Can you recommend anyone or a service that we could present our startup pitch deck to where we could get feedback before our real pitch?

Hi,
The first step to getting the right feedback for your pitch is to find the people who you think are qualified to comment in the field.
In terms of expertise, you should look for these:
-Previous experience / involvement in startups
-Experience or involvement in VC's or Seed Funds
-A startup mentor
-Someone who acts as a judge in demo days
-Knowledge of the principles that goes into creating a good pitch deck. (I would recommend the book by Jason Calacanis and the part about pitch decks)
-Domain expertise (specific to your domain is ideal but not the most important thing)

You can find these people in clarity.fm (I am one!) as on other platforms such as Upwork & Shapr as well.

Hello! As a Co-Founder and Head of Development, I've created multiple pitch decks and presentations for investors. I've worked with my mentors to make sure that our company's pitch decks and presentations engage our audience.

One thing to note: You can have the best idea in the world, but if it's not communicated correctly, the people you are presenting will not pay any attention or feel inclined to give you money. It's very important to incorporate engaging elements (like a relatable story outlining the problem your business is solving) into your presentation to make sure that grabs your audience's attention. I would be happy to provide some feedback on your deck in a follow-up call!

As far as I know, there is not a formalized service to achieve this. Try tapping into your network and your local startup community to find the following persons to give you feedback. Most people would be willing to take 15-20 min to provide your with feedback.
1. VC Investors - Professional investors see hundreds of pitch decks and know what to look for. They can also give you the investors perspective. This is the most important person to get feedback from.
2. Entrepreneurs who have raised capital - If they have gone through this process, they have likely gone through multiple iterations of their deck. They have the experience of the feedback they received, and what worked for them.
3. Someone who doesn't know your business or your industry at all. The saying "if you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough" is very true. True pitching someone who have no clue about your space. E.g. Grandparents, kids etc.
I hope this helps.

Does your deck answer following big questions about your start-up - (1) What is your promise to your target customers (2) Does your promise connects with target customers to help generate interest/ enquiry (3) How your solution delivers the promise without fail (4) How do you acquire customers (5) How big is the market and how scalable is the business. These are some of the questions deck needs to answer apart from lot of standard stuff. Would be happy to help further. All the best.

A good place to start would be pitching your friends and family. First, make sure you have a great story and are able to convey what you are building/problem you are solving to anyone. Some investors might not be familiar with your field, thus your first objective should be to convey your product to anyone (a 10 year old should be able to understand what you are doing).

Once you have a great story you can move on to pitching to other founders/investors, there are plenty of experts here on Clarity that can provide you with amazing feedback. Make a list of 5-10 people here on clarity who have experience pitching to investors, set up a call with them and get their feedback.

I'm the CEO of aPitchDeck.com - we offer a 1-on-1 slide-by-slide review service for startups to prepare for that big investor meeting (or demo days). You can contact me through our website or through Clarity to schedule a call. Our clients include tech entrepreneurs, VC funds and accelerators.

If you are in a major city look for co-working space -- many offer pitch nights/events that are available for a fee or free if you are part of the co-working space. If you aren't in one, I highly recommend that if it's accessible to you because it allows you to get feedback from fellow founders and VCs that frequent the space, which is what you want as you move along in the process of building your MVP. Feel free to reach out if you want to know more about how to maximize that type of pitch opportunity. I think it is a great setting for getting a feel for how people listen to you and what they take away from your presentation.

Hello, good question. I've prepared many decks in my time and reviewed hundreds (maybe thousands by now) to help entrepreneurs with seed through A-Round fundraising.

There are standard questions which must be answered in any basic pitch deck:
Positioning
Problem
Solution (How it Works, Why it Works)
Market Opportunity (TAM, TOM, SOM)
Market Position (Competitive Situation)
Sources of Revenue (Business Model)
Leadership Team and Strategic Advisors
Barriers to Competitive Entry and Exit (Moats)
Roadmap and Timing to Revenue/Payback/Exit
Ask and Offer (Structure, Form, ROI expectations)

It's important to cover all the bases. It's also important to distinguish between the deck you send in email (text heavy) versus the deck you deliver in person (text light).

Generally, you want to lead with your strongest elements. For example, if the market opportunity is huge but you're missing some key leaders or strategic advisors, then lead with your product-market fit and make your ask about the people you need to fill in the holes (before asking for $$).

A really great practice is to distill your pitch down to 1-2 pages, often called an executive summary. Another great practice is to develop a high-quality pitch video which can be sent in addition to your executive summary.

It's also a good idea to prepare a dealroom for your prospective investors, which will help you to keep materials current. Online dealrooms can be free (dropbox, Google) or paid. There are several good subscription sites which will track who looks at your deal materials, when they look, how often they look at each piece etc. This kind of investor CRM is invaluable to the entrepreneur.

I hope that's helpful. Feel free to reach out if I can be of further assistance.