Leading with the product instead of the problem
Investors buy into a problem worth solving before they care about your interface. Open with who is in pain, how expensive that pain is today, and why it is unsolved.
A market size that is obviously top-down
A slide claiming a $400B TAM with no bottom-up path signals inexperience. Build it from the number of reachable customers times realistic annual contract value, then show how you expand.
Hiding the weak metric
If churn is high or growth flattened last quarter, say it on slide six with your hypothesis for the fix. Diligence finds it anyway, and finding it late costs you the round.
Other repeat offenders
Most passes come from a handful of avoidable signals rather than a fundamental disagreement about the market.
- No clear ask — amount, runway bought and milestones unlocked
- Competition slide claiming there are no competitors
- Team slide with no reason this team has an unfair edge
- Financial projections with hockey sticks and no assumptions
- Too many slides — 12 to 15 is the working range
- Founders talking over each other in the meeting
- No customer voice: zero quotes, logos or usage evidence
- Vague use of funds ('hiring and marketing')
- Ignoring regulatory or distribution risk entirely