- Persuade & Raise
- Posts
- ♞ Nod-Along Strategy
In partnership with
Nod-Along Strategy
One of the most basic strategies I always follow when building client decks is the Nod-Along Strategy.
Specifically, I use this when building attention decks, which are designed to be used when you are not pitching alongside them. The most common use is emailing these to investors when trying to get a meeting.
So what is the nod-along strategy, and why do I use it religiously?
Take a demo, get a Blackstone Griddle
Financial operations heating up? BILL Spend & Expense can help you take control. Automate expense reports, set budgets across teams, and get real-time insights into company spend. Take a demo to learn how and we'll give you a 28" Blackstone Omnivore Griddle—so you can take control of your next barbecue, too.
The Nod-Along Strategy is a way of building the first 2-4 slides in your deck so that when reading through it an investors will naturally nod along. The way you do this is by starting on slide 1 with a statement, fact or question that will get the investor to agree with you or bite on your hook. Subsequently over the next 1-3 slights you logically follow on from that initial hook with more statements or questions with the goal being that at the end of the 2-4 slides the investors has nodded along to the point where they either:
Agree that you are solving a significant problem in a massive market.
Agree that you have a solution to a real problem.
This is different from a traditional deck where you spend the first slide telling investors about a problem and the second slide getting investors to buy into your solution to that problem. Instead, we abandon that strategy completely and try to work from the common ground that you feel all investors will have towards the specific point of view that an investor needs to have to back your company. If you can do that without making significant jumps in logic and instead slowly moving them from where they are now to where you need them just by nodding along you can get them to naturally believe in your company without needing to convince them. It’s like a gotcha moment without them needing to feel like you’ve tricked them.
Have you used the Nod-Along Strategy? |
Automate compliance and streamline security reviews - get $1,000 off Vanta
Whether you’re starting or scaling your business, demonstrating top-notch security practices and establishing trust is more important than ever.
Vanta automates compliance for SOC 2, ISO 27001, and more, saving you time and money — while helping you build customer trust.
Plus, you can streamline security reviews by automating questionnaires and demonstrating your security posture with a customer-facing Trust Center, all powered by Vanta AI.
Join the 7,000+ global companies that use Vanta to manage risk and prove security in real time.
Are you looking to grow your business? Here is how I can help:
📢 Promote your startup to 2,000+ VCs including investors from a16z, YC, Techstars, Rarebreed, Sequoia and more.
📱 Book a Strategy Call to get 1:1 feedback on your pitch, pitch deck and/or fundraising strategy. (If you need general startup advice, then reply to this email, and I’ll let you know if/how I can help.)
📺 Access FundraiseOS, the ultimate fundraising course with video lessons and practical worksheets helping with everything from deciding how much to raise to understanding a term sheet.
💸 Promote your product or service to 100,000+ entrepreneurs.
🌐 Connect with me on LinkedIn or X (formerly Twitter) to get access to new content about startups, fundraising, venture capital and more every day.
Onwards and Upwards,
|
|
