Business
From Growth-At-All-Costs to Cost of Missing Out: DocSend Pre-Seed Report Shows Investor Shift to Long-Term Profitability and Risk Aversion
Founders use strategic pitch decks to break through to investors amid increased pitch deck review times and prolonged due diligence periods SAN FRANCISCO,
About this update from Dropbox, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Founders use strategic pitch decks to break through to investors amid increased pitch deck review times and prolonged due diligence periods\nSAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- DocSend, a secure document sharing platform and Dropbox (NASDAQ: DBX) company, released new data pointing to heightened risk aversion in pre-seed investing, with venture capital (VC) investors shifting priorities to long-term profitability over rapid growth. While investors are quick to say \"no\" to pre-seed deals, spending 11% less time reviewing decks year-over-year (YoY), the report shows how successful founding teams can create shorter, narrative-first pitch decks that prove product opportunity and market preparedness.\n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \nThe new report, From FOMO to JOMO: VCs shift from rapid growth to long-term risk aversion, analyzes over 200 pre-seed fundraising startups to understand successful and unsuccessful components of pitch decks and examine investor interactions in 2022 and the first half of 2023. The report is part of the DocSend Startup Index, which provides data-driven insights about founder actions and investor reactions throughout the pitching process.\n\"Findings show a distinct shift in investor sentiment,\" said Justin Izzo, data and trends analyst at Dropbox DocSend. \"Long gone are the days of record-breaking funding rounds, almost fueled by a fear of missing out (FOMO) on the next great startup. In its place is a new emphasis on due diligence and long-term scalability, where investors are passing up many deals with a joy of missing out (JOMO).\"\nFor founders who are looking for ways to break through this current mindset, the report shows the business model and traction remain the most important sections to investors, holding true to what data reflected in 2021. Despite a starkly different landscape investors spend 48% and 25% more time, respectively, on these sections compared to others. Investors are placing an emphasis on product readiness and financials to demonstrate attainable gains alongside long-term profitability.\nFounders demonstrate opportunity cost\nThe pitch deck is a founder's most influential tool to cut through investor risk aversion. A compelling pitch deck establishes a strong product narrative early on through slide order. Successful pre-seed founders share a clear and concise business plan t...