NOQX is a Stockholm-based startup on a mission to help companies improve their goal-setting, collaboration mechanisms and experiences. It has just raised a $200,000 pre-seed round<\/a> to help accomplish its aims and, by extension, help out companies with employee counts ranging from 50 to 500 or so. The company hasn\u2019t been around for very long \u2014 the team behind NOQX felt frustrated by a lack of effective goal management tools for companies and founded the company in 2023.<\/p>\n With \u201cclarity of objectives\u201d as its rallying cry, NOQX addresses a critical function of any business \u2014 and indeed, of pitch decks \u2014 so I was intrigued to see how well NOQX communicates this for itself.<\/p>\n We\u2019re looking for more unique pitch decks to tear down, so if you want to submit your own, here\u2019s how you can do that<\/a>. Read all the Pitch Deck Teardowns here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n NOQX\u2019s deck has 18 slides, none of which has any redactions, although the company omitted its competition slide. An 18-slide deck should cover everything (most startups do just fine with 16<\/a>), but there are some omissions that leave it incomplete.<\/p>\n In the past 90-odd installments of this Pitch Deck Teardown series<\/a>, I\u2019ve generally stuck with a \u201cthree things that are good\u201d and \u201cthree things that can be improved\u201d format. I tried ever so hard to do that for NOQX as well but eventually gave up.<\/p>\n The bold design of NOQX\u2019s deck made me want to love it, but in truth, reviewing this deck was a deeply frustrating experience. Aside from the crucial omission of an Ask and Use of Funds slide (it\u2019s not uncommon to get it wrong<\/a>, but it should at least be included!), just about every slide in the deck felt almost<\/em> very good \u2014 but then stumbled by not including a critical factor or overlooking an important detail. The deck is essentially so vague that it seems the founders don\u2019t have a firm grip on why they are doing what they are doing.<\/p>\n [Slides 2, 3, 4] That\u2019s a lot of problem slides. Image Credits<\/strong>: NOQX<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I was surprised to see NOQX break out three different problem slides. It is almost defensive, as if the company is desperate to convince investors that \u201cYes! I promise! There\u2019s a real problem worth solving here!\u201d<\/p>\n Investors are sharp. It\u2019s far more effective to streamline this into a single, punchy slide. This approach spares everyone the boredom of repetition and sharpens the focus, ensuring the core issue shines without unnecessary fluff.<\/p>\n The problem slide should hit investors with a stark headline for a more compelling punch: \u201c70% of companies are failing to achieve their goals\u201d immediately sets the stage, signaling a significant and widespread issue. Below this headline, NOQX could have added three to five bullet points, each a mini-revelation on why this massive failure rate matters. These bullets need to pack a punch, highlighting the dire consequences for businesses and the economy, and the looming disaster if left unchecked. The idea is to make investors sit up and realize, \u201cWe can\u2019t afford to ignore this.\u201d<\/p>\n These bullet points should do more than just state the obvious; they need to align with what keeps investors up at night directly: opportunity and scalability. Each point should scream potential and profit, convincingly arguing why NOQX holds the golden ticket to a pressing, lucrative problem. By distilling the problem down to a single, impactful slide, NOQX would have cut through the noise, commanded attention, and made their case with the kind of clarity that demands a checkbook, not just a nod.<\/p>\n Saw this one coming, right?<\/p>\n [Slides 5, 6, 7] If you have too many solutions, you don\u2019t have a solution. Image Credits<\/strong>: NOQX<\/p>\n<\/div>\n From a storytelling point of view, it\u2019s often worth divorcing the \u201csolution\u201d slide from the \u201cproduct\u201d slide<\/a>. In this progression of slides, Slide 5 is kinda-mostly a solution slide, Slide 6 is kinda-sorta a value proposition slide, and Slide 7 plays the role of a product slide \u2014 but none of the slides are convincing.<\/p>\n Identifying the slides properly means that it becomes much easier to know what to include.<\/p>\n For a solution slide<\/strong>, it\u2019s crucial to clearly articulate how your product or service solves the problem you\u2019ve identified. This slide should succinctly explain why your solution is superior to existing alternatives. It\u2019s worth keeping this part strategic and high level: You\u2019re about to dive into the nitty-gritty on the product slide.<\/p>\n For the value proposition<\/strong> part of the story, founders must clearly define the unique benefits the product or service offers and why it stands out in the market. This slide should succinctly communicate what makes the startup\u2019s offering valuable to potential customers and what differentiates it from competitors. It needs to highlight the distinct advantages it provides, such as cost-efficiency, superior technology, enhanced features or better user experience. In this case, NOQX\u2019s value props are a bit of a nothingburger \u2014 fine at first glance, but not differentiated enough to really stand out from the competition.<\/p>\n For a product slide<\/strong>, you get to dive in and show the actual features and functionality that will help your customers get value from your product and solve their problem. Apart from the fact that \u201cour awesome platform\u201d is a bit cringe, it doesn\u2019t actually say<\/em> anything. Every startup in the world could say \u201cour awesome platform,\u201d which means you\u2019re wasting that slide real estate for nothing. What is awesome about it? Why should investors care? How is it different or unique?<\/p>\n [Slide 8] A timeline to confusion. Image Credits:<\/strong> NOQX<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I love a good timeline slide that shows what companies are trying to accomplish. Instead, this slide fails to understand who it is talking to. Perhaps this slide works in a sales deck when the founders are trying to explain its value to customers, but for an investor deck, this seems a little superfluous.<\/p>\n Overall, this slide falls between \u201chow it works\u201d and \u201cvalue prop.\u201d It\u2019s not doing a great job at either, and it fails to meet the overall criteria for what to include in a pitch deck: Will this help you raise money? My gut sense is \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n [Slide 12] Traction is the past. Image Credits:<\/strong> NOQX<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I love how colorful and visually appealing this slide is. What it is not, however, is a traction slide.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t have revenue yet, your traction slide should outline what you\u2019ve done to de-risk the company<\/a>. This slide not only fails to do that, but it also goes to December 2024. Your traction, per definition, is just about the past: accomplishments and milestones achieved to date. Ideally it\u2019s presented as charts and graphs that show that growth is solid and accelerating. This looks like there isn\u2019t any traction in the business. That makes sense; it\u2019s a young company. But don\u2019t try to trick your investors; they\u2019ll see right through this, so just be upfront.<\/p>\n But all is not lost. This slide is sort of a \u201cuse of funds\u201d slide, showing what the company is planning to do in the near future. That would be helpful, but it should have clear time goals around when\u00a0<\/em>it is planning to hit those milestones and what it needs to do to get there. \u201cSmart investors\u201d and \u201crepeatable sales process\u201d are important steps along the way, but they are obvious. Investors want to know what you\u2019re going to do to get<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>those investors and sales processes.<\/p>\n [Slide 16] Why, oh, why? Image Credits:<\/strong> NOQX<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Having a great \u201cWhy now?\u201d slide<\/a> can help create FOMO and a sense of urgency. This slide just doesn\u2019t do that. It\u2019s a great start, don\u2019t get me wrong, but well-informed investors will know all of this; it doesn\u2019t add anything to the conversation. I\u2019d have loved to see some insights or some thought leadership here. Why was there a shift in organizational structures? What\u2019s the impact of meetings evolving? What is the impact of a leadership style shift? What does \u201ca flow\u201d goal setting and cadence even mean in this context?<\/p>\n I feel like I\u2019m missing something significant here. Perhaps this slide only works when it has a voice-over, but pitch decks need to stand on their own two proverbial feet. And that might mean that you may need more than one pitch deck<\/a>: one for voice-overs and one for sending ahead.<\/p>\n Your team slide is crucial<\/a> and is doing a lot of heavy lifting in the context of an early-stage pitch. Let\u2019s take a look at this one:<\/p>\n [Slide 17] A solid team, but I want more context. Image Credits<\/strong>: NOQX<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There\u2019s too much and too little going on in this slide. The slide has a lot of very small text on it, which I don\u2019t love. It\u2019s pretty conversational, which can work, but in this case, I think it comes up short.<\/p>\n \u201cWith a decade of experience in hyper-growth B2B-SaaS companies.\u201d Yes, but which ones, and why is that relevant? The rest of the statement is a lot of words, but it\u2019s not helping me, as an investor, ascertain whether the CEO is a great fit to build this company. Now I need to head to LinkedIn, but there\u2019s no link, so I\u2019m going to have to start Googling, and I\u2019m finding myself frustrated; this could be so much easier and better.<\/p>\n The CTO\u2019s bio is similarly frustrating: Senior developer at Klarna is impressive, but it isn\u2019t clear whether the experience is directly relevant or overlaps with the mission, vision and products NOQX is pursuing. The rest of the bio doesn\u2019t say much. Yes, of course you are a visionary leader who strives to break new ground and deliver exceptional experiences, but the same can be said for every startup CTO ever. Be more specific. Explain why you\u2019re the gold-plated unicorn on a pile of unfair advantages and talents that lead me to believe I\u2019d be crazy not to deploy money into this startup.<\/p>\n And finally, if your head of UX is a co-founder, we need to have a conversation about whether that makes sense. And if she\u2019s not, what is she doing on your team slide? As an investor at the earliest stages, I\u2019m investing in the founding team and its ability to build a solid team. I don\u2019t need to know the team itself quite yet.<\/p>\n [Slide 13] This could have been copied out of a business textbook. That\u2019s not a good thing, because all the specifics are missing. Image Credits<\/strong>: NOQX<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Overall, the whole pitch deck seems really vague and nonspecific, which makes me (and investors) suspicious. Is it vague by accident, and if so, will this startup be able to explain what it is doing as it is growing and evolving? Worse, is it vague on purpose, because the founders know they\u2019re not a great fit with the industry they are trying to enter?<\/p>\n Take this go-to-market slide, for example. This is barely even a brainstorm; it just outlines a generic sales process. Cold calling and email marketing: Yes, but where will it find its customers? What\u2019s the top-of-funnel? What are the conversion rates?<\/p>\n Investors want to know who you are, what you\u2019re doing, why you\u2019re doing it, and how you\u2019re thinking about the market and building a (potentially) multi-billion-dollar company in this space. They want to know who your customers are, what their existing options are and how you\u2019re different. They want to know how you find and reach out to your customers, and they want to know how much you\u2019re expecting to pay to acquire a customer, and how long you\u2019re expecting them to stay around, and at what value.<\/p>\n None of those things are obviously present in this deck. That means that if I were to take a meeting with this startup, I\u2019d have a lot<\/em> of very pesky questions for them, such as:<\/p>\n All in all, the deck looks\u00a0so good<\/em>, but it lacks substance. Hopefully the company can figure that out ahead of raising its next round, or it may be in for a truly nasty surprise.<\/p>\n If you want your own pitch deck teardown featured on TechCrunch, here\u2019s more information<\/a>. Also, check out\u00a0all our Pitch Deck Teardowns<\/a> collected in one handy place for you!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nSlides in this deck<\/h2>\n
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\u201cAlmost there but not quite\u201d<\/h2>\n
You never need three problem slides<\/h3>\n
You also don\u2019t need three solution slides<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/pdt-93-200k-pre-seed-noqx-slide-5-of-18.png\")
<\/p>\nWhat is this slide trying to convey?<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/pdt-93-200k-pre-seed-noqx-slide-8-of-18.png\")
<\/p>\nThis isn\u2019t traction<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/pdt-93-200k-pre-seed-noqx-slide-12-of-18.png\")
<\/p>\nWhy now, indeed<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/pdt-93-200k-pre-seed-noqx-slide-16-of-18.png\")
<\/p>\nTell me why you\u2019re awesome!<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/pdt-93-200k-pre-seed-noqx-slide-17-of-18.png\")
<\/p>\nWhy so vague?<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/pdt-93-200k-pre-seed-noqx-slide-13-of-18.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
The full pitch deck<\/h2>\n