There are two industries that make a ton of cash however they’re historically largely ignored by enterprise capital — motion pictures and gaming. That comes as a little bit of a shock to many: Enterprise capitalists are identified for his or her eager eye on high-growth alternatives, predominantly casting their lot with tech startups, healthcare improvements, and the following massive factor within the digital sphere. However Deadline studies that movies made $33.9 billion last year, and global gaming revenue was $184 billion, based on Newzoo. Nonetheless, the proposition of investing in motion pictures introduces enterprise capitalists to a panorama far faraway from the calculable metrics of SaaS platforms or the comparatively predictable threat of biotech.

Gaming and flicks are extraordinarily hit and miss, and that’s the form of unpredictability that’s seldom embraced by traditional venture capital investment theses.

I’m all the time significantly interested by pitch decks within the gaming trade, so when SuperScale threw its hat within the ring, I used to be excited. The corporate is promising to make advertising for video games simpler, and on condition that nice advertising is among the essential variations between an okay final result and a smash-hit success, it tickled my curiosity nerve in a most pleasant method.

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Slides on this deck

The corporate submitted a 22-slide deck, however “details of customers and customer case studies where we didn’t get approval for distribution are redacted,” based on the corporate.

Cowl slide
Downside slide
Answer slide
Macro market measurement prediction slide
Market measurement prediction slide
Market measurement slide (2027)
Goal buyer slide
Platform interstitial slide
The way it works slide
Market segmentation slide
Enterprise mannequin slide
Case research slide
Aggressive panorama slide
Marketing strategy interstitial slide
5-year plan abstract slide
The Ask slide
Use of Funds abstract slide
Abstract slide
Group slide
Appendix interstitial slide
Firm historical past slide
Closing/contact slide

Three issues to like about SuperScale’s pitch deck

SuperScale has an extremely slick-looking deck that will get proper to the purpose. Twenty-two slides would possibly appear to be too many (the optimum size for a slide deck is around 16 slides nowadays), however there are some interstitial slides and an appendix on this one, and people don’t actually matter.

Let’s check out a few of the issues that basically work.

Making your individual market

[Slide 5] This can actually catch the attention of buyers. Picture Credit: SuperScale

Gaming is a large market, and buyers don’t should be satisfied of that. The query, then, is the best way to get a slice of that very tasty digital pie. SuperScale is taking some attention-grabbing leaps of religion right here: The numbers are projections for 2027, somewhat than speaking concerning the numbers as we speak. However this slide comes early within the deck; if SuperScale could make a strong argument for the way it is going to be a part of the machine that grows gaming by 10%, that’s very attention-grabbing certainly.

It’s daring and brazen storytelling. After all, the corporate is now setting itself up for having to share a plan and present the receipts, but it surely’s a great way to get buyers proper off the bat.

A brand new lease on life

[Slide 7] SuperScale guarantees to go after two markets. Picture Credit: SuperScale

As a video games optimization firm, SuperScale has an attention-grabbing method, and this easy slide holds a sensible promise: What if we are able to massively improve the profitability of a sport that’s already on the market? SuperScale’s mannequin goals, partly, to present these video games a brand new lease on life at a stage of the video games publishing cycle the place each greenback that is available in is principally a bonus. The deck isn’t making an enormous deal out of this, however I can see that being a extremely highly effective gross sales approach to video games studios — and if it’s profitable with legacy video games (at primarily no threat), wouldn’t it’s sensible to combine SuperScale on new video games, too?

It’s extraordinarily sensible, and buyers will be capable of see that, too.

That’s the way you do a abstract

Design and almost-unreadable textual content apart, the content material on this slide is nice:

[Slide 18] Hell sure. Picture Credit: SuperScale

I really like a very good abstract slide. Give the buyers all of the considering and speaking factors they should get enthusiastic about an funding. It’s an amazing method.

Three issues that SuperScale might have improved

Total, this is among the higher pitch decks I’ve seen, however there are some things that made me go “hmm.”

Wait, how massive is your crew?

When an organization raises round $5 million, I sometimes count on a crew of 10 to fifteen. This crew slide got here as a little bit of a shock:

[Slide 19] That’s an enormous crew. Picture Credit: SuperScale

Placing this slide on the finish of the deck makes me surprise concerning the seriousness of this startup. If it has 5 enterprise models and 70+ crew members, it throws the remainder of the deck out of whack. There’s an ask slide, however no strong use of funds. You may’t maintain a 70-person crew with out having important income. The corporate is spending a lot time speaking about 2027 and its five-year plans, but it completely glosses over how a lot cash it’s making.

There’s some data about income, however solely within the type of case research:

[Slide 12] Blink and also you’ll miss it, however this slide contains some essential enterprise metrics. Picture Credit: SuperScale

Did you see it? SuperScale made $6 million from EA, Zynga and Fingersoft. And an extra $1.5 million from NimbleBit.

That’s spectacular, but it surely’s a horrible method of displaying off this degree of traction. A correct traction slide would show these numbers not as totals, however as income graphs that present how a lot and how briskly income is rising over time.

Why is SuperScale elevating cash?

It’s complicated why the corporate is elevating round $5 million when it’s making correct income numbers.

[Slide 16] What? Picture Credit: SuperScale

This slide makes nearly no sense in any respect. On slide 12, the corporate famous it had $7.5 million price of income from simply its case research purchasers. What number of purchasers are there? We don’t know. How a lot income is there in whole? No concept. And what’s it planning on doing with the cash? Effectively, there’s a slide for that:

[Slide 17] Elevating for a five-year runway? Picture Credit: SuperScale

This slide is nugatory. The corporate says it’s constructing an M&A machine, suggesting it’s planning to amass the rights to legacy video games and presumably develop them. That’s superior and all, however there must be a selected plan for that.

There’s additionally the inner inconsistencies right here: It says it wants $5 million to realize targets, however then says it would have “follow on organic investment” by reinvesting earnings.

Within the M&An area, $5 million is nearly no cash in any respect, so now I’m very interested by who the acquisition targets could be, and the way the corporate presumes these acquisitions will work towards its backside line.

Inform a coherent story!

SuperScale, on first read-through, appeared like such a implausible funding alternative, however as I began poking and prodding on the deck, it made much less and fewer sense. The corporate appears to need to purchase different corporations (or is it video games?). It has 70 folks on employees, but it surely’s solely elevating $5 million. It doesn’t share its previous successes, nor how it’s planning to search out the long run success it wants.

I believe a a lot better method of telling this story, general, could be to have an end-to-end story, informed constantly:

We purchased sport A for $B.
We invested $C into progress infrastructure for the sport.
We invested $D into advertising for the sport.
Income for the sport went from $E to $F, after solely investing $C+D.
As you may see, we made revenue of $X on this undertaking, and we predict this playbook will work on video games which have this explicit profile.
We need to construct a portfolio of 30 video games, which is why we’re elevating 30*($B+$C+$C), after which this turns into a self-sustainable enterprise with a repeatable playbook and enterprise mannequin.

That story would make sense to buyers.