Technical jargon: What does "deck" actually mean?
Benno Maggi explains marketing and communication terms in his column "Technical jargon". This time it's about the term "deck" and what shipping and business have in common.
All hands on deck - that's what they used to say in the old pirate movies. That is, when a barge was boarded and the one-legged, one-armed or one-eyed musclemen took command. All on one deck - that's the name of the game today when presentations are created for projects or speedboats that are supposed to showcase new business ideas and revenues. A pitch deck, to be precise, is a short presentation (usually in the form of PowerPoint slides) that succinctly explains why someone should invest how much for what.
No land in sight
Business angels, venture capitalists, investors and anyone else who wants to spend money on things that don't yet exist can hardly resist the requests. That's why they've gotten rid of the flood of countless pages of miscalculated business plans by only wanting to see decks. The term originated - like so many things - in Silicon Valley, more precisely on Sand Hill Road (also known as Miracle Mile). This is the road where the density of investors per square kilometer was highest for a long time and where the big tech companies collected their first dollars. In the meantime, the armada of investors has tended to move north of the so-called Bay Area. Even though we in this country are committed to inland shipping, we like to adopt the wording from overseas and have decks built in pirate and innovation hubs in the hope that it will not turn into a sea monster that gobbles up millions and spits out nothing, but a unicorn that quickly proves to be a cornucopia for investors.
* Benno Maggi is co-founder and CEO of Partner & Partner. He created the column "Vom Fach" in the NZZ Folio and was in charge of it for years. He presents and decodes words and terms that can be used either for small talk, being important, getting excited, playing Scrabble or simply for fun.
