How long should an investor demo video be?

90–120 seconds is a good range — enough to show the product in depth without losing attention.

Should I send a demo video before an investor meeting?

Many founders do. It lets investors see the product beforehand, so the meeting can focus on questions.

Can I include traction numbers?

Yes, with stat scenes — but only real, current figures you can back up, clearly labelled.

Can I use slides in the video?

Yes. Spotlight has a slide scene type, so you can place deck slides alongside product footage.

Can I put a founder on camera?

Spotlight doesn’t make AI presenters, but you can film yourself and add the footage as a video clip scene.

Use case

How to Make an Investor Demo Video

An investor demo video shows that the product exists, works and solves a real problem — in the time it takes to read a deck slide. Here’s how to structure one honestly and build it from your real screens.

Updated 19 October 2026

Quick answerAn investor demo video runs 90–120 seconds in 16:9: the problem, who has it, the product solving it (real UI, not mockups), what’s different, real traction if you have it, and where you’re going. Embed it in your deck or send it ahead of a meeting. Spotlight builds a first cut from your URL and recordings, with stat and slide scenes for the numbers.

Why most founder demos undersell the product

Investors see a lot of decks. Many describe the product in bullet points and a single screenshot, leaving the reader to imagine how it works. Live demos in meetings are better, until the Wi-Fi drops, the staging environment breaks or the founder spends five minutes in settings.

A short recorded demo removes the risk. It can be sent before the meeting, embedded in a deck, played on demo day and forwarded to partners who weren’t in the room — and it shows the same polished flow every time.

What a great investor demo video looks like

Length: 90–120 seconds. Long enough to show depth, short enough to watch before a meeting.
Format: 16:9, so it plays well in a deck, on a laptop and on a projector.
Real product, not concept art. Investors want to know what exists today. If something is a prototype, say so.
One user’s story. Follow one persona through one job — it’s easier to follow than a feature tour.
Clear differentiation. A comparison scene showing what you do that alternatives don’t.
Honest numbers. Traction stats only if they’re real and current; label what they measure.
Calm tone. An Editorial or Keynote style and a measured voiceover suit this audience better than fast cuts.

Never inflate. A stat scene with a number you can’t defend in diligence costs more than it gains.

Scene-by-scene recipe (2 minutes)

Problem (0–10s) — text reveal. The problem in one sentence, with who has it.
Context (10–20s) — slide or stat. Why it matters — a cited, real figure about the problem, not about you.
Product (20–28s) — logo reveal. Name and one-liner.
Demo (28–75s) — walkthrough, UI demo and video clip scenes. One user completes one job, start to finish, with zooms on the key moments.
Differentiation (75–88s) — comparison. You versus the current way or alternatives, on the dimensions that matter.
Traction (88–100s) — stat. Real metrics, if you have them. Skip this scene if you don’t.
Vision (100–112s) — slide. What the product becomes next.
Close (112–120s) — end card. Company name, contact and a link to the deck or data room.

How to make it in Spotlight

Paste your URL to build the Product Profile.
Upload recordings of one user’s end-to-end flow, plus any slides you want to include as images.
Start from the investor arc, 16:9, 120 seconds, Editorial style.
Generate the first cut, then instruct the AI: “audience is seed investors; emphasise what’s working today”.
Edit stat and comparison scenes with your own real numbers and positioning.
Add a measured AI voiceover and captions; export 1080p MP4.

For the product walkthrough itself, see the product demo video maker. One investor video is a good fit for a one-off Launch Pass — see pricing.

How to use it during a raise

Before meetings. Send the link with your deck so investors arrive having seen the product, and the meeting can go to questions.
Inside the deck. Link to the video from a product slide rather than embedding a large file that makes the deck slow to open.
As a live-demo backup. Keep the MP4 on your laptop for demo days and meetings; if the live demo fails, play the video and keep going.
In the data room. A dated version shows the product as it was at the time of the raise.
For forwarding. Partners who weren’t in the meeting often see the product only through what gets forwarded. Make sure the video stands on its own, with captions and a clear close.

Update it as the product changes. Spotlight’s version history lets you keep earlier cuts and restore them, and re-exports only re-render the scenes you changed — so refreshing a stat or swapping a clip before the next round of meetings is quick.

Mistakes to avoid

Overclaiming. Don’t present mockups as shipped features or projections as traction.
Too long. If it’s over two minutes, it’ll often be skipped.
Feature tours. Show one valuable job, not every menu.
Generic market slides. Investors have seen them. Spend the time on the product.
No context for numbers. “10k users” means little without a timeframe and definition.

Scene-by-scene plan

16:9 · about 120s · Editorial style

Text reveal — “Clinics lose hours a week to manual scheduling.”
Problem and who has it.
Slide — “Why now”
Context: a cited, real figure about the problem.
Logo reveal — “[Company] — [one-liner]”
Name and promise.
Walkthrough — “One clinic manager, one Monday morning”
One user, one job, end to end.
UI demo — “The key moment”
Zoom on the step that creates the value.
Comparison — “Today vs with [Company]”
Differentiation on what matters.
Stat — “[Real metric, with timeframe]”
Only if real and defensible; otherwise remove.
Slide — “Where we’re going”
Vision.
End card — “founders@[company]”
Contact and deck link.

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