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LinkedIn's Series B Pitch to Greylock: Pitch Advice for Entrepreneurs

152 points by Ecio78 13y ago

elwell 13y ago
Wow, the design looks much worse than I would have expected from LinkedIn.
- chatmasta 13y ago
  Looks perfectly minimalist to me. You don't want a flashy design to distract from important content.
  - dshah 13y ago
    Disagree with this. In today's world (particularly in consumer Internet), investors often judge the "quality" of a team based on the aesthetics of the pitch-deck -- and website. All things being equal, the deck with the better design sense wins.
    - chatmasta 13y ago
      In the present context, I think you make a good point. But it's worth noting this deck is from 2004, and thus should be judged in the context of contemporary designs.
- kops 13y ago
  Not that I like the design either, but a successful guy has taken a non-trivial amount of time to share his experience/wisdom, so the only think I can say is "thank you".
samspenc 13y ago
Wow this is fantastic! Not only are the slides included, but a detailed and helpful analysis of each slide as well.
pixelmonkey 13y ago
"You have the most attention from investors in the first 60 seconds of your pitch, so how you begin is incredibly important. One common mistake is putting the team slide early in the deck. The team behind your idea is critical, but don’t open with that. Instead, open with the investment thesis." Great piece of advice, so obvious in retrospect and at odds with many other pitch guidelines out there, that suggest you start with the management team / "company snapshot".
- yumraj 13y ago
  As with everything else, it depends. You start with your strongest suite. So, if you're an extremely early stage startup with a stellar team, you start with that. If, you're technology/traction/investment thesis is stronger, relative to your team, you start with that.
- hayksaakian 13y ago
  With the increasing popularity of the "aquihire" exit strategy, I'm not surprised that "pitch guidelines" encourage discussing the team so early.
  - alexdevkar 13y ago
    Investors typically are not going for acquihires. See for a good discussion on many issues: http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2013/05/13/the-corrosive-downside-of-acquihires/ http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2013/05/13/the-corrosive-...
- dshah 13y ago
  As someone that has raised $100M+ in VC for my current startup, I totally agree with this sentiment. Open with the investment thesis -- or more specifically, lead with WHY this is a great investment compared to the other 100+ deals they're looking at.
- guiambros 13y ago
  Keep in mind this is a Series B. By now the team already has some momentum and track record, so it has been vetted before. The question is not the team anymore; is this line of business really going to explode with more money? The first 60 seconds is key for any presentation (pitching investors or not). But even on a seed round, I wouldn't start with a team slide, unless it sends a powerful message of why this is a team of rockstars (but chances are, if this is the case, you wouldn't even need to talk about team upfront. Your reputation precedes you).
runako 13y ago
Interesting data from the "LinkedIn is the Market Leader" slide (data from 8/04): - Friendster is the largest social network. - Facebook is not present. Something to keep in mind when considering how much emphasis to place on existing competition in a market.
monsterix 13y ago
Brilliant! Thanks for sharing this on HN. This one line is simply bang on at so many levels: ...we knew that our pitch would need to steer into investors’ biggest concern: the lack of revenue. And seemingly relevant in the current climate of 2013 again.
- ialas 13y ago
  ICYMI, Reid addresses today's climate, too: In 2013, it’s whether you can break through the noise. Today, there are probably a thousand consumer internet startups founded every quarter — how do you become one of the 1 to 3 that matter in a 7-year timeframe?
Justen 13y ago
Love this post. Only about a fifth of the way through it right now (@work), but I'm definitely going to peruse the rest later and bookmark it for when I make my own pitch deck here soon!
trendspotter 13y ago
I know what a lot of future startup pitch decks will look like :)
ffrryuu 13y ago
A much better system would be printing money to fund startups, instead of our current, print money to fund debts.
memnips 13y ago
I would love to see a visual representation of the relationship between pitch deck length and successful raise. I was surprised by the length of this deck.
- ScotterC 13y ago
  I think it was more a sign of the times and the fact that it was a B round. You can elaborate a bit at the B stage.
  - dshah 13y ago
    Longer decks still work -- even today. Possible reason: Often, decks are shared before a meeting is taken, so the really good ones are designed to be read (not just presented).
dtwhitney 13y ago
am I the only one who is surprised at how ugly it is?

152 points by Ecio78 13y ago

elwell 13y ago

Wow, the design looks much worse than I would have expected from LinkedIn.

chatmasta 13y ago
Looks perfectly minimalist to me. You don't want a flashy design to distract from important content.
- dshah 13y ago
  Disagree with this. In today's world (particularly in consumer Internet), investors often judge the "quality" of a team based on the aesthetics of the pitch-deck -- and website. All things being equal, the deck with the better design sense wins.
  - chatmasta 13y ago
    In the present context, I think you make a good point. But it's worth noting this deck is from 2004, and thus should be judged in the context of contemporary designs.
kops 13y ago
Not that I like the design either, but a successful guy has taken a non-trivial amount of time to share his experience/wisdom, so the only think I can say is "thank you".

samspenc 13y ago

Wow this is fantastic! Not only are the slides included, but a detailed and helpful analysis of each slide as well.

pixelmonkey 13y ago

"You have the most attention from investors in the first 60 seconds of your pitch, so how you begin is incredibly important. One common mistake is putting the team slide early in the deck. The team behind your idea is critical, but don’t open with that. Instead, open with the investment thesis." Great piece of advice, so obvious in retrospect and at odds with many other pitch guidelines out there, that suggest you start with the management team / "company snapshot".

yumraj 13y ago
As with everything else, it depends. You start with your strongest suite. So, if you're an extremely early stage startup with a stellar team, you start with that. If, you're technology/traction/investment thesis is stronger, relative to your team, you start with that.
hayksaakian 13y ago
With the increasing popularity of the "aquihire" exit strategy, I'm not surprised that "pitch guidelines" encourage discussing the team so early.
- alexdevkar 13y ago
  Investors typically are not going for acquihires. See for a good discussion on many issues: http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2013/05/13/the-corrosive-downside-of-acquihires/ http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/2013/05/13/the-corrosive-...
dshah 13y ago
As someone that has raised $100M+ in VC for my current startup, I totally agree with this sentiment. Open with the investment thesis -- or more specifically, lead with WHY this is a great investment compared to the other 100+ deals they're looking at.
guiambros 13y ago
Keep in mind this is a Series B. By now the team already has some momentum and track record, so it has been vetted before. The question is not the team anymore; is this line of business really going to explode with more money? The first 60 seconds is key for any presentation (pitching investors or not). But even on a seed round, I wouldn't start with a team slide, unless it sends a powerful message of why this is a team of rockstars (but chances are, if this is the case, you wouldn't even need to talk about team upfront. Your reputation precedes you).

runako 13y ago

Interesting data from the "LinkedIn is the Market Leader" slide (data from 8/04): - Friendster is the largest social network. - Facebook is not present. Something to keep in mind when considering how much emphasis to place on existing competition in a market.

monsterix 13y ago

Brilliant! Thanks for sharing this on HN. This one line is simply bang on at so many levels: ...we knew that our pitch would need to steer into investors’ biggest concern: the lack of revenue. And seemingly relevant in the current climate of 2013 again.

ialas 13y ago
ICYMI, Reid addresses today's climate, too: In 2013, it’s whether you can break through the noise. Today, there are probably a thousand consumer internet startups founded every quarter — how do you become one of the 1 to 3 that matter in a 7-year timeframe?

Justen 13y ago

Love this post. Only about a fifth of the way through it right now (@work), but I'm definitely going to peruse the rest later and bookmark it for when I make my own pitch deck here soon!

trendspotter 13y ago

I know what a lot of future startup pitch decks will look like :)

ffrryuu 13y ago

A much better system would be printing money to fund startups, instead of our current, print money to fund debts.

memnips 13y ago

I would love to see a visual representation of the relationship between pitch deck length and successful raise. I was surprised by the length of this deck.

ScotterC 13y ago
I think it was more a sign of the times and the fact that it was a B round. You can elaborate a bit at the B stage.
- dshah 13y ago
  Longer decks still work -- even today. Possible reason: Often, decks are shared before a meeting is taken, so the really good ones are designed to be read (not just presented).

dtwhitney 13y ago

am I the only one who is surprised at how ugly it is?