Elevate Your Series A Pitch
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About Lemon & Lemonade Consulting
Hi, I'm Peter — former VC who steered 80+ deal reviews, sat on five start-up boards and witnessed one of our portfolio companies ring the IPO bell up close. After years mentoring at Plug & Play, the EIT Accelerator and Germany’s top business-plan contest, I now help founders craft Series A stories VCs can’t ignore. You work directly with me; when needed I tap a battle-tested network of fractional CFOs and growth operators.
Services
Pitch
I deliver feedback on decks, delivery, and investor Q&A—backed by my VC network.
Fundraising
I guide you through due diligence and term-sheet negotiations.
Investor Management
I help you build productive investor relationships after Series A.
Pitch Consulting
In ten minutes investors will know, in numbers, why they should fund you—zero buzzwords, full KPI punch.
A strong pitch deck needs to be consistent, structured, and focused on quantitative KPIs. Avoid marketing language. Every claim should ideally be backed by data.
The three signals investors look for first
1. The Team - Present your team thoroughly. Highlight relevant experience, domain knowledge, and execution ability. Investors must clearly understand why this specific team is capable of solving the problem and building the business.
2. The Customer Problem - Describe the problem your product is solving in detail. If the problem is technically complex, take the time to explain that complexity clearly. Investors don’t need to see the code, but they must understand the challenge and problem. Only if you understand the problem, you can appreciate the solution.
3. Sales Activities and Customer Signals - Share what you have done to test the market. Pilots, user feedback, first customers. Share your data, ideally in a quantitative, KPI-based manner. Make it obvious that the problem is real and painful and that people are willing to pay for a solution.
Building the full deck
Once those three pillars are solid, complete the story with:
- Product
- Business Model
- Go-to-Market / Sales Strategy
- Market and Competitive Landscape
- Previous Funding Rounds
- Cap Table / Shareholder Structure
Each of these should be addressed with clarity and consistency. Avoid vague claims. Use KPIs wherever possible to support your statements.
Deck Formats
You should prepare your pitch in multiple lengths and levels of detail:
- A short elevator pitch (1–2 minutes)
- A 10-minute pitch for events and pitch nights
- A 30-minute investor pitch with time for deep-dives and discussion
The main pitch should remain focused and streamlined. Use additional backup slides to cover deeper technical, financial, or legal topics when needed – not in the core flow.
My Approach
I won’t write the deck for you — your voice sells the story. I’ll challenge every slide with precise, actionable, and candid feedback, sharpening structure, clarity, and evidence so investors instantly grasp the value.
Fundraising Consulting
Be diligence-ready before the first term sheet—so the round closes in weeks, not months.
A successful pitch is only the beginning. Once investors show interest, they will request additional documents – and they will examine them carefully. These include financials like a profit and loss statement, forward-looking financial models, technical documentation, legal information, customer data, and more.
Not being able to deliver the requested materials quickly creates a poor impression. It raises doubts about your team's execution capability. Poorly prepared or inconsistent documents are just as damaging.
That’s why it’s critical to prepare for a fundraising round long before you're in active conversations. You should have a realistic view of what information will be requested once the pitch succeeds – and how ready you are to provide it.
Consistency, completeness, and the ability to confidently answer follow-up questions make a huge difference in how investors perceive you in the process.
My Approach
I simulate a mini due diligence process with you.
I’ll request a first set of documents and review them with the same expectations an investor would have. This includes checking for consistency, logic, transparency, and overall investor-readiness.
You’ll receive detailed feedback – and then I work with you to close any gaps, so you enter live negotiations fully equipped.
Investor Management
Make your investors a growth engine, not a meeting brake—through tight boards, proactive metrics, and clear decision paths.
Once a funding round is successfully closed, the real work begins. From that point on, the startup enters a long-term, close relationship with its investors – who are now co-owners of the company. Investors are stakeholders, and like any other stakeholders, they need to be actively managed.
I regularly see two opposite expectations:
- Co-CEO myth – It’s tempting to believe investors will dive into day-to-day execution and supply instant answers.
- Watchdog worry – Founders fear relentless oversight that slows the team down.
- Both extremes overlook the productive middle ground. With the right governance rhythm, investor time becomes a strategic asset rather than a distraction.
New obligations arise: shareholder meetings, board meetings, reporting. Done right, this relationship can create value and drive the company forward. But it can also become a liability if investor obligations start to slow down execution.
The goal of investor management is to make the relationship as productive as possible.
My Approach
I help founders think strategically about investor communication:
- What topics should be discussed with investors – and what topics are better handled with other advisors or internal stakeholders?
- What does a professional board meeting look like?
- What does efficient, value-adding investor reporting look like that informs investors without overwhelming the team?
I support you in building a transparent, balanced, and constructive relationship with your investors – one that helps your company grow, not slow it down.