So you're an entrepreneur running your own business with an aim to grow and scale. In that case, it's crucial to learn how to look for financing as startup fundraising is one of the most challenging aspects of launching a successful company. Whether you're seeking funding through VC funds, business angels, online matchmaking platforms for startups and investors like Vestbee, or crowdfunding campaigns – there are some basic rules that you should follow in order to craft a perfect startup one-pager that will catch investors interest.
So let's discover some tips you can use to make outstanding startup one-pager and secure funds from investors!
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What types of investors should your startup target?
You might share a startup one-pager or investment deck with different types of investors. For example, angel investors are high net worth individuals who invest their money in startups they believe in, usually at the earliest stages. VC funds are institutions that invest in exchange for an equity stake in the company they fund to achieve high returns.
Both angels and VC funds have various business requirements while looking for an investment opportunity and will most likely be willing to invest in your company, among others if:
- It is well-thought and backed with data
- There's solid evidence of huge market potential
- The founders have a proven track record of experience with similar or complementary ventures
So before your startup begins with the fundraising process, make sure to create concise and comprehensive yet powerful fundraising materials, like startup one-pager, elevator pitch, and pitch deck for investors. Well-crafted documents will convince investors why their money should be invested in your startup instead of someone else's while emphasizing its key features and benefits.
What is a startup one-pager?
A startup one-pager is a brief summary of your business, including a company and team overview, the problem it solves, market potential, main competitors, go-to-market strategy, traction, business model, and crucial milestones. Investors want to know those aspects of your business to understand what they're getting into when investing in your company.
Crafting your startup one-pager
Well-crafted startup one-pager is your chance to make a great impression on investors and provide them with crucial information about the business itself as well as fundraising details. Such an interactive overview of the company is a perfect tool that will help you achieve the goal of preparing a compelling pitch to get funded.
When crafting your startup one-pager, it's important to start with a captivating "startup one-liner." This is a short and catchy description that will pique investors’ interest by telling something about the type of your business and its main goal. Let’s imagine that you are a SaaS company in the legal space, then the good example of your one-liner should be as follows:
We are the team track record of successful exits building the leading legal SaaS with international clients growing 40% MoM*
*month over month
The type of one-pager you create depends on your startup's stage and who your investors are. A pitch for a venture capitalist would include more business and financial metrics than the one for an angel investor as they take into account different factors while making an investment decision. Also, early-stage investors tend to focus on management, team and go-to-market strategy while later-stage investors focus mostly on unit economics and scalability.
However, there are 3 key elements that the one-pager should include to make any kind of investor interested:
1. Great vision and global potential
2. Traction proving growth potential
3. Team members presentation - their skills, complementarity, experience and dedication
Also, remember to keep it simple and stick to the main message in every element of your pitch.
Elements of a startup one-pager
What kind of information should you include in the startup one-pager? How do you come up with a compelling "elevator pitch" that will make investors listen? What is your goal when crafting fundraising material anyway? Let’s find out the answers by discussing each element of a perfect startup one-pager.
So, ideally, a one-pager should contain:
- The name of your business
- Team
- Your "elevator pitch" (Executive summary)
- Problem, solution and unique selling points (USP)
- Target market
- Competitors in the market
- Traction and Milestones
- Fundraising Goal
Team
The impression investors have after meeting the startup team plays a crucial role, as usually team dedication, experience and complementary expertise are the aspects that impact the final investment decision. Right people on the board increase the odds of success and assures the capability of pivoting while bad days come. There also needs to be chemistry and matching goals between investors and entrepreneurs in order to cooperate together effectively.
Executive summary
The executive summary is typically a paragraph or two about what you're pitching and what problem your startup solves. The purpose is to present the essence of your business and encourage investors to read on.
You can use the elevator pitch as the executive summary. It is a shortened version of your entire business that can be delivered within an elevator ride - no more than ca. 60 seconds. It's usually max. 3 sentences long and should highlight who you are as an entrepreneur, what type of company you are running, where your company fits in within the industry, and what makes you different from competitors in a clear and understandable way.
Problem, Solution, and Unique Selling Points (USP)
When crafting a one-pager for your business, it's important to highlight the problem and solution. In other words, you should state what you are trying to solve and prove why your company is the best answer for the addressing issue.
The unique selling proposition (USP) is also essential, as investors want to know what makes your company different from the competition and why that’s compelling enough for them to invest in it.
Target Market for Product or Service Provided
One of the most important things to include in your one-pager is a description of your target market and its size, the demographics you're focusing on and how the product or service solves their problems. Investors are interested in a good idea, but they are even more interested in a plan that will bring profitability and growth potential. The more specific you are, the better chance you have of getting investors interested in your business idea.
Competitors in the Market
Competition is a factor you need to consider - by seeing how they advertise and who their target audience is, you can come up with strategies that will work best for your business. Other companies solving similar problems will force you to be more creative and discover unfair advantage. Assuming that you don’t have any competitors is the most popular mistake - their solution might be ineffective or complicated but you can’t neglect them. Analyzing their business model and decisions may actually help you to avoid mistakes they have already made and come up with some breakthrough ideas that will help your business grow.
Traction and Milestones
It’s worth highlighting and distinguishing key moments within your business journey, as no matter the stage you are in, any substantial progress motivates and increases the odds of the company’s fundraising success. Depending on the stage of your company it could be landing your first customer or releasing a new product prototype. In order to keep it simple, put the emphasis only on the outcomes crucial to project success that will confirm the pace of your growth.
Fundraising Goals
While establishing financial goals, you should start with determining the current needs of your startup and then proceed with financial projections & data analysis to estimate the financial requirements for 15-18 months. After deciding on a funding goal it’s also worth checking your potential investors’ investment tickets to make sure that they will be able to meet your needs.
Tools for crafting startup one-pager
After checking the above-mentioned tips and insights, you are probably wondering how to put it into practice and have a well-crafted one-pager ready to share with investors. Nothing easier!
Vestbee, the leading matchmaking platform for startups, VC funds, accelerators, and corporates in Europe, supports startups with free fundraising tools so join and craft your startup one-pager online. Share your profile with embedded video and deck with relevant investors, track investors' engagement and get funded.
For more assistance in writing your Investor Pitch Deck and pitching your startup to investors see the following articles:
- How to Create a Perfect Problem Slide in Your Pitch Deck?
- Tips for Crafting the Perfect Ask Slide In Pitch Deck
- Common Mistakes In Startup Pitch Deck To Avoid During Fundraising
- A Bunch Of Tips On Pitching Your Startup To Investors
- How To Write Elevator Pitch For Investors
- How To Create A Pitch Deck That Will Get Your Startup Funded
For even more insights on how to create a perfect investor pitch deck click here to download Perfect Pitch - The Ultimate Startup Guide, an ebook prepared by a team of experts and investors addressing the question of how to make your startup fundraising process successful.
Related Posts:
Startup Fundraising: How To Create The Perfect Product Slide In The Investment Pitch Deck (by Katarzyna Groszkowska, Editor, Vestbee)
Startup Fundraising: How To Create The Perfect Market Slide In Your Startup Pitch Deck (by Katarzyna Groszkowska, Editor, Vestbee)
Startup Fundraising: How to Create a Perfect Solution Slide in Your Pitch Deck?
(by Katarzyna Groszkowska, Editor, Vestbee)
