Don’t Include Projections in Traction Slides

Hello everyone. Today, we’re talking about why you should NOT include projections in your deck’s traction graph. The traction graph is where you get to show off all the progress your company has made in recent months. If you include projections in this graph, you create 2 problems.

1. It’s confusing. Most investors will assume it’s your current number and not a projection. That means they’re likely to be disappointed when they learn the truth and it’s a terrible way to start the conversation.

2. It Diminishes your traction. By including projections you reduce the screen real estate given to your actual traction, and place larger numbers right next to it — both make your current traction look smaller than it is.

Instead, I recommend splitting up the traction and projection slides. I prefer a bar chart going up and to the right for the traction graph and then I would recommend putting your projections in a table and perhaps also moving that slide to the appendix, so it can be used when the investor asks about your future plans.