The 60-second rule

Most investors won't tell you this, but they've made a preliminary decision about your company before they've read a single word of your pitch deck.

They look at:

How your deal room is organised
Whether the financials are up to date
Whether you've clearly stated what you're raising and why

If any of these are missing or hard to find, the mental note is already made.

The 3 mistakes founders make

1. No clear ask on the first screen

Founders bury the raise amount three documents deep. Investors want to know: how much, at what valuation, and what it funds — in the first 10 seconds.

2. Outdated financials

A financial model from 6 months ago signals you're not operationally tight. If the numbers aren't current, update them before you share the deal room.

3. Too many documents

Nine attachments is not thorough. It's noise. The best deal rooms have 4-5 documents: pitch deck, financial model, cap table, one-pager, and optionally a product demo.

What to do instead

Build your deal room like an investor is viewing it for the first time, in 60 seconds, on a phone. If the core message isn't clear in that time, it needs to be restructured.