How can you determine the ideal presentation length for your startup?

The context is key. In conferences, I see too many founders who when approached casually go into “pitching mode”. If you're wandering around a conference hall, looking for spontaneous connections, especially with investors, you should be prioritising getting to know them, understanding what they want to get out of the conference and developing a relationship. Being an investor at conferences on many occasions, I get overwhelmed by the amount of random startup pitches that are presented to me. I want to know you as a founder and person first, what are your beliefs and what drives you. It's important to acknowledge that building relationships takes time, and the selling component to this relationship takes time to nurture

Tailor your pitch to match the specific rules and time constraints of events. For investor meetings, be concise, emphasizing key points to capture attention. Adapt to virtual or in-person settings, adjusting pacing accordingly. Prioritize quality over quantity, ensuring your message is impactful within the allotted time. Customizing your pitch to context enhances engagement and demonstrates adaptability, key traits for startup success.

O contexto importa muito. Já vi empreendedores em conferências para investidores apresentando pitches de venda focados no cliente ou vice-versa. Também é comum não levarem em conta o tempo de apresentação, com pitches que não finalizam por falta de tempo. Entenda o público, as regras e se alinhe às expectativas.

Apesar de o contexto ser super importante, pela minha experiência, é fundamental manter um pitch básico que servirá como matéria-prima. É a partir dessa base que você construirá seu pitch em um contexto específico, sem perder de vista a mensagem que deseja transmitir.

Context matters a lot. If you are giving a conversational-style presentation in a café, it doesn't make sense to do a long, monologue-style pitch with little back and forth. If you have +30 minutes for your pitch, present it in 20 minutes and use the remaining time for questions and answers, talking about additional information and general feedback. The pitch is a first contact for people to get to know what you are doing and understand why it is interesting for them. There will be other opportunities to go deeper, with new conversations, sending additional materials, among others

Tailor your presentation length to the audience's familiarity with your industry, ensuring you strike a balance between depth and clarity. For experienced audiences, focus on key innovations; for novices, provide necessary context. Gauge interest and adjust content accordingly. Allow time for questions, fostering engagement. A dynamic presentation, catering to audience expectations, significantly enhances your pitch's impact.

Based on my experience, it heavily depends on the audience. Probably, you should make a general presentation in about 7-8 slides, and leave more time for questions and answers

Reflecting on my journey, one lesson stands out: mastering the art of the perfect pitch. Determining the ideal presentation length is more an art than a science, akin to telling a captivating story. Remember the 'Goldilocks Principle' – your pitch should be long enough to cover the essential elements (vision, problem, solution, market, team, and financials), yet short enough to maintain interest. In one of our earliest pitches, we had a comprehensive 20-minute presentation planned. But sensing the investors' focus, we adapted on the fly, trimming it to a succinct 10 minutes, emphasizing key differentiators and growth potential. The result? Our story was heard, our vision resonated, and we secured our first major investment.

Do your research. Understand who they are, what they have done, and what they want. Knowing who you are talking to and their background is important to deliver the message most effectively. Do they have pain points similar to your users? Bring direct examples of how your solution could help with those problems. Are they industry experts? Talk less about the problem or the market, and focus more on the solution and its features. Don't they understand tech? Pitch to them in detail, using plenty of context and less technical jargon.

Find the right people, there is no point in telling retirees about taking risks in life and making lots of money, they are interested in staying healthy and enjoying life.

Tailor the content to evoke the desired response—be it awareness, interest, desire, or action. Focus on key aspects that drive your goal, creating a narrative that captivates. Keep it concise; unnecessary details can dilute impact. A well-paced presentation, tailored to your objective, ensures a clear and persuasive message, maximizing the likelihood of achieving your goal.

Have realistic objectives for each moment of the relationship that you are building. Are you making a pitch to investors or a sales pitch? Often your goal is to generate interest, secure another stage of conversation, a follow-up meeting where you can bring more details, or a next meeting with another decision-maker in the process. Making a pitch at an event, to a qualified audience? Your goal might be to introduce your solution to people for the first time, and generate awareness and engagement from potential partners and collaborators. If you are successful in the presentation in question, there will be new opportunities to go into detail about your solution, your current stage, and your organization.

Mögliche Storys in die Story einzubauen, kann die Neugier steigern und die Aufmerksamkeit erhöhen. Die Story kann auch gekonnt gelenkt werden, in dem Fragen gestellt werden. Allerdings sollten diese bewusst und wenig eingesetzt werden.

Goal should be point #1 in this article. Based on goals, you should decide what context, length, audience attitude to choose. Once you defined the goals, you can one by one put all the other milestones of your presentation.

It's even worth outlining this goal in the presentation itself so that people understand what you need from them, that you're not just giving them information, but you're promoting or selling something.

As a startup founder I understand there not enough time to think about originality of your presentation, but you should. I saw winning teams in pitch battles that have lack of data, but origin presentation and passion covers that. If you don't have enough traction to show, cover that with originality. It might work from the angle of you, as a creative founder. In early stages they invest in a team first.

Don't do things based on mere assumptions. Collect data to assess your progress. Are you going to pitch to investors or partners? Make tests and iterations in batches. Present to 5 closer or less relevant first. Take note of everything they said, when they said it, when they were more engaged, when they lost attention. Also ask for honest feedback. Use this data to refine your pitch, script, content, lenght, stages, transitions, and any questions that came up. Then repeat this process for the next 5 investors or partners, then another 5, and so on. Increase the relevance of them as you open new batches. After presenting to 20 of them, you will notice the evolution.

Always as short as possible, of course. Of course, this is a process and takes time. Even Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once wrote: "I'm writing you a long letter because I don't have time for a short one." What always helps me is to ask which 3 key messages stuck with the others after the pitch. You can then compare these 3 key messages with yours and iterate. Of course, this also depends on the listener, but it is a simple and good tool.

Para coletar os feedbacks, você pode optar por abordagens qualitativas ou quantitativas. Do ponto de vista qualitativo, consiste em conversar com aqueles que estiveram presentes na sua apresentação e perguntar abertamente o que acharam e o que mudariam. Quanto à abordagem quantitativa, envolve basicamente a criação de um formulário com 5 ou 10 perguntas, disponibilizando o link ou um QR CODE para coletar as respostas. Contudo, o aspecto mais crucial é o que fazer com essas respostas, e aí é onde a maioria falha, na análise.

This rule of thumb works in most cases. I would add that the attention span of someone is very different at the beginning of a day and at the end of one, especially if that person has been listening to pitches all day, it will be shorter. However, shortening your presentation might not be the only solution. If you are to pitch towards the end of the day, make sure you engage with people with the right tone, you can make allusion to the fact that people are tired and that you have a plan to get them through this particular pitch. Engage with them, make sure to keep their attention span on you.

Speaking of rules of thumb, I like Guy Kawasaki's 10-20-30 rule: the pitch should not have more than 10 slides, last more than 20 minutes, and use fonts smaller than 30 points. If I couldn't be flexible at all, to me, this is generally the one that works best.

Focus on 5 minutes. Any presentation always takes longer, if you take a lower benchmark, you will definitely meet the deadline.

Think of your presentation as a mini-series, each segment a captivating episode. This 10 to 18-minute rule is like the optimal length of an engaging TV episode, and you're telling a story that keeps your audience hooked. Now, add to this the concept of 'cliffhangers' at the end of each segment, especially if your presentation is on the longer side. These are intriguing questions or previews of what's coming next, designed to keep your audience eagerly anticipating more. Just like a gripping TV show, these cliffhangers can maintain interest and engagement, even beyond the typical attention span.

Generally, aim for 10-15 slides. Use docsend and run analytics on your deck impressions. You will find that most investors take about 2 minutes for the deck. That's how much time you have to leave an impression. Content focus should vary by startup stage. Team and vision drive pre-revenue, afterwards metrics count.

Don't be afraid of failure, if you sing the project to the wrong people, it doesn't matter how great the presentation is you will have failure. So it is very important to repeat the presentation, improve it, and repeat it again.