“We often find ourselves asking the founders to introduce the team after they’ve gone through a couple pages and haven’t put the team slide first.”

- Dana Stalder, General Partner at Matrix Partners.

 

The team slide is your chance to show why you are exceptional and why investors should bet on your team. It’s your chance to start the meeting with more than the standard 15-second introduction.

 

A couple of years ago, DocSend - a startup that allows documents to be shared safely -. conducted a study of around 200 pitch decks. After analyzing them, one of the most important discoveries was that entrepreneurs need to cover more time when they present the slide of the team. This is the second slide to which investors pay more attention, in addition to financial ones.

 

Therefore, if you think that you’ll impress investors just by telling them what your company is, what problem you solve and how you do it, you’re really wrong. It’s been several years that the thinking of investors has changed and nowadays human capital is one of the most important factors for a company to obtain financing.

 

So it is that, in it’s moment, Airbnb was considered as a ridiculous idea, but as Paul Graham said:

We thought Airbnb was a bad idea. We funded it because we really liked the founders.

 

Founders must understand that it is the human capital that keeps a company standing; therefore, the value it deserves must be given. In addition, today investors pay much attention to startup leaders because they are basing many of their investment decisions on these people and what they have to offer.

 

When preparing your pitch deck, include a slide in which you speak of them, the purpose of this is to show the value of your company through its human capital. You can do this by representing your senior leaders, as well as active board members and advisors.

 

The most important thing is that you should always include enough information about a particular person so that investors can look later when they do their own investigation.

 

Take your time, but not too much!

 

We often see the best entrepreneurs shine through their team slides because they have a lot to show for their efforts and in their metrics of growth and success. However, spend a little more time emphasizing how the unique dynamics of the team and the variety of human capital made that success possible for a long way serves to anchor the playing field.

- Dana Stalder, General Partner at Matrix Partners.

 

Mention your teams experience; make some storytelling about how they met and why they decided to do this project together. Don’t forget to describe the challenges your team has faced and how they have came through it; it is also important that you mention the connections you have with potential clients, mentors, partners, etc .; as well as what you need to become a dream team.

 

Enhance your teams strengths and make it clear that they are committed to building something great and that they will be perfect to work on it. In addition, include some details about a specific project in which they have all participated together or their unconventional experience in another field to illustrate their skills.

 

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About InnoHub México

 

We are a Venture Builder that develops and invests in technology companies to digitally transform companies in Mexico and Latin America. We have designed, developed, invested and scaled 5 companies in 2 years. Our investors and strategic alliances give us access to more than 1 million SMEs in Mexico and we are building the largest digital entrepreneurship platform that constantly seeks new talent and promotes sustainable economic development in the region.