Why These 5 Vanity Metrics are Hurting Your Pitch Deck?

Why did the startup founder bring a ladder to the pitch meeting? Because they wanted to take their vanity metrics to the next level! Jokes aside, investors aren't impressed by flashy numbers on pitch deck that don't translate into real business value. Vanity metrics might give you a temporary high, but they can lead to a crash in credibility. Let's explore why these metrics are more like a sugar rush than a sustainable business strategy.

The 5 Vanity Metrics You Should Avoid

Here are five common vanity metrics that can hurt your pitch deck:

• Viral Launch
• Waiting List
• Free Proof of Concept
• Social Engagement
• Startup Awards

Viral Launch

Getting your product to go viral is exciting, especially if you've managed to create a buzz on platforms like Product Hunt, Betalist, and Indie Hackers. However, all those upvotes and traffic might not translate into tangible business impact. Instead of focusing on viral launches, prioritize metrics like active users, activation rates, and paying customers. These numbers show real engagement and revenue potential.

Best practices: Dropbox is a great example of turning viral buzz into real growth. They offered users extra storage space if they invited others to join, which led to millions of new users. However, instead of just focusing on the viral aspect, they ensured that these users were actively using the service, which is a key metric for investors

Waiting List

Every early-stage founder loves to boast about their waitlist, but let's be honest—how many of those people will actually become paying customers? Low-quality subscribers from a giveaway campaign won't sustain your business in the long run. If you believe your waitlist is viable, focus on the conversion rate into paying customers. This shows investors that your waitlist is more than just a vanity metric.

Best practices: Mailchimp effectively used a waiting list to validate demand before launching a new product. They focused on converting waitlist subscribers into paying customers by offering incentives and engaging content, which helped build a loyal user base

Free Proof of Concept

Working with big names for free can be great for building your portfolio, especially for B2B startups. However, these partnerships often come with long sales cycles and low conversion rates, as enterprises compare multiple solutions simultaneously. Instead of just highlighting your proof of concept, demonstrate how it's converting into sales and show that deal sizes are trending upwards.

Best practices: Buffer used a proof of concept by creating a simple landing page to gauge user interest. They then converted this interest into sales by refining their product based on user feedback, ensuring that their proof of concept was leading to tangible business outcomes

Social Engagement

Growing followers and getting regular engagement on social media is fantastic, but if it's not influencing your sales, investors won't be impressed. Prove that your social engagement is bringing tangible business impact, such as increased website traffic or sales conversions.

Best practices: Dollar Shave Club created a viral video that not only increased social engagement but also drove sales. The video generated over 4 million views and led to a significant surge in sign-ups, demonstrating how social engagement can translate into real business growth

Startup Awards

Participating in pitching events and winning awards can get you a lot of spotlight, but it doesn't always correlate to having a viable business. Instead, focus on recognition that truly matters—something unique to your business, not just a pitching event or award that anyone can win.

Best practices: Instead of focusing solely on awards, Airbnb built credibility by offering a unique service that resonated with users. Their success wasn't measured by awards but by the value they provided to their customers, which is a more sustainable metric for investors.

The Short of It

In summary, avoiding vanity metrics in your pitch deck is crucial to impressing investors with real growth. It takes time and practice to differentiate between metrics that look good and those that truly matter. As investors, it's their job to look past the hype and spot startups that are genuinely making progress. So, ditch the flashy numbers and focus on what truly drives your business forward.