# 100: Pitch Deck Storytelling for Hardware Funding

- Show: [Product Startup](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup)
- Published: 2021-11-03
- Length: 32m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-11-03-100-pitch-deck-storytelling-for-hardware-funding
- Listen: https://productstartup.com/

## Summary

Donna Griffit, a corporate pitch writer who has helped clients raise over $1.2 billion, explains how hardware startups can craft compelling investor pitches using storytelling. She outlines a four-act framework—pain, hero, business potential, and vision—and emphasizes creating urgency by aligning with current social, regulatory, and market trends. Griffit illustrates her points with examples of companies like Calmego, Ring Gone, High Gear, and Passion, showing how personal origin stories and undeniable value drive funding success.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-11-03-100-pitch-deck-storytelling-for-hardware-funding#t=0) Introduction: Donna Griffit and the current funding landscape
- [2:02](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-11-03-100-pitch-deck-storytelling-for-hardware-funding#t=122) The surge in market money and remote presenting opportunities
- [3:53](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-11-03-100-pitch-deck-storytelling-for-hardware-funding#t=233) Why storytelling matters more than specs in hardware pitches
- [6:21](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-11-03-100-pitch-deck-storytelling-for-hardware-funding#t=381) Creating urgency through social, regulatory, and market trends
- [11:37](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-11-03-100-pitch-deck-storytelling-for-hardware-funding#t=697) Avoiding technical over-detailing and focusing on user value
- [12:58](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-11-03-100-pitch-deck-storytelling-for-hardware-funding#t=778) The four-act pitch framework: Pain, Hero, Business, Vision
- [19:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-11-03-100-pitch-deck-storytelling-for-hardware-funding#t=1140) Case studies: Calmego, Ring Gone, and Passion
- [22:55](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-11-03-100-pitch-deck-storytelling-for-hardware-funding#t=1375) The power of vision: Teranos, Peloton, and cancer treatment
- [26:04](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-11-03-100-pitch-deck-storytelling-for-hardware-funding#t=1564) Using testimonials and personal motivation to prove value
- [28:10](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-11-03-100-pitch-deck-storytelling-for-hardware-funding#t=1690) Final advice: Confidence, clean slates, and next steps

## Topics

- [Fundraising & investors](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/fundraising)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Marketing & brand](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/marketing-and-brand)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Samsung (company)
- Cisco (company)
- Microsoft (company)
- Google (company)
- Visa (company)
- Sandhill Road (other)
- Silicon Valley (other)
- Ring Gone (product)
- High Gear (company)
- Peloton (product)
- Calmego (product)
- Passion (company)
- Albers (company)
- Rothes (company)
- Third Love (company)
- Spanx (company)
- Elon Musk (other)
- Teranos (company)
- Mako Design + Invent (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [S1 E7: Level Up Your Hardware Product Pitch with Haje Kamps](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-builder-circle/2023-06-27-s1-e7-level-up-your-hardware-product-pitch-with-haje-kamps) (The Builder Circle)
- [S4E41 Neil Thompson | Technical Pitches: Revealing Flaws, Using Stories, & Wiggling Toes](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2023-10-27-s4e41-neil-thompson-technical-pitches-revealing-flaws-using-stories-wiggling-toe) (Being an Engineer)
- [#015 - How to benefit for your hardware project from the first major crowdfunding platform, with Sandy Diao of Indiegogo, USA](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2017-03-01-015-how-to-benefit-for-your-hardware-project-from-the-first-major-crowdfunding-p) (The Hardware Entrepreneur)
- [The Climate Hardware Playbook: Strategies for Founders and Investors with Christian zu Jeddeloh and Sophia Escheu](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/hardware-to-save-a-planet/2024-09-26-the-climate-hardware-playbook-strategies-for-founders-and-investors-with-christi) (Hardware to Save a Planet)
- [#025 - How to benefit for your startup from the one and only hardware accelerator of Southern California, with Shaun Arora of Make in LA, USA](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2017-05-10-025-how-to-benefit-for-your-startup-from-the-one-and-only-hardware-accelerator-o) (The Hardware Entrepreneur)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2021-11-03-100-pitch-deck-storytelling-for-hardware-funding. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Product Startup.