It’s deep tech pitch season, so I’ve been inundated by what seems like an endless river of them. I’ve got thoughts.

Academic founders get enamored with their technology. That’s unsurprising. It’s their baby. Their pride and joy. Potentially, it’s even the thing that has helped drive their careers—perhaps it was the subject of a well-received PhD dissertation, got them published in Nature, or secured tenure.

Academic-sourced pitch decks often look like an outgrowth of their experience writing grant proposals: This thing is great. We’ve already made big strides. If we get more money, we can achieve even more breakthroughs.

When you’re pitching for venture investment, that’s not enough. The candy shell around your this-is-great chocolate center has to crackle with a different kind of sugar: This investment is great.

This is because of the fundamental shift from academia to venture: In academia, you’re writing for peer reviewers. In venture, you’re writing for capital allocators.

That means you’re eliminating the lab-out story: “I discovered this protein, and it turns out to do these neat things.”

Instead, you’re replacing it with a market-in story: “Alzheimer’s kills 50 million people a year. I can end that, profitably.”

For all the heterogeneity of companies and innovations and pitch decks out there, the fundamental question every investor needs to be convinced of is this: If I put a dollar in the slot, will this machine spit back $100?

The details of your specific chocolate center—the technology—are not irrelevant, but they are subservient to the magic money multiplier story. Your tech is the means to an end.

So how do you structure your pitch to drive that story home? Here are the key elements:

1. A Big, High-Value Problem (Framed Market-In, Not Lab-Out)

Venture capital is about asymmetric returns. Investors aren’t looking for incremental improvements; they want massive opportunities.

That means the first slide of your pitch shouldn’t be about your tech—it should be about the world’s pain.

Bad: We’ve developed a new class of heat-resistant polymers with superior durability at high temperatures.

Good: The global electronics industry loses $30B annually due to overheating components. We’ve solved that.

It’s not about what you invented—it’s about a market starving for a solution. The problem should be:

• Big – Large enough to support a billion-dollar company / $100m annual revenue.

• Painful – Something customers need solved, not just something interesting.

• Urgent – The market is ready for disruption today, not in some distant future.

2. A Clear First Opportunity That Bridges to a Big Market

Many deep-tech founders only pitch the final vision (e.g., curing Parkinson’s) without a credible first step (e.g., early detection diagnostics that can get FDA approval in 18 months).

Investors don’t just want to know where you’ll be in 10 years—they want to know what milestone you will hit in 18 months that makes your company more valuable when you head out for the next funding round.

A strong first opportunity:

• Is achievable in the near term.

• Has customers willing to pay today.

• Creates leverage to expand into larger markets.

You’re crossing a big, wild river. You can’t leap it in one go. Describe each rock you’ll step on to reach the distant shore.

For example: We start as defense subcontractor (small volume but high unit price), then expand into commercial aerospace (a $50B industry with longer sales cycles but massive potential).

3. Don’t Forget the Hero

A great pitch isn’t just numbers and technology—it’s a compelling narrative that makes investors understand why this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Your technology isn’t the story. The impact your technology enables is the story.

The hero (the founding team) is key, and it goes beyond the Team slide. Numbers and logic matter, but they are investing in you. So yes, include your background and previous achievements, but also how you’re approaching this opportunity, and, ideally, why you’re approaching it. VCs want to feel your emotional investment before they make their financial investment.

The Tech Is a Means to the End

Academic founders sometimes resist this shift because it feels like selling out or oversimplifying their work. But you’re not selling used cars—You’re simply packaging your brilliance to the outside world in a way that moves people.

So next time you pitch, don’t just explain why this thing is great. Make sure investors walk away convinced: This investment is great.