In 2023, a personal triumph was that I only crafted two PowerPoint presentations. One was for an investor pitch, and the other, a company update, was more of a structured discussion. It was easily my biggest time ‘hack’ / gain over the last year.
This approach marked a significant shift from my previous 5-year routine. I went from creating multiple monthly presentations to justify/prove/explain to PE, investors, random finance groups, and others what was happening in the business or what could be accomplished over the next five years, etc., to it not being the norm anymore. These presentations often required extensive collaboration, involving multiple people and long hours to refine and finalize.
A notable memory is from 2017 when we sold a company; the final version of that presentation was number 181. Interestingly, I've observed a correlation between the number of Ivy League graduates in a meeting and the number of presentations used. It's not a judgment, just something I've noticed.
Since I am now the 'boss', I have minimized their presence in my life as much as possible. While I appreciate a presentation as much as the next person, I understand the effort required to deliver a good one and the impact it can have on the team. I prefer my team members to concentrate on their clients and their craft while keeping me informed in an authentic and real-time manner, instead of relying on a simplified and misleading presentation.
Ultimately, a PowerPoint presentation only provides a distorted view of reality. Instead, I prefer direct access to key business metrics:
In essence, browser tabs have become the new PowerPoint in my day-to-day business management. Open up a screen... share it and let’s walk through it.
