The era of static deal documents constantly being revised and re-sent may finally be ending, according to one PropTech leader who argues that live, dynamic presentations are becoming essential for modern deal-making.
“You’ll have PDFs labeled ‘deal version 77 final, final, I promise this is really the final,'” says Avi Solomon, CEO of presentation platform Pulse. “And then you have the next one because there’s a change to the financials, an error they found, or just stylistic changes.”
Solomon argues this constant revision cycle creates significant problems for both deal sponsors and investors. “People create tons of versions of decks when they’re on PDF,” he explains. “And in order to see the most recent one, you’d have to be sent the most recent one.”
This challenge becomes particularly acute with time-sensitive financial information. Solomon notes that even small updates can trigger a new round of document distribution, creating confusion about which version is current.
The solution, according to Solomon, lies in web-based platforms that maintain a single source of truth. “Any change, any edit done on the back end is being viewed by an investor as the most live, most up-to-date information at that given moment,” he explains.
This approach extends beyond simple text updates. “With financials and models, we’ll actually hook it up to an Excel sheet or Google Sheet,” Solomon says. “The back-end model that people are updating in real time anyway immediately projects into the deck right there and then.”
Another key evolution is the shift to mobile-friendly formats. “Instead of being a PDF that’s just shrunk down into tiny form that you have to do zoom acrobatics with, pinching the fingers, everything stacks properly for mobile viewing,” Solomon explains.
While Solomon’s company Pulse is currently focused on commercial real estate, he sees broader applications for this approach. “We want to expand into various other industries that require complex information presentation,” he notes.
The company combines real estate expertise with web development and design capabilities to create what Solomon calls “services as software” rather than traditional software as a service.
“We understand the business side extremely well,” Solomon explains. “We have a tech team that enables the tech to run smoothly, and a design team that helps not just make it look really pretty but actually works with the analytics team to understand how an investor would interact with it.”
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