**
Introduction
“Get Backed” by Evan Baehr and Evan Loomis is a comprehensive guide for entrepreneurs on how to craft a compelling story, create an effective pitch deck, and successfully launch a venture. The book is categorized under Scaling Up and Market Validation, and it offers actionable insights based on the authors’ experiences and numerous examples of successful pitches. The book is structured around building a persuasive narrative and includes templates and real-life case studies to provide aspiring entrepreneurs with a thorough road map to secure funding for their startups.

1. Crafting Your Story
Major Points: The first step in creating a successful pitch is to craft a compelling story that resonates with investors. The book emphasizes the importance of authenticity, clarity, and relatability. Your story should articulate the vision, mission, and the problem your startup aims to solve.

Example from the Book: The authors cite Airbnb’s original pitch deck, which effectively communicated the founders’ personal struggle with finding affordable lodging. This relatable problem served as a powerful foundation for their pitch.

Actionable Advice:
– Action Step: Start by identifying a compelling problem—something you have experienced personally or observed closely. Write a short, personal narrative that illustrates this problem and how your venture provides a solution.

2. Building the Perfect Pitch Deck
Major Points: The book provides a detailed structure for creating an effective pitch deck. The recommended components include the cover slide, problem statement, solution, market opportunity, product, traction, business model, competition, team, financials, and the ask.

Examples from the Book:
– Cover Slide: The authors praise the simplicity of Square’s cover slide—just the company name and logo.
– Problem Statement: LinkedIn’s pitch deck is highlighted for clearly articulating a ubiquitous problem: fragmented professional identity online.
– Traction and Financials: The case of BuzzFeed is explored, showing how they used traction metrics, like website visits and engagement, to demonstrate growth potential.

Actionable Advice:
– Action Step: Use the book’s template and fill in each section with specific details about your startup. Practice simplifying complex ideas into clear, concise points for each slide.

3. Validating the Market
Major Points: Market validation is crucial for gaining investor confidence. This involves demonstrating that there is a viable market for your product or service, and that customers are willing to pay for it.

Examples from the Book: The authors highlight Dropbox’s initial strategy of creating a simple explainer video to gauge interest before building the product. The overwhelming positive response validated the market need.

Actionable Advice:
– Action Step: Conduct a small-scale experiment or use minimum viable product (MVP) techniques to validate your market hypothesis. Gather user feedback and metrics to present alongside your pitch.

4. Developing Traction
Major Points: Investors are significantly more interested in startups that show early signs of traction—proof that the business concept is gaining momentum. Traction can come in various forms such as revenue, user growth, partnerships, or other key performance indicators (KPIs).

Examples from the Book: The trajectory of Facebook’s user growth is discussed as an example. Facebook’s early focus on user expansion within college campuses validated their platform’s appeal and potential market.

Actionable Advice:
– Action Step: Focus on a few key metrics that matter most to your business. Track these metrics diligently and prepare visual representations to include in your pitch deck.

5. Highlighting the Team
Major Points: The team slide is critical as investors often place their bets on the people behind the idea rather than the idea itself. Highlight the relevant expertise, past successes, and the complementary skills of your core team members.

Examples from the Book: The authors refer to Tesla’s pitch, which capitalized on Elon Musk’s prior success with PayPal, giving investors confidence in the team’s ability to execute.

Actionable Advice:
– Action Step: Create concise but powerful bios for each team member, emphasizing relevant experience and skills that align with your startup’s goals.

6. Articulating the Business Model
Major Points: It’s essential to clearly articulate how your business will make money. This includes detailing your revenue streams, pricing strategy, and any significant costs involved.

Examples from the Book: The book discusses LinkedIn’s subscription-based model and how it provided multiple revenue channels through premium accounts, job postings, and advertising.

Actionable Advice:
– Action Step: Develop a clear and realistic business model that outlines all potential revenue streams and include this in your pitch. Present this model in a way that investors can easily understand the financial viability of your venture.

7. Understanding Competition
Major Points: A thorough analysis of your competition is imperative. Investors need to see that you understand the competitive landscape and have a strategy to differentiate your startup.

Examples from the Book: The authors cite Mint.com’s pitch deck, which used a simple quadrant graph to position itself against competitors, making it immediately clear how Mint was different.

Actionable Advice:
– Action Step: Conduct a competitive analysis and create a visual (such as a quadrant or matrix) to clearly demonstrate your position in the market. Highlight your unique selling points.

8. Nailing the Financials
Major Points: Financial projections are a critical element of any pitch deck. Investors look for credible, detailed financial forecasts that demonstrate potential profitability and growth.

Examples from the Book: The authors refer to Buffer’s transparent financials and how sharing detailed revenue figures and projections built investor trust.

Actionable Advice:
– Action Step: Create detailed financial projections for at least three years, including potential revenue, expenses, and cash flow. Use realistic assumptions and be prepared to explain these during your pitch.

9. Making the Ask
Major Points: The “ask” is the section where you specify the amount of funding you need and how you intend to utilize it. This should be clear, justified, and well-aligned with your business goals.

Examples from the Book: The authors mention the ask in the Airbnb pitch, which clearly stipulated how the requested $500,000 would be used for product development, design, and marketing.

Actionable Advice:
– Action Step: Determine exactly how much funding you need and break down the usage of these funds. Make sure every expense aligns with your strategic objectives. Present this in a clear, concise manner in your pitch.

10. Preparing for the Meeting
Major Points: Preparation is key. This involves rehearsing your pitch, anticipating questions, and planning how to handle objections and feedback.

Examples from the Book: The authors describe how practicing in front of a mirror, friends, or mentors can significantly improve delivery and boost confidence. For example, they highlight how the founders of Buffer conducted multiple rehearsal pitches to refine their presentation.

Actionable Advice:
– Action Step: Rehearse your pitch multiple times before the actual investor meeting. Record yourself, seek feedback from peers, and adjust your presentation based on the input you receive.

11. Additional Considerations
Major Points: Building relationships with potential investors, seeking out mentors, and continuously iterating on feedback are crucial aspects of the fundraising process.

Examples from the Book: The authors discuss how the founders of AngelList continually nurtured relationships with investors even when they weren’t actively fundraising, ensuring a network that could be tapped when needed.

Actionable Advice:
– Action Step: Start cultivating relationships with potential investors early on. Attend networking events, reach out via LinkedIn, and keep them informed about your startup’s progress.

Conclusion
“Get Backed” is a valuable resource for any entrepreneur looking to secure funding and scale their startup. By following the detailed, actionable advice provided by Baehr and Loomis, and learning from the concrete examples of successful pitches, aspiring founders can significantly improve their chances of creating a compelling pitch deck and attracting the right investors. The key takeaway is the importance of authenticity, preparation, and continuous improvement based on feedback. Applying these principles will not only help in crafting a pitch but also in building a robust, scalable business.