For Your Pitch, Last Impressions Count Almost As Much As First Impressions

Your first slide is, of course, crucial for the pitch board. First impressions count and a solid introduction goes a long way. Creators often forget that the last slide is just as important.

There's a simple reason for this: Investors easily watch hundreds of slideshows a month and it's hard to remember. Sure, startup names are often catchy and self-explanatory (Lyft, DoorDash), but it's hard to remember that Orange represents a car-filling company, not a fruit. Companies often provide a brief summary of the companies they work for. In the case of Orange, it could be: "You know, the company that puts battery chargers in apartment buildings." Everyone around the table says "Aaaah" and the conversation continues.

As a creator, you have the ability to influence how someone views your business. To do this, reinforce your message on the first and last slides. What's a good acronym for your business? Are you a club for shaving underwear dollars? Are you a caravan tourist? Are you new to aircraft ownership? Well, those are all useful abbreviations, but you can get even more creative!

You need to delete a slide

When planting, start with your best ones first and work your way up. The last slides are where you show the weaknesses. If you don't have a closing slide, your biggest weaknesses can be left on display as you talk to investors and answer questions. As you can see, this is not a good way to drop the bomb and you will be asked questions about your finances, your team, your marketing or anything else you added to the boat as an afterthought. Instead, set yourself up for success with a good closing slide. Remind your audience who you are and what your business does.

---

In this story, we'll dive into the series of 45 pitches we've created so far and select a few recent slides from our sample pitch library. Tip: TC+ is 100% worth subscribing for these awesome and amazing casting tips. But again, I wrote most of it, so I'm very biased. Subscribe again. Come on, I promise you it will be the best dollar you will spend this year.

---

Some examples of zippers that work

Zipper closure alto. Image credit: Alto Pharma

Alto raised $200 million to build a cutting-edge pharmaceutical industry. For one thing, he chose to end with a motivational slide rather than a flurry of speeches. But picking a short "Best Pharmacy" would complete the slide for an A+. Watch the launch pad throughout the disassembly.

Air Bud: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (web exclusive)