
The Anatomy of a Y Combinator Demo Day Pitch - jkopelman
http://bryce.vc/post/4085241146/the-anatomy-of-a-y-combinator-demo-day-pitch
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johnrob
As the number of startups increases, is there a risk that most or all of the
investors end up chasing the 10-20 best pitches? While perhaps any single
company could hold their own in isolation, it seems like they're fighting the
others for attention. It must be fascinating to see the distribution of
interest between the investors and companies.

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pg
For a while I've worried that will start to happen. So far I haven't seen it.
Rationally it shouldn't happen, and the best investors are pretty rational
about "deal flow." But I'm still going to keep watch for signs of trouble.

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guptaneil
What about before DDay? Do startups within the same batch feel like they're
competing against each other, or does everybody manage to get along and help
each other out?

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pg
So far at least there's not much feeling they're competing against one
another. Which is reasonable, because they're really not. Investors don't have
limits on how many YC startups they'll fund.

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Udo
I was somewhat surprised by the lack of actual, you know, demos and the
emphasis on streamlined slide shows. Is that common now? It's been a while
since I pitched something...

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pg
Presentations were so short this cycle that there was no time for demos.

Since everyone asks how we decide how long presentations should be, I'll just
answer that now. People can sit for about 55 minutes. Two sessions = 110
minutes. 43 startups presenting means slots are at most 110/43 minutes.

The solution will be to move to 3 sessions. That was inevitable anyway, as the
number of startups per cycle increases. It will make DDay as a whole longer,
but I think investors will be ok with that, because it is still much more
efficient for them than meeting the startups individually.

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bfe
Any thought of adding follow-up longer form presentations on a later day for
doing actual demos for interested investors and startups, maybe in groups of
five to ten startups at a time?

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pg
Interesting idea, but I don't think there would be time. When investors see
startups they like at DDay, they know they have to act fast, because 350 other
investors just saw them too. So investors interested in a startup are usually
meeting with them in the next couple days.

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bfe
That's interesting too - there's now no time in the YC program for pitching
actual demos to investors, at least in inital group pitch format.

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lolizbak
Always been taught: a pitch without a demo is like a sandwich without bread, a
beach without sea, a HN without votes, a veggie burger, ...

Is it a _fact_ that the product execution by YC teams will be flawless, so we
can just minimize it?

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pg
It's more the case that that's not investors' biggest worry. Investors are
willing to believe (usually correctly) that the kind of people we fund can
build things. They worry more whether there's a market for what the startup is
building, whether the founders can actually ship, how much money they can
make, etc.

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pauldisneyiv
My initial response was to dislike the idea of presentations all using the
same format - it sounded boring and uninspired. But Demo Day is not for the
teams but for the investors and I can't imagine being slammed with dozens of
interesting ideas all while trying to choose which to invest large sums of
money into. The similar presentation formats likely help the investors stay
focused on the idea and the team.

I wonder if this "investor friendly" presentation format evolved from the
experience of YC doing this year after year. An example of the Y Combinator
partner's experience that Paul sometimes refers to...

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pg
_I wonder if this "investor friendly" presentation format evolved from the
experience of YC doing this year after year._

Very much so. We always stand at a point where we can watch both the
presentation and the investors watching the presentation, to see how they're
reacting to it. And I've probably watched over 700 DDay presentations now. So
by this point I can even predict fairly well which jokes they'll laugh at.

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shasta
The funny ones?

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wordchute
With the exception of the slides, how might the presentations differ from a
one-on-one pitch where you still might only have the same two-three minutes to
convey the same basic info? I would image investors are very busy and would
often want brevity regardless of the venue.

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pg
One on one pitches are more conversational. So the slides are designed to be
something you have a conversation about, not something you simply present.

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pama
What are good elements of design for conversation-sparking slides?

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pg
It's really the short Demo Day type pitches that require the most design. A
Demo Day pitch can't leave obvious questions unanswered, because there is no
chance for anyone to ask them. A pitch deck for an hour long VC meeting
doesn't have to be so watertight, because if investors have questions they can
ask them.

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guptaneil
I'm curious if this kind of presentation is useful for teams that haven't
already been validated with YC backing yet. I imagine this format only works
because the investors are already interested in the teams since PG is
interested in them. In other words, if somebody were to make a slide deck that
followed a similar format (no demo, most focus on team competency) and present
it to VC's without YC backing, would it receive the same enthusiastic
response?

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rabble
Has anybody posted a 'YC Demo Day Pitch Deck' online on slideshare or
elsewhere? I know most won't want to post it, half the companies didn't even
want their product talked about publically. Some must have raised money and
gone on far enough that they're welcome to share. Perhaps a class or two ago?

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acconrad
I'm curious: if most of these companies go on to raise rounds by going through
the proper channels, why bother focusing on the pitch and not just the demo?
It seems to me that if these companies still have to pitch to individual
investors anyway, why not use the current iteration of Demo Day as their
"Elevator Pitch" deck to investors, and use Demo Day as a real day of
demonstrations, the "sneak preview" of things to come to wet the mouths of
investors before they hear the real pitch?

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gsivil
Are the YC pitches so similar to each other as the article implies?

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arepb
Glad to see the evolution of the bio slide. I never think those are useful
when they look like Linkedin pages.

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stevenj
Which companies does he think are the most promising?

Is he going to invest in any?

