If you want to raise venture capital funding, you should be able to tell a compelling story to get you anywhere. What’s more, according to popular opinion, your story should also be supported by a perfect presentation. How many slides a deck needs and what order they should be in is a matter of debate, but the deck itself is non-negotiable.
That said, there are actually people who raise a lot of capital without using a deck. He was really intrigued to talk to two of them and find out how they did it.
Before Michal Cieplinksi became CEO and founder of fintech startup Capstack, he successfully founded several companies and invested in others. Today, he has refined his storytelling skills to the point that he doesn’t use any deck.
For Cieplinski, not using a platform creates an important benefit: it ensures that your startup is based on a real product and not a feature. The dangers associated with launching a business that relies on another product are many and dangerous, but in short, if the original product changes or is no longer available, then it’s goodbye for your business.
Your idea must be independent. As Cieplinksi says, if your company relies on a proprietary product, you often have so much to explain to potential investors that you need a platform to help you.
