What is an investor teaser and what goes in it?
Short answer
An investor teaser is a one-page, one-sided PDF that tells an investor what your deal is and why it is compelling in two or three ways. I put a one-liner, a clear brand name and one or two strong visuals on it. A busy investor should want a call after a few seconds.
A teaser has about seven seconds to work
The more valuable the investor, the less time they have. That is why I tell people to keep every piece of their materials concise. A 44 page pitch deck is usually too long. A 12 to 19 page deck is better. Alongside it you need a teaser.
"It means you have to have a one-pager or a teaser, a one-sided PDF that tells people what your investment is all about and why it's compelling in two or three different ways."
The test I use is simple. Someone should glance at the page, see what you do, understand it, and want a phone call or a meeting. If they are not sold in 7 to 10 seconds, the page is not doing its job.
In this workshop clip I explain why the teaser has to be concise and what an investor should get from it at a glance.
What I put on the page
Keep it short and visual. These are the pieces I look for:
- A one-sentence one-liner that says what you do and why someone should work with you.
- A brand name that tells people what you do and where you do it, so Richard Capital would tell them nothing.
- Two or three compelling reasons to look closer.
- Your best one to three visuals, taken from your pitch deck.
- Team bios and a timeline of your track record, since missing ones can hurt how a deal is received.
Make the pitch deck first. Then strip out its best visuals and put them on the teaser. If your team is your biggest strength, show the team photo. If it is your value add process, show that. If it is how you source deals, draw a diagram of it.
How investors react to a good one
In our investor club I show teasers of deals all the time. One example is a chain of five dental clinics. Another is a chain of 100 burger franchise locations doing 100 million a year in revenue. Many investors would not know how to source a deal like that. In my experience, seeing a clear teaser often helps them move forward.
In this webinar clip I talk about showing deal teasers to investors and what can make a teaser land badly.
Teasers also get compared. An investor who sees thousands of deals a year will notice a weak one fast. Missing bios, no track record timeline and no key visuals are the things I would fix first.
When a teaser is enough
Match the materials to the raise. If you need a quarter of a million dollars in a few weeks, a one-page teaser and maybe a video may be all you need. I have seen that raise $200,000 to $500,000 quickly when the deal is strong. For 2 million or 5 million dollars, I would have the full set. That means the pitch deck, video, website, one-pager, one-liner and logo. Many sponsors talk to a securities attorney about how to approach sharing materials with investors.
More from my talks
One order of operations matters here. I would never lead with the pitch deck. I send the one pager or teaser first, and then maybe attach the deck behind it. The deck is a supporting document, not the opener. I also see people whose teaser is a Word document with a massive essay typed out, and nobody wants to read that. It is not institutional quality. A teaser should look designed, not typed. If it reads like homework, the investor will move on to the next deal in their inbox.
"I would never lead with a pitch deck before the one-pager, and I would always include the one-pager, the teaser, and then maybe also attach the pitch deck."
"A lot of people have just 80-page pitch decks. Their teaser is just a Word document with a massive essay typed out that nobody wants to read. That's not institutional quality."
Facts and figures
- A teaser is a one-sided PDF that explains what the investment is and why it is compelling in two or three ways.
- Richard recommends a 12 to 19 page pitch deck instead of a 44 page one.
- Richard says a teaser should sell the investor in 7 to 10 seconds, and his examples include a chain of five dental clinics and 100 burger franchise locations.
Sources
From Richard C. Wilson's Centimillionaire Strategies YouTube channel: Investment Pitch Decks & Capital Raising Materials | Ep 6, 7 Strategies to Leverage Our Investor Club and Raise More Capital (Webinar Recording). Quotes come from the video captions, lightly edited for readability. Figures are the speakers' own estimates and experience.
General education only. Not legal, tax or investment advice.
Talk to a securities attorney to explore options around investor communication rules, offering materials review and investor eligibility rules. Do not use AI to write your own legal agreements.
Next moves
- Write your one-sentence one-liner first.
- Build a 12 to 19 page pitch deck and pick its best one to three visuals.
- Put the one-liner, brand name and those visuals on a single-sided PDF.
- Show it to someone cold and see if they want a call after 10 seconds.
- Many sponsors talk to a securities attorney about reviewing materials before sending them to investors.
People also ask
Related questions
- How long should an investor pitch deck be?Keep your investor pitch deck to about 10 to 19 pages.
- What financial slides should a fund manager's deck include?A fund manager's deck should show the numbers an investor tests first.
- How do I explain my startup idea to investors?Start with the customer problem, then explain in plain language how your startup addresses it.
- How do you pitch an investor for the first time?I would pitch an investor for the first time by keeping the conversation short, relevant, and focused on their interests.
Work through it with the family office fit check. See all pitch decks resources.