By Fernando Berrocal

Your startup executive summary may determine whether or not you are invited to a pitch meeting. Here's how to make yours intriguing and easily readable. An executive summary for a startup is a concise document with a massive impact. A startup executive summary, commonly known as a one-pager, is a condensed form of a startup plan that most investors examine before inviting you in for a pitch meeting. Since the stakes are so high, you must produce a summary that's both concise and informative, as well as engaging and well-written.

Founders and CEOs know their enterprises like the backs of their hands, and compressing that much knowledge into such a little area is difficult. Knowing what to prioritize is the secret. We've compiled a list of nine simple steps to help you write a persuasive and informative one-pager that will help you land the big meeting.

Step 1: Recognize the purpose of a startup executive summary

Before you type a single word, you must first comprehend the objective and logic of an executive summary, including what investors look for when reading one. 

Many well-known venture capitalists and other investors are bombarded with offers from enthusiastic companies looking for a partner. An executive summary document is the simplest method for people to learn about and evaluate your startup's potential. If they like what they see, they may request your pitch deck or arrange a pitch meeting with you directly. If they don't, they'll probably throw it away and forget about you and your organization.

All of the information investors require to make this decision must be provided on one page in your summary document. This usually comprises the following:

• Your unique selling points.
• Describe your product or service in detail.
• A description of your client base and market aspects that are important to you.
• Your startup model and ambitions for the future.
• Financial predictions.
• Your funding request.
• Any additional unique or remarkable facts about your startup and its founders.

Creating a startup executive summary may be a helpful exercise in identifying your startup's strengths and limitations, which you can then turn into selling points. “It’s important for startup founders to understand how VCs look at and evaluate startups (which is mostly from the perspective of risk). Preparing an executive summary can help founders create better pitches by making sure to talk about what the VCs want to hear”. says Ali Tamaseb, a VC at Data Collective.

Step 2: Lead with the problem

Unless you manage to capture their interest within the first 30 seconds, busy investors are unlikely to read your whole overview. Describe the need or problem that your startup intends to solve or is already solving as quickly as possible.

Be as descriptive as possible.  Guy Kawaski advises "Do not lead with broad, sweeping statements about the market opportunity. (...) What matters is not market size, but rather compelling pain.” To make the problem and its scope concrete, quantify the pain with examples and data.

Step 3: Describe your solution

Explain how your product aims to solve the problem now that you have the reader's attention. Don't dive into specifics about the product or other aspects. Since space is limited, if investors are serious about learning how your product works, they will call you in to discuss it. Simply give a general summary and, when possible, quantify the impact you can make.

Step 4: Demonstrate that you are aware of your market

Without an established, well-defined market, even the most brilliant startup concepts are worthless. Demonstrate to potential investors that you understand product-market fit and that there is an (ideally huge) market of individuals willing to buy your product if given the chance.

Investors want to see if you understand your target consumers' needs and concerns. You will be better equipped to create a successful product or service that meets your client's demands if you have a deeper understanding of their needs.

Step 5: Describe what makes your startup unique

Chances are you aren't the only one who has come up with a great solution to a common problem. Investors want to know that you've conducted some competitive research, that you know how you compare to the competition, and that you know what makes you special.

What makes your startup particularly suited to address the issue at hand? Is it your unique perspective on the situation? What's your innovative approach? Is there a new technology you've created? What are the things those other startups are doing incorrectly that you are doing correctly?

Focus on the positives, such as what your startup has to offer, rather than the negatives, such as the shortcomings of your competitors. Collect this information by studying your rivals, surveying your current consumers, and, if possible, testing competing goods.

Step 6: Demonstrate that you have a viable startup plan

You'll demonstrate to investors that you have plans and the skills to carry them out during this part. Hopefully, you've previously created a startup's strategy from which to extract these facts. Put down the executive summary and go construct one if you don't already have one. Before you can pitch investors, you'll need a startup plan.

Reduce your strategy to a few lines that incorporate the following information:

• What is your revenue model? (per-unit sales, subscriptions, hourly services, etc.)
• How your startup could grow over time
• A brief timeframe – include your long-term objectives and a timetable for achieving them.
• This is how your team appears. Experts in the field? Academics? Do you have any additional notable advisers or advisors on your team?

Step 7: Make your financials public

This is the final bit of info the investor requires to determine whether you'd be a good fit. Show them where you are, what type of financing you're looking for, and what you're going to do with it. This can be done with only a few bullet points:

• How much money have you raised in prior rounds? What is your current financial situation? How much does it cost you to run your startup monthly?
• How much money you want to raise in total and from this particular investment.
• What you want to do with the funds – you may split this down into percentages if you want to: 30% for product development, 20% for marketing, etc.

Step 8: Format Carefully

Investors that are in a rush see a lot of executive summaries and know how to read them fast for the most important information. If your summary is excessively long, dense, or unclear, investors are likely to dismiss it right away. Here are some pointers on how to make your summary more readable:

• Make the page scannable by using subheadings.
• Paragraphs should be concise and to the point.
• Excessive descriptions or language like "innovative" and "disrupt" should be avoided.

Step 9: Make a Great Presentation

The approach in which you give your executive summary is just as important as the content of the summary. If you can't convince an investor to open the summary and read it, your pitch is finished.

Spend some time refining that statement and the others that follow. Make the email concise, professional, and direct. Tell the investor about yourself and why they should care about your startup. Give readers a compelling incentive to read the rest of the synopsis. Choose an informative and appealing subject line since more than 70% of cold emails are trashed before they are even read.

Instead of sending your summary as an email attachment, use DocSend to send it as a secure link. You'll be able to see when (or if) investors open and read the summary, and you won't have to bother them with unwanted follow-ups.

An executive summary for a startup is the first step in establishing a long-term relationship with investors.

Writing an executive summary for a startup is a difficult task. It might be challenging to compress all of your startup's information onto a single page.

Keep in mind what's at stake. This will be a potential investor's first encounter with your startup, so use it to impress them with your enthusiasm, organization, and professionalism. Take your time to get it right so you can start establishing relationships in person.

Are you ready to bring your startup to the next level? Apply to MassLight’s next batch. MassLight supplies capital and a dedicated tech team. We take equity in return. Have questions? Refer to our FAQ page.

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