writing a presentation teaser with graphics

Writing a presentation teaserBy Robert Schwenk, Investment Banker

Not as easy as you thinkYou want to describe your company or idea to an investor you are asking to rise money from. Sounds easy right? All you have to do is explain how great the product or concept is and surely they will see the potential! It’s all about how great my product is…Right?

If this is your approach: Congratulations, you just graduated to the class of businesses that receive the, “Very nice, I’ll be in touch.” diploma given by investors every day. With this diploma you will never hear from this investor again and he will never take your call.

Why can I say that? Over the last 20 years I have seen or written over 5,000 business presentation. At times with as many as 10 Ph.D.’s in the room to explain how they were going to change the world. Only a few ever raised large sums of money.

So, what made these companies different? Simple, these executive teams know how to speak the language of money. Money is a very different language than engineering, market research, or financial projections. The language of money is all about - RISK MITIGATION!

As an investment banker I meet people every day that want to raise money. My first question always is, “What role did you play within the company that raised money or sold the company?” The answer I receive almost 100% of the time is, “I was VP of (your department here)”. This statement tells me everything about you. You were/are part of the company not part of the TEAM. It’s the team that raised money or sold the company. So, if you are just part of the company not part of the closed door negotiation team, where do you get your training? How do you level the playing field?

Robert Schwenk, Investment Banker (714) 924-4386 – Writing an Investor Teaser/Investor Presentation©January 2016

Where do you learn to speak the langue of MONEY? There are only way two ways I have ever found to learn this langue of money. Either you were invited in to be part of that team and received the experience or you have to hear no enough times from enough investors and be willing to grow past your own boundaries and employ a financial advisor, such as myself and partner, to help you learn to speak the langue Money what’s to hear.

In the next few pages I will share what I’ve learned by hearing no so many times I sure it will be the only word on my tombstone.

Where to startIf you ask me to sell a company or product, no problem. Ask me to sell myself, how do I do that. How do I tell the story of me? The hardest story to tell.

The first step to selling you as a company is step away from the company and team and find a quiet place. Reflect on what other companies in your space are doing. Look at all the sales materials from these companies you can find. See how each describe the company and service. Then think about the team you have assembled. Be very honest with yourself. Is this the team you want to go into battle with? Would you trust each person with $5,000,000.00?

If you have even one doubt, stop. Your team is what will be evaluated most heavily by an investor. Just as when you buy a major ticket item you do a lot of research. What investors call Due Diligence (DD). And just like buying that large ticket item, brand name and marketing are important. But, in the end you buy from someone you connect with and trust. So it is with an investor. Investors don't invest in the idea; they invest in the team. He needs to know that the team he will invest in is capable of achieving the greatness you promise.

Rules for writing that teaser Rules number one, two, and three.

1. BE BREIF


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2. BE BRIGHT 3. BE DONE

Everything comes from these three rules.

Rule 1: BE BREIFFirst, you have exactly the first line of text to hook the reader into giving you the time for the next sentence. If you are boring in your first statement, I guaranty no one will read the second statement. So, what is an example of a boring statement?

NEWCO was founded in 2010 as a Delaware C corporation.

Don’t waste time. Get to the problem you plan to solve. Tell the reader why the pain is so great you have spent your valuable time creating this solution. Hook me with what’s in it for the investor. And say it in less than 10 seconds of reading time.

I have read teasers and business plans from all types and stages of companies with this example as the first line of text in the teaser/executive summary. Would you read any further? Remember, the reader has 20-50 more teasers to sift through…Today.

Rule 2: BE SUCCINCTLess is so much more. Use pictures, graphs, and charts to explain ideas. Use words sparingly. Words set the scene. Let the reader create how great a value you are from images. Don’t use more than 2 images per page. Remember, less is much more.

Rule 3: BE DONEWhen you finish the in person presentation or first phone call, ask what else the investor would like to know. Never educate an investor. Never fill silence with talk about how great your product is or what your kids did last week. Never think this investor needs you. Investors have deal flow; you have to standout.


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News flash. The war is over. PowerPoint is the winner when it comes to creating teasers and presentations. Use the best tool and the medium the reader is expecting. I have thought in the past I would be smart and be different. The only call I received was, “Are you stupid?”.

Practical applicationMost teasers are sent to third parties via email. Teasers because of this must be written in a format that can be understood without a talk track, but at times you present face-to-face. This text talks to both situations.

A teaser should never be written as a; from scratch document. The teaser is a summary of your company. Start by creating a PowerPoint Deck for each of the business units listed below. Using the same three rules above, showing the reader that you have thought through everything possible to reduce the risk of failure. The steps to composing a great teaser are first:

1. Create a Financial PowerPointa. Don’t put spreadsheets in any screensb. What should each screen address

i. What you doii. Market sizeiii. Investment into the company to dateiv. Cap table overview, founders share virus outside investors share

as a totalv. Capital structure vi. Sales history and projection, when will you be cash positivevii. What, if any, government subsidy, grants, tax consideration viii. In-house or outsource model ix. Investment opportunity how much money for what percentage or

interest ratex. Use of fundsxi. What is the projected exit strategy and investor return on

investment xii. Summary of the PowerPoint

2. Create an Operations Plan PowerPointa. What should each screen address

i. What you do (Yes you can recycle)ii. What is the current production/fulfillment/service

plant configuration


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iii. What is needed to expand company offering in physical plantiv. Justification for build vs. outsource, or vice versa v. Who is charged to drive growth (It had better not be the CEO)vi. What is the timeline for build outvii. What is the cost of the build outviii. What is the human costix. Summary of the PowerPoint

3. Create a Sales/Market Plan PowerPointa. Note, I didn’t say Marketingb. What should each screen address

i. What you doii. What market research or experience sparked the ideaiii. What research convinced you to move forwardiv. How big is the market projection for the next 12 24 36 months by

year v. Who is in this space, what have they done in

salesvi. Are you capturing new market share or stealing

from market leadersvii. What is your go to market strategy

1. In-house sales force2. Outsource sales force such as VARS or

Big Boxviii. What is the cost of your strategy in G&A termsix. What is the contingency plan if plan A fails to launchx. Summary of the PowerPoint

4. Create a Manage Plan PowerPointa. This many be the most import deck of all, what should it address

i. First and foremost, strength of the management teamii. Have a quality professional photo of each member of the CxO

teamiii. Have a professional writer create a one paragraph bio of each

member1. Don’t list all the timeline accomplishments2. Make it interesting tell the reader why CxO is the best person

for the job


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3. What is it about the executive that will reduce or eliminate RISK

iv. What plan to increase depth or upgrade CxO’s

v. What is the plan for a board of directors vi. What is the offeringvii. How many board seats will be offered to

investorsviii. Summary of the PowerPoint

Now you are ready to create a teaser. It’s simple really. You have done the work by creating the meat of the company presentation you will need anyway. Take each PowerPoint and distill each down to one no more than two pages. Have bright, colorful open page, and follow up with that one to two pages from each section explaining the reason the company is a great investment with minimal risk.

Here is the format:

1. Greeting page2. What we do page3. Market reach4. Sales Projections5. Financial overview6. Team7. Offering8. Summary Page9. Disclosure Page with who to contact

That’s it! That’s all you need to create a great teaser. I told you the teaser was the easiest part. By the way, did you notice what PowerPoint Deck isn’t in there? You’re right. Don’t talk about your product or service for hours on end. The investor doesn’t care. The product is simply the one-page overview in each deck. In the investors mind; “If your product was perfect today and you controlled the market, you wouldn’t need the investors’ money. One more bit of advice. I cannot count the times rookie entrepreneurs and seasoned professional have talked themselves out of closing with an investor. The golden rule is; the investor knows everything. Never try to educate


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an investor. Simply deliver a short presentation, ask questions of the investor such as what more can I tell you. Never talk to file silence and never educate the investor. Lastly a great line from the movie Glenn Gary, Glenn Ross:

“Remember your ABC’s: Always Be Closing.”


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writing a presentation teaser with graphics

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