oversell. Claims of huge margins, no customer cost and no competitors make investors ask why you need money.
- Skip the generic slides. Tick-box competition grids and boilerplate market-size slides rarely help.
- Leave valuation out of the first deck. Say how much you need and what milestone it gets you to.
- Tailor every pitch. Mass emails and copy-pasted messages tend to be ignored.
- For angels: ask real questions, say when you don't understand, and give rejections constructively.
In his words
“Your pitch should start like a James Bond movie and end on a positive note.”
4:24
“If you're so good, then you don't need my money.”
16:54
“Don't ask for money at the idea stage. Ask for guidance.”
11:51
Guest: Mahavir Pratap Sharma, angel investor with the Rajasthan Angel Innovators Network (RAIN) and TiE India Angels.
Views in this session are the speaker's own and are not investment advice.
Hosted by Vijay Singh RathoreCo-Founder & CEO of Soonicorn Ventures.
