The initial ideas always look rough. You need a lot of socializing of the initial pitches to find the market fit and initial traction.
Innovation is hard.
Customers may be hesitant to adopt new technologies or ways of doing things, and existing businesses may resist disruption to their established business models. Founders are always in a talent search. Innovation requires significant resources, including funding, talent, and time. Companies may not have the resources necessary to invest in product development, and talented individuals may be difficult to attract and retain. It takes significant funding to sustain the significant amount of time and effort to bring a new product or service to market, especially if it involves advanced technology.
I find fascinating the power of ideas, and how they are able to attract the funding, the talent, and the initial customers before they become the household names we know today.
Some examples of initial decks, are from BuzzFeed Airbnb to Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Facebook Initial Pitch Deck
Facebook went public in May 2012 with an IPO that raised $16 billion. Some of Facebook’s earliest investors included Accel Partners and Founders Fund, as well as individual investors like Peter Thiel, one of the co-founders of PayPal. These investors provided seed funding to the company in its early days, helping it to develop its social networking platform. In subsequent funding rounds, Facebook raised additional capital from a number of other sources. In 2006, the company raised $25 million in a funding round led by the investment firm Greylock Partners, which valued the company at $525 million. Other investors in that round included the venture capital firms Meritech Capital Partners and Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund.
Next year, in 2007, Facebook raised an additional $240 million in a funding round led by the technology investment bank, Deutsche Bank. Other investors in that round included the private equity firm, Li Ka-shing Foundation, and the venture capital firms Microsoft and Li Ka-shing Foundation.
The pitch deck below is one of the first used to raise money and is an effort to continue branching out from its Ivy League roots by its CFO, Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin. This pitch deck was put together in this media kit/pitch deck hybrid to demonstrate the network’s success to date and its plans for the future.
Airbnb Initial Pitch deck
Before being AirBnB, it was AirBed and Breakfast. Today you know it from the over 4 million listings in over 220 countries and regions, one of the largest lodging providers in the world. It’s $3.4 billion in revenue makes it one the fastest revenue growth companies.
AirBnB Pitch Deck from Malcolm Lewis
DropBox Initial Pitch Deck
Dropbox went public in March 2018, with an initial public offering that raised $756 million. Some of Dropbox’s earliest investors included the venture capital firms Y Combinator and Sequoia Capital, as well as individual investors like Paul Graham and Ali Partovi. These investors provided seed funding to the company in its early days, helping it to develop its cloud storage and file-sharing services.
In subsequent funding rounds, Dropbox raised additional capital from a number of other sources. In 2011, the company raised $250 million in a funding round led by the investment firm Index Ventures, which valued the company at $4 billion. Other investors in that round included the venture capital firms Greylock Partners and Benchmark, as well as the private equity firm Goldman Sachs.
Dropbox: $15K VC investment turned into $16.8B. Dropbox’s initial pitch deck from AA BB
Buzzfeed Pitch Deck
Before becoming the digital media powerhouse that produces and publishes a wide variety of content, including news, feature stories, videos, quizzes, and listicles, it was just a pitch deck.
The company was founded in 2006 and has since grown to become one of the largest and most popular media outlets on the internet. Some of the company’s early investors included the venture capital firms Hearst Ventures and SoftBank Capital, as well as a number of angel investors.
In 2014, BuzzFeed raised $50 million in a funding round led by the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, which valued the company at $850 million. Other investors in that round included the venture capital firms New Enterprise Associates and Lerer Hippeau, as well as the media company NBCUniversal.
Since then, BuzzFeed has raised additional funding from a number of sources, including the venture capital firms RRE Ventures and General Atlantic.
Since the original idea, Buzfeed expanded, and in addition to its editorial content, BuzzFeed also operates a number of other businesses, including a product lab that develops and sells BuzzFeed-branded merchandise, an advertising agency that helps brands create and distribute content, and a video production studio that creates original programming for a variety of platforms. Would you have invested?
LinkedIn Initial Pitch Deck
In 2011, LinkedIn went public with an initial public offering that raised $352.8 million. This came after multiple rounds, where LinkedIn’s earliest investors included the venture capital firms Sequoia Capital and Greylock Partners, as well as individual investors like Reid Hoffman, the company’s co-founder and former CEO. These investors provided early-stage funding to the company as it was building its professional networking platform.
In subsequent funding rounds, LinkedIn raised additional capital from a number of other sources. In 2008, the company raised $53 million in a funding round led by the investment firm Bain Capital Ventures, which valued the company at $1 billion. Other investors in that round included the venture capital firms Bessemer Venture Partners, Goldman Sachs, and Sequoia Capital.
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