1. Pitch Deck 101 – The Essentials
Everyone knows those famous startup pitch decks from Uber, Facebook, TikTok, Buffer, and Sequoia Capital. But what improvements have been made to pitch decks in the past few years?
Let’s build first on the context, what it is, and why it is still important today. As you (probably) know already, a pitch deck is a presentation used to provide an overview of your business, project, or idea to potential investors, partners, or stakeholders.
A pitch deck contains 10 – 20 slides, the structure can vary from business to business, but it must include the problem you are targeting, the solution your startup offers, who it serves and how it adds value, the size of the market, competitor landscape and team to just name a few key sections.
In 2024, a pitch deck remains an essential tool for attracting investors and securing the necessary capital to fuel growth and expansion for several reasons:
- It helps you consolidate your vision – you can often think of a pitch deck as your prototype because the exercise of building your pitch deck takes you through all the important building blocks of a venture and how you can turn your vision into reality
- It is often the first step in the fundraising process – before agreeing to a meeting, investors would most often ask you to send them your pitch deck so they can review and distribute it with their team. It becomes an important filtering criterion due to the sheer amount of opportunities an investor is exposed to. Not having one or having a poor pitch deck would eliminate your venture from their consideration.
- It makes the first impression of your venture – building on the previous point, once you send them your deck though, it needs to create a first strong impression so they can call you for a follow-up meeting. Having a high-quality pitch deck that’s able to ‘
What makes an effective pitch deck
An effective pitch deck communicates your idea clearly and persuasively. It tells a compelling story about your business, using visuals to enhance understanding and engagement. Highlight the market opportunity, and provide evidence of traction and progress. Be transparent about your financial projections and end with a clear call to action. Practice delivering your pitch with confidence and enthusiasm to make a lasting impression on investors.
Why is it important to adapt it
In today’s fast-paced and competitive landscape, staying relevant and capturing investor attention requires constant innovation and adaptation. With here-to-stay trends such as remote work and virtual communication, pitch decks need to be tailored to resonate with digital audiences.
Additionally, as industries continue to evolve rapidly, pitch decks must be tailored to the specifics of the startup’s vertical, reflect the latest market insights, and showcase the scalability & adaptability of the proposed venture
2. Understanding the investment landscape in 2023
The Investment Landscape has changed significantly over the past 2 years: if 2021 was considered the peak in VC & startup activity (due in part to the economic measures taken during the pandemic), the following years have seen a sharp decrease, accelerated by the worldwide context (geopolitical conflicts & instability, high inflation rates, supply chain disruption, tech layoffs etc.)
Source: Crunchbase
Over these past years, investors exhibited more caution than before and were more selective of the startups they supported, having a preference for late-stage rounds as opposed to early-stage startups.
Other notable changes in the landscape included a shift in investment priorities & focus sectors (from the rise of the AI market to the rise of impact investing in healthcare & climate industries).
3. How does that change the way startups pitch
In 2023 investors started to be more careful with their funds. They paid extra attention to solid data, such as market traction, the number of users, and the added value you bring to the customers. So startups must show more substance over style and showcase a functioning startup with solid unit economics and a clear path to profitability.
Founders often fall into the trap of over-pitching their product and selling it to investors, but they have to remember that pitching a startup is more than just pitching a product.
Founders need to focus on the other parts of the startup that are equally as important in investors’ eyes (the opportunity & market size, the business model, the commercialization plan, and the financials) and not just praise their product, technology, or amazing features.
4. Recommended Pitch Deck structure in 2024
While the key building blocks of a pitch deck won’t change, there are a few nuances you need to take into consideration depending on the funding round you are participating in, your industry, or the size of your business.
Short Size Pitch Deck (10-12 slides)
If you are a pre-revenue or a pre-seed startup, you really need to keep things simple and straight to the point in a 10-12 slide deck.
1. Cover & Overview
Before you start strong, make sure your first slide sets a good start to the presentation. Include a compelling subtitle that clearly articulates your value proposition. A good framework to use is the laser-focused positioning statement: “We help X [clients] solve Y [pain point] through Z [our product]”. Include also your website, date, and round info.
2. The Opportunity
Here you have to describe your industry and what’s happening in this market, as well as how your business will work within it. You want to show investors all the conditions and trends that will make possible the feasibility of your solution and give you a competitive edge.
3. Problem Statement
Frame the problem in a way that people can relate to it: describe why it is painful, use real-life stories and data to paint the picture, and trigger their empathy in acknowledging that this is a real problem that requires a real solution, which you can deliver. The bigger the problem or the longer it went unsolved, the better.
4. The solution
Now that you established who are your customers, the market you are addressing, and what the problem your startup wants to solve, it’s time to dive into your solution. Focus on how your solution helps the customers, why it is different than other solutions in the market, and how it can be scaled.
5. Traction
This is one of the most important slides in your deck because it shows a significant process being made. Traction doesn’t necessarily mean profitability, it can mean revenue, active users, registered users, partnerships, traffic, etc. Most entrepreneurs agree that traction centers on engagement with the stakeholders. Describe what stage your company is at, what you’ve achieved so far, how many clients you already have, and where you want to be in the near future.
6. Market Size & Customer
You’re now required to zoom in on the people experiencing that problem. Who are your customers and how many of them are out there? You have to segment them into clear markets and create the market sizing (usually in a TAM/SAM/SOM format).
7. Business Model
How do you intend to generate revenue from your business? How many revenue streams will you have? What’s your pricing strategy? Talk about the average account size and lifetime value of your customers. Having a sales and distribution model can also be helpful, as is a customer pipeline list.
8. Go-to-market strategy
Talk about your plan to acquire customers, how to reach the target market and what will your sales process look like. What means, platforms, and channels are best suited for your target market? You can also talk about partnerships that you are pursuing to penetrate your target markets.
9. Team Slide
Highlight the key team members, be clear about who will be doing what, and make sure you emphasize the strengths and achievements of each person on that slide. You have to pitch your team as well if you want to get that money. You could have an amazing plan but if you don’t have the right people to implement it, it’s all for nothing.
10. Ask & Use of Funds
Finish your deck with the ask: how much money are you looking to raise and under what terms? You also need to show how will you use these funds (usually a distribution pie chart would suffice) as well as what are the key objectives you plan to achieve with this funding (formulated as SMART goals).
Find templates for cover slides, team slides in our Downloadable resources section.
Medium Sized Pitch Deck (15-20 slides)
If you are at a seed/late-seed stage or are looking to secure your first series funding, you can go into a bit more detail in your deck and keep your deck at around 15-20 slides length (still the shorter, the better).
1. Cover & Overview
Before you start strong, make sure your first slide sets a good start to the presentation. Include a compelling subtitle that clearly articulates your value proposition. A good framework to use is the laser-focused positioning statement: “We help X [clients] solve Y [pain point] through Z [our product]”. Include also your website, date, and round info.
2. Status Quo / Market Context / The Opportunity
Here you have to describe your industry and what’s happening in this market, as well as how your business will work within it. You want to show investors all the conditions and trends that will make possible the feasibility of your solution and give you a competitive edge.
3. Problem Statement
Frame the problem in a way that people can relate to it: describe why it is painful, use real-life stories and data to paint the picture, and trigger their empathy in acknowledging that this is a real problem that requires a real solution, which you can deliver. The bigger the problem or the longer it went unsolved, the better.
4. The solution & vision
Dive into your solution by outlining the vision for your business. If you are just starting to build an “Uber for X or AirBnB for Y” you are a few years too late. Make sure you convey the originality of your idea in a simple vision. Share your values and long-term goals, and how will your customers’ lives improve with your solution.
5. Why Now
Timing is a key factor when launching a startup because it can determine market readiness, competition intensity, and economic conditions. Being ahead of the curve can give a first-mover advantage while entering too late risks missing opportunities or facing saturated markets. So, why is now an opportune time to launch and what are some supporting trends that you can take advantage of (economical, regulatory, social, technological)? Why it couldn’t have been done until now or why would it be too late if you wouldn’t launch now?
6. Product, features & Tech
Now that you established who are your customers, the market you are addressing, and what the problem your startup wants to solve, it’s time to dive into your solution. Focus on how your solution helps the customers, why it is different than other solutions in the market, and how it can be scaled. You can also include more details about the features of the product, how they make an impact on your customer’s experience, the technology you used, and why it is the best choice.
7. Traction
This is one of the most important slides in your deck because it shows a significant process being made. Traction doesn’t necessarily mean profitability, it can mean revenue, active users, registered users, partnerships, traffic, etc. Most entrepreneurs agree that traction centers on engagement with the stakeholders. Describe what stage your company is at, what you’ve achieved so far, how many clients you already have, and where you want to be in the near future.
8. The Market Size
You’re now required to zoom in on the people experiencing that problem. Who are your customers and how many of them are out there. You have to segment them into clear markets and create the market sizing (usually in a TAM/SAM/SOM format)
9. Competitive Landscape
Talk about direct and indirect competitors relevant to your product or service. You can show how your startup fits within the competitive landscape through a comparative matrix layout, or how do you stack up against similar competitors in terms of features & benefits. In this slide, it’s important to highlight what sets you apart so make sure your key differentiators are very clearly shown.
10. Business Model
How do you intend to generate revenue from your business? How many revenue streams will you have? What’s your pricing strategy? Talk about the average account size and lifetime value of your customers. Having a sales and distribution model can also be helpful, as is a customer pipeline list.
11. Go-to-market strategy
Talk about your plan to acquire customers, how to reach the target market and what will your sales process look like. What means, platforms, and channels are best suited for your target market? You can also talk about partnerships that you are pursuing to penetrate your target markets.
12. Roadmap & Milestones
Provide a visual representation of your startup’s timeline, broken down into months, quarters, or years, depending on the nature of your business. The roadmap should cover past achievements as well as future milestones to be reached in the next 2-3 years.
Specify the deliverables associated with each milestone. What tangible outcomes can investors expect as your startup progresses? For example, completing a prototype, securing funding rounds, launching a beta version, reaching a certain number of users, generating revenue, etc.
13. Team Slide
Highlight the key team members, be clear about who will be doing what, and make sure you emphasize the strengths and achievements of each person on that slide. You have to pitch your team as well if you want to get that money. You could have an amazing plan but if you don’t have the right people to implement it, it’s all for nothing.
14. The Ask & use of funds
Make a clear ask: how much money are you looking to raise and under what terms? You also need to show how will you use these funds (usually a distribution pie chart would suffice) as well as what are the key objectives you plan to achieve with this funding (formulated as SMART goals).
15. Financials
Include financial projections over the next 3-5 years that cover financial KPIs (revenue, costs, profit) as well as business and operational KPIs (# of clients, # of goods sold, # of team members. A strong financial model with validated assumptions will go a long way to convince skeptical investors.
Optional Slides:
Additional Team or Advisors – include any relevant team members outside of the founders or relevant advisors as follow-up slides
Product Deep Dive – you can go into more detail about your product, its features, and underlying tech in an additional slide
Risks & Mitigation – outline potential risks and how you plan to mitigate them
Case Studies – doubling down on the traction slide, a strongly written case study can provide an even clearer picture of the added value your solution brings.
5. More effective pitch deck & pitching tips
- Be concise and get to the point quickly
Investors don’t usually spend more than several minutes analyzing a pitch. So make sure the overall storyline of the pitch is easy to follow and understand. Each slide should convey one key message that must stick with investors – help them by highlighting this key takeaway or using it as a slide title.
- Use a narrative arc to tell a compelling story
Incorporating elements of storytelling can help engage investors on an emotional level. Use tried and tested narrative arcs like the hero’s journey to really connect with your audience and have them empathize with your journey
- Anticipate investor’s questions & concerns
Seeking feedback from your business mentor or other friends in the industry can help you prepare for the meeting with investors and raise some questions that investors might also ask you. So put together a list of investors’ questions & concerns with your answers. You can build this FAQ as part of your Appendix.
- Make a risk & mitigation slide
Outline potential risks that your startup may encounter, assessing their impact and likelihood. For each identified risk, propose specific mitigation strategies to address or minimize its impact. These strategies could involve proactive measures to prevent the risk from occurring, as well as reactive measures to mitigate its effects if it does occur. Be specific and realistic about how you plan to implement these strategies.
- Have different versions of your deck ready
As we said above, you will most likely be asked to send the pitch deck before setting up a meeting. This means that your deck should stand on its own and have all the information needed and a clear storyline to follow by anyone without your guidance. This version of your pitch deck can include more details, numbers, and content. So it’s important to have a readable version of your deck ready.
However, when you are called for a meeting (or if you’ll participate in a pitching event), you are going to need a presentable version of your deck, stripped of any additional context, info or messages that you will present yourself. The remaining content on the slides should enhance what you will be speaking of. This version should be concise enough to pitch in 5-10minutes.
6. What’s next?
Fundraising is an extremely challenging process on its own – founders need perseverance and grit to embark on this journey and see it all the way through. Besides this, founders are still involved in the day-to-day running of their startup and often have to juggle multiple roles a day.
So we understand why creating a pitch deck could be rushed, however, no details must be left to chance. Take the time it’s needed to develop a proper one, ask for feedback and constantly improve your pitch.
Know your strengths and consider the stakes, and if you don’t have time or experience to prepare an impeccable pitch deck work, then with specialists. Your startup might depend on it.
Let’s talk about your startup and help you prepare for your next funding round.
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