How to screen a pitch deck

Hey everyone,

Here is what I look for during my initial pitch deck screening:
 

Team: Ideas are a dime a dozen, execution is a magnitude more difficult. The key question is, can this team execute? Can they build this solution, can they sell it and can they do it together?

Does the team have the grit, humility, aptitude and perseverance to see this idea to market? Team dynamics are incredibly important and some things I look for here are: what is the relationship between the founders, how committed are they to this problem, to each other and to the startup, do they have industry expertise. 

Product: The key here is to remain focused on the problem they are solving. Is it a big problem? Is this solution significantly better than the current standard? How does this fit in the current workflow? What assumptions are the founders making and have they validated them with data?

Business model: At its core, the business model should be profitable while the product provides value to its buyer. In healthcare this is often looked at through a financial lens. Does this generate revenue or decrease costs? The former is preferred. There is tension between what patients want, what physicians want, what health delivery systems want and what payers want. The founders should have an understanding of who their buyer is and how they are providing value to their buyer. Note this is different from providing value to their user as the user and buyer are often different. 

Distribution: If you ask first time founders what the most important predictor of success is, they will say it's their product itself. If you ask second time founders, they will say distribution. If you build it, they will not come. While I do not expect founders to have a complete distribution strategy, I want to see they have focused on this and on value. If they talk 90% of the time about the product and mention distribution in passing, this is a yellow flag. 

Thanks for reading and would love for you to join me in the webinar mentioned below!

Rishad