Most founders are pitching the wrong thing at the wrong time—and they never find out why.
After building Su-Kam from a small power backup company into one of India’s largest inverter brands, and then watching it all collapse under the weight of debt and circumstances I could not have fully anticipated, I came out the other side with a very different view of what investors actually need to hear. Now, running Suvastika and mentoring founders through Kunwwer.ai, I review pitch decks every week. And I see the same fatal mistake repeated, over and over.
The slide that kills most deals is slide 3—your market size.
Not because founders get the numbers wrong. But because they treat the TAM/SAM/SOM slide as a credibility exercise. They paste in a Statista chart, throw up a $50 billion number, and move on. What investors are actually looking for is evidence that you understand your customer with surgical precision.
What I Actually Look For When I Review a Deck
When a founder sends me their deck, I skip to three places first: the problem statement, the go-to-market, and the team slide. In that order.
The problem statement tells me whether you’ve talked to real customers or just researched the market from a distance. At Su-Kam, we didn’t build the inverter business from a whiteboard—we built it because we lived inside the problem. Power cuts were a daily reality for millions of Indians. We understood that frustration in a way no consultant ever could. That intimacy with the problem is what I look for.
The go-to-market tells me whether you’re a dreamer or a builder. Vague mentions of digital channels and strategic partnerships are red flags. I want to see your first 100 customers. Who are they, where do they live, and why will they pick up the phone when you call?
The team slide tells me whether you have the resilience for what’s coming. Not just credentials—resilience. I’ve been through bankruptcy. I know what it does to a person’s mind, relationships, and sense of self. I look for founders who’ve been tested. Scars are a credential.
The One Slide Most Founders Get Completely Wrong
If I had to name the single slide that most consistently loses deals, it’s the financials.
Not because founders can’t model—but because they model for the best case and present it as the base case. Investors have seen this a thousand times. What impresses me is a founder who shows three scenarios, explains the assumptions behind each, and tells me exactly what they’ll do when the base case underperforms.
That kind of honesty is rare. And it’s exactly what builds trust with serious investors.
If you’re raising right now and want a direct, no-filter review of one slide from your deck, I’m open to it. This month I’m specifically focused on go-to-market slides and financial model slides.
Send your slide to kunwersachdev@gmail.com with the subject line: Deck Review Request. I’ll respond to every one.
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