How do you pitch deep tech to investors?

You pitch deep tech by explaining your company's core idea in a few simple sentences, before you show any technical depth. Deep tech means startups built on a scientific or engineering breakthrough. Their technology is often hard to explain in a few words.

Your pitch has one job: investors see the opportunity quickly. They need to grasp it, get excited and want to dive deeper. PhD-level knowledge helps only where it makes that opportunity clearer. In my experience, clarity is what moves investors, and the ability to turn a highly technical idea into a simple, compelling story is what sets great founders apart.

How long should it take to explain what a deep tech startup does?

A few minutes. In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick introduced the double-helix structure of DNA, the molecule that carries genetic information. It is one of the most important scientific discoveries of the 20th century. As I described in CEO Briefing #46, their full presentation took five minutes. That is less time than many founders need to introduce themselves on a pitch call.

If the structure of DNA fits into five minutes, it is fair to ask why a deep tech pitch needs 45. In my view, a pitch that has not caught the investor's interest after five minutes has often lost the investor already.

The opposite happens too. Years ago, my team and I organized a pitch day for Microsoft ScaleUp, Microsoft's program for startups. One founder, a senior person with a solid AI company, took eight minutes before he explained what the company actually does.

Why do deep tech founders struggle to simplify their pitch?

Many deep tech founders fear that a simpler pitch makes their technology look less credible. They see their technical depth as the main thing that sets them apart from competitors. Reducing it feels like giving that difference away.

When I push deep tech founders to simplify, I regularly see them struggle. It can feel to them as if a more accessible pitch lowers the value of their work. My view is blunt: if you cannot explain your company's value in a few crisp sentences, you do not fully understand it yourself. A simple explanation shows that you master your technology well enough to make it clear to others.

Why do abstract pitch decks lose investors?

Abstract pitch decks lose investors because the brain handles complex and abstract concepts badly and holds on to tangible things. Investors' brains work the same way. Many fundraising stories and pitch decks are far too abstract. You can read the whole deck and afterwards still have no idea what the company does.

A clear, tangible explanation of what your product does is the foundation of your pitch story. Without that foundation, a reader cannot place anything else you say in context.

I once reviewed a pitch deck in public for a founder from my community. The deck filled many slides with many impressive words. It still left the reader with a puzzle: what does this company actually do? CEO Briefing #26 tells the story and links the recording of the review.

How do you make a deep tech pitch tangible?

You make a deep tech pitch tangible by starting with what the product does for its users and adding the technology after that. Three steps help:

1. Start with what the product does: say in plain words what your product does. Every other part of the pitch builds on this point.
2. Fit the value into a few sentences: write down the value of your company in a few crisp sentences. If it takes a page, the core idea is not yet clear.
3. Show the opportunity before the depth: lead with the opportunity investors can see. Keep the detailed technical explanation for the conversations in which investors want to dive deeper.

How do you test whether your pitch is easy to understand?

Test your pitch on people outside your field and ask them what they understood. Two tests work for deep tech:

1. The 12-year-old test: can you explain your startup's core idea so that a 12-year-old would understand it? If not, rework the core idea before you work on the slides.
2. The outsider test: send your pitch to friends and other people you know who do not know what you do. Afterwards, ask them what they understood and what they did not. The more diverse the people you ask, the better.

Compare their answers with what you wanted them to take away. Every gap shows you a part of the pitch that is still too abstract.

What should a deep tech founder change before the next pitch?

Start with the opening of your pitch, because every later part builds on it. Five changes:

1. Write the core idea: put the value of your company into a few crisp sentences, in words a 12-year-old would understand.
2. Move it to the start: place the plain explanation of what your product does at the beginning of the pitch and of the deck. The founder at the Microsoft ScaleUp pitch day needed eight minutes to reach this point.
3. Time your opening: check how many minutes pass before a listener knows what your company does. Watson and Crick needed five minutes for the whole structure of DNA.
4. Test the new version: send it to a diverse group of people who do not know your company, and ask them what they understood.
5. Keep the depth for later: save the detailed technical explanation for the investors who want to dive deeper.