While nothing is a sure bet, our research suggests that the odds may be against you if your product is only at the idea stage. In fact, according to our latest pre-seed research, 90% of companies that successfully fundraised in 2020 had an MVP in alpha, beta or GA. This means in order to increase your odds of success, perhaps you should hold off on fundraising until you’ve created a more sophisticated prototype that is getting a sizable customer base excited and you’ve had a few promising pilot studies or are developing a strong waitlist of potential users. Again, though, if you’re a team with an abundance of experience under your belt, then an idea may just well cut it for you — just make sure you communicate this in your deck.
Regardless of how far along you are with your product, you’ll want to include some form of visualization of your product in your deck. This means that if you’re still in the idea stage or only have an early alpha version, you’ll still want to include some sort of image of your product, which can look like anything from a few screenshots to a series of wireframe renderings. Providing a visual component is much more digestible and engaging than a series of mere bullet points enumerating your product features.