The final exam for this course is a visual presentation $($usually PowerPoint slides$)-$ also known as the "Pitch Deck." A "pitch" is a short, compelling explanation of the business you are developing. A "deck" is slang for a set of slides. The Pitch Deck is an accumulation of everything we have discussed in the course. You will submit your slides as an assignment. You are not required to present them. Follow the guidelines below for the deck. More is not better...put effort into making these $12$ slides as good as you can. Make them visually interesting, think about the questions people might have and proactively answer them on the slides, add enough data to convince the audience that your business can be profitable.

The discussions to date have been designed to help you think about various aspects of your business, but you may find the Business Canvas template helpful to organize your thoughts. There is more information on the Business Canvas in the weekly content modules.

Why is this the final exam? As an entrepreneur or business owner, you may find yourself in the position of $$pitching$$ your business. A pitch deck may be used to secure investment, to court advisors, to explore potential partnerships, etc. It is a good practice to develop a pitch deck early and update it often. You never know when you might have an opportunity to "pitch" your business idea!

Here is an example scenario:

You have been working on the written business plan for your startup for a couple months and have a few friends and family willing to invest, but you know you will need more financing for startup costs. You have considered a business loan but have been reluctant to call the bank. You are confident in your business idea and think it solves a clear problem for customers and has a pretty large market opportunity. You have some work to do on the operational details, but the unit economics seem to work so far and you think this business can be profitable within a relatively short time frame. From what you$$ve read, it seems like something a venture capitalist, angel investor, or other private equity would be interested in IF you found the right fit. You don$$t really know where to even get started to connect with these kinds of investors though. You$$re heading into the local coffee shop to consider what to do next when you run into Tom, a friend from high school who you haven$$t seen in years.

You: Hey, Tom! Long time no see! How have you been?

Tom: I$$m doing well! I have been doing freelance tech consulting work for a couple years at that co$-$working space downtown. Lots of startups to keep things interesting $$ and free snacks!

You: That$$s awesome! I$$ve actually been working on a business plan for a new venture. Want to grab a table? I$$d love to get your thoughts on it$.$

Tom: Oh I$$d love to$,$ but I$$m late for a meeting with some VCs$.$ Tell you what, shoot me your pitch deck and I$$ll see if I can get you some feedback.

You: Thanks! I$$ll send it right now.

You pull out your phone and email Tom your pitch deck thankful that you had one ready to go$!$

Your pitch deck should $$stand alone.$$ You will often be asked to send one without the opportunity to have a meeting or a phone call to explain it$.$ The pitch deck must be compelling enough to convince the recipient they want to talk to you to hear more. Therefore, it should contain enough information to answer the basic questions about a business, but not so much information $($or so many slides$)$ that it$$s too long to hold the recipient$$s attention. There is no one $$right$$ way to create a pitch deck. Some investors have a preferred format, but most will look for the following elements which can be used as a general guideline for your pitch deck:

Slide $1$ Title $($what is the name of the business$)$

Slide $2$ Company Purpose$/$Description $$ what is your mission or vision?

Slide $3$ What is the problem$/$need$?$ What problem are you solving?

Slide $4$ The solution.

Slide $5$ Why now?

Slide $6$ Market opportunity

Slide $7$ Getting Customers or how you will Go to Market

Slide $8$ Competitor Analysis & Differentiation

Slide $9$ Traction

Slide $10$ Financials

Slide $11$ Team

Slide $12$ Call to ActionA clothing manufacturer in Colombia regularly ships products to the US$.$ There is a fixed cost

for each shipment of $$2000,$ plus a transportation cost that depends on the shipment size, as shown

in the table below. The US demand for the products averages $4,000$ pounds per week.

$(5$ pts$.)$ a$)$ If shipments of $4,000$ pounds are sent every week from the Colombian manufacturer

to the US$,$ then what would be the annual cost?

$$500x40cwt=$$$20,000$

$$20,00052=$$$1,040,000$

$(8$ pts$.)$ b$)$ Suppose the Colombian manufacturer was to send a shipment every six weeks $($rather

than shipping every week as in part a$).$ This may reduce transportation costs, but it

incurs an additional inventory cost of $