Get Backed: Craft Your Story, Build the Perfect Pitch Deck, and Launch the Venture of Your Dreams

This book is a great guide if you're getting ready to raise capital for your startup or even if you're in between rounds and your just looking to build a deck as an exercise to think more deeply about your business. Our team has used it multiple times to build new versions of our deck and I always take something new away when going through it. Its strengths are its simplicity and practicality. It provides a great series of template slides and the examples are useful. The startup financing primer is a decent intro as well. Definitely buy the physical copy!!! The Kindle version is fine, but you'll be missing out on 50% of the value if you don't have the actual book. I see a few student reviews on here. This book is not for you. This book is most valuable if you're actually building a company and in the middle of raising a funding round. For people who are not in that position, I get that it can be fun to learn this stuff but you'll be better off spending your time gaining experience. If you're a student who enjoyed reading the book, then here's a challenge. Take the insights from the book and create your own Personal Pitch Deck (treat yourself as a startup seeking investment). Then find 10 growing startups you'd like to work for and pitch them on yourself. The pitch deck will blow away all the boring resumes hiring managers come across. This is an ideal tactic for either landing the unpaid internship or entry-level position with minimal relevant experience.

Evan Baehr and Evan Loomis have written a book that will no doubt be table stakes for any entrepreneur looking to convince others to invest money, time and reputation into their venture. As the authors themselves admit on Page 3 of the book, there is no shortage of advice out there on fundraising. But what I think makes Get Backed both unique and worth reading is its focus on personal experience, practical advice and parsimonious delivery (the alliteration is a coincidence, I swear!) Rather than simply discussing ideas or theory, the authors relate all of their lessons to specific examples from their own careers and those of the many founders and investors in their respective networks. What they advise is actionable and useful wisdom, laid out in a structured, data-driven manner that feels incredibly intuitive. Lastly, I found this book to be informationally dense; the authors do not waste ink on superfluous details or anecdotes. Everything serves a purpose: help you launch the venture of your dreams. P.S. The book is also extremely well designed and aesthetically appealing. It will look great on any coffee table.

"Get Backed", stands as a definitive account of crafting your ideas into an actionable format to get people to buy-in to your ideas. The mission of this book is coaching anyone, start-ups, catalysts in a large organization, non-profits, government, etc to capture their story (so many practical insights on understanding/crafting your story) and sharing it with clarity. With the organizing tool of a "pitch deck" you learn how to quickly and efficiently connect with your target audience, and move them towards understanding and buy-in of your vision. As a leader in the non-profit world (Samaritan's Purse), I learned key insights from this book regarding how to drive towards a "call to action!" Every organization needs this refined and I am already putting them in practice. The lay-out of "Get Backed" is highly engaging and the case studies are invaluable for those of us who have a vision that we believe in and want to see take root and grow. Whether you are raising funds to launch a start-up, presenting to your board or team, this HBR book is chalk full of simple, clear steps and tools to sharpen your thinking and move your ideas to action: raise money, awareness and buy-in. Excellence and creativity permeate this book and I am sharing it with co-workers and fellow leaders!

With so many books like this having been written previously, my expectations were somewhat low that one could be written that would provide unique insights and a fresh perspective. I was wrong. First having bought the Kindle version, I consumed the raw content, but appreciated the book even more for its colorful charts when my sister gave me the hard copy. Evan Baehr and Evan Loomis have artfully developed a piece that should be used by any entrepreneur and even their advisers. Let's face it. Business plans are boring in the traditional 50+ page format. PowerPoint is now used to liven-up decks for pitches but most professionals lack the ability to develop the pictures that are "worth a thousand words". And, most decks either leave out the critical elements or drown audiences in far too many extraneous slides. This book offers structure, discipline and techniques. Not the only reference I would suggest - Guy Kawasaki, Brad Feld, Vinod Khosla, Sequoia Capital, and my professor, the late Jeffry Timmons have all written books and decks that one should use. But definitely you should add this to those esteemed VCs' guidance.

I found this book extremely easy to read. All the ideas and knowledge was presented very well. This book not only gives you good insight into preparing and presenting to investors for capital but also for other investors in your company such as staff and customers.

I have zero experience with entrepreneurship, but I know a heck of a lot more now than I did prior to reading this book. It’s amazing how much you can learn from 225 pages. Prior to reading this book, I envisioned entrepreneurship and the relationship between entrepreneur and investor to be about one thing - money. After reading this book, I realize that the monetary agreement between entrepreneur and investor is the byproduct of a relational connection, or friendship, not the other way around. The authors are masters at explaining how to initiate and foster those friendships. As the authors explain, those friendships are fostered through the entrepreneur having a sense of modesty, being humble enough to ask for the investor’s suggestions, being willing to listen instead of speak, and once that relationship is established, being confident enough to ask the investor to join in the venture. In almost any profession, getting your colleagues to buy-in to a plan or vision is something of great benefit, and something that is likely only going to happen if genuine relationships are established. These guys understand that and explain how to make that happen in the book. A large portion of this book focuses on the reasons for creating a pitch deck (as opposed to a business plan) and gives the reader step-by-step instructions for what to include in the pitch deck and how what’s included should be displayed. One of the great things about this book is that the authors include actual pitch decks from successful start-ups so that the reader has real-world examples to follow. Quite frankly, I’ve never seen such beautiful, and modern, presentations. I regularly deliver presentations for my job and these pitch decks make my slides look antiquated and dull. I plan to adopt the authors’ approach. Less words, more beautiful images, and tell a story. If you’re an experienced entrepreneur who has already raised millions of dollars for successful start-ups, you should read this book. You’ll learn something and refine your craft. If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur that has a great idea but is clueless how to get started, you should definitely read this book. It’s an A-to-Z road map for how to put your idea into action and make it a reality. If you’re an intellectual or genuinely curious person who wants to know how to more effectively communicate a great idea, how to get others on board with that great idea, and how to establish genuine friendships through that process, this book is also for you. And lastly, if you’re a Friday evening Shark Tank watcher and stare at the screen mostly confused, read this book. You’ll feel smarter. Plus, Barbara endorses the book on the front cover. Enjoy.

Is there a formula for raising a million dollars? This is the question that Evan Baehr and Evan Loomis tackle in their debut book, an insider’s manual for entrepreneurs who want to raise a ton of money — from startup founders, to small business owners, to Kickstarters. Where this book truly shines is in the “Actual Pitch Decks” chapter (page 73). These decks have raised well over $100 million, and the founders' commentary makes it feel like you're reading a secret playbook for successful entrepreneurs. Why struggle for years in the trenches, trying to get your fledgling startup off the ground, when you can raise all the money (and friends) you need to prosper? After reading this book, it seems much easier (and wiser) to do the latter. One of the authors tells a personal story about how he raised over $2 million in a month for his idea. Not his business… his IDEA. I shudder to think of how many of my own ideas never got anywhere, simply because I didn’t know how to raise money. Now I know. If you’re wondering how to take your Lean Startup to the next level, this book might just be the answer you're looking for.

I bought this book five years ago and it sat on my shelf until recently, when I found myself raising capital for a new venture. This book is thoughtful and reflects deep thinking on how entrepreneurship is a social good that contributes to human flourishing. The authors winsomely remind us that relationships, built on trust, are the most important building blocks of creating a great business. At the same time, this book is incredibly practical with real world examples of pitch books, follow-up emails, and specific encouragement for interacting with others in a way that values relationships over investment dollars and gives the best chance for your venture to be successful. I'm grateful to Evan and Evan - thank you!

This book was in good condition, when it came.

A great book for preparing to pitch for your craft. Also helps in teeming the business with a host of doable ideas and suggestions.

This book is indispensable for those seeking funding, it gets straight to the point and has real world examples which has been useful when preparing my own pitch deck. I have used a number of templates before and these ones are the best I have seen. As a result of using the templates I was recently successful in my seed round. I opted to buy the printed version, over the kindle version as I wanted to see and appreciate the design of this book in full colour. I would highly recommend this book as it will enable you to hit the ground running with seeking funding.

the pages on the chapter i was working on started to detach and fall from the book around the third or fourth time i opened and moved around them in this specific chapter. I mean; this is a new book, it seems that the glue used for the binding of the pages to the cover is not strong enough or there was enough pressure. you can witness in the pictures that the pages where not accidentally ripped off. the detachment is intact and super clean straightline. Honestly i dont know what has happened here, but im deeply unsatisfied. now i have to pay more to get someone craft a hard cover and glue everything back again.

This one simply rocks. I warmly recommend it!