Amanda Kirby // X1 Accelerator
Another day, another masterclass with McGill Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship! Thank you to Amanda Kirby for sharing your expertise on pitch decks and investor pipelines, honed from dissecting thousands of decks.
We had a good laugh looking at our first pitch deck to the one we have refined - get ready to see a satisfying before and after 👀
First, here are some learnings that turbocharged our strategy:
👷♀️Pitch Deck Architecture: Amanda deconstructed the vital components every deck needs and even talked about often overlooked elements like punctuation and formatting - every detail counts!
🧠 VC Mindset: We gained invaluable intel on VC decision-making processes, including robust scenario modeling and crafting high-conversion cold outreach. We now know a lot more about how to run proper due diligence and identify synergistic partnerships from the outset.
✍️ Tailored Critique: Amanda's laser-focused feedback on our deck was pure gold, enabling us to fine-tune our narrative before our upcoming pitch practice day. And guess what? The expert judges ranked our pitch & its structure a 4.5/5 🙌
What started as an 8-slide deck a year ago has blossomed into a comprehensive showcase of our MVP, business strategy, and the incredible team driving CoLab forward.
This growth mirrors our startup's evolution - from a vision to revolutionize teacher collaboration to a tangible platform ready to make a real impact in education.
Huge thanks to Amanda Kirby for her insights and to our team for their relentless dedication. We're more prepared than ever to share CoLab's story and mission with the world!
#EdTech #StartupLife #PitchDeck #TeacherCollaboration #VCFunding
All About Amanda Kirby
Amanda Kirby is an experienced business technology professional focusing on strategic partnerships and masters in translating between business and technology. Amanda is a consulting advisor working with startups in the FinTech, Cyber and Enterprise Tech space. She was previously a Senior Vice President at Bank of America, where she was responsible for finding solutions for internal technology problems. She drove the build-buy-partner strategies across the entire enterprise and was the sole team member responsible for Wealth Management Technology, including U.S. Trust, Merrill Lynch and the Private Bank. Prior to joining Bank of America in 2017, Amanda spent nearly a decade in financial services with roles in Wealth Management at Deutsche Bank and Corporate Finance at Universal Music Group. She graduated from Vanderbilt University with a double major in Spanish and Psychology.
