Sharpist is a learning & development startup providing an enterprise platform. With their solution, you empower your employees, attract & retain talent, and help your teams learn essential business & productivity skills.
They make this possible through an app that connects you with your coach in real-time for a learning session on a topic of your interest. It’s a practical and agile solution that supports the professional and personal growth of employees to help decrease turnover while boosting morale and dedication.
The Business Case
Shrapist came to us with a recommendation from our work with SAP.iO in Berlin. One of the startup teams there told the founder of Sharpist that if they need help with their investor deck, they should reach out to our team. And so, they did.
The first priority was to help them define the right kind of message their potential investors need to hear.
This is a heavy-duty job since investors are probably the toughest audience to win on your side. The key is to engage their curiosity with the scalability of the business plan and idea, and then use the numbers and data to nail them with the proven track record of growth and potential to expand.
Тhe design of their slides was the next step and the pressure here was high.
Since they were in the process of raising money from investors, the story had to tell their story in the most alluring, yet trustworthy way possible. The key here was to design slides that show the key advantages behind Sharpist’s business plan and model so investors could instantly see how their money will start growing in time.
The Solution
So, we helped the guys at Sharpist craft the story for their talk. With enough communication and a clear definition of the essential values to highlight — the hard part was over.
Same with the slide design, the priority there was to add a lot of motion to help move their story forward so the speaker can have the necessary support for his talk.
Once the project was ready, it turned out that they also need a document based on their pitch they wanted to hand out to the investors. That was one more key step to complete the memorable experience for their audience.
The collaboration went through Google Slides but the end result was exported through PowerPoint for more advanced effects and transitions.
The Effects
Yes, most of the work was done collaborating in Google Slides, but to animate the slides and add the motion we wanted to achieve — PowerPoint was the go-to tool. Morph was the main effect that moved all of the story parts forward and helped present the key elements in snackable pieces.
A few key moments made it necessary to use videos so the presentation could drive the necessary engagement to achieve the end goal.
We used wireframes so that the videos are also brought to life and the audience can experience the app as they are looking at it on their mobile phone or desktop.
The Results
So did all of the hard work pay off at the end? Did all the hours of collaboration, communication, redesign, feedback, and story definition help Sharpist achieve their goal? Well…
They raised €5 million from their startup pitch.
The lesson here?
Even the toughest audience can be won over to your side when your presentation has the right balance between story, design, and delivery.
