A step by step guide to build the perfect pitch deck
This will increase your odds of getting founded
š Hey everyone, Iām Hugo Rauch, the writer of this newsletter and my goal is to help founders accelerate their growth and successfully fundraise. This week, Iām publishing an article that Iāve written for the newsletter of my friend RubĆ©n, but I thought my audience would also greatly benefit from it.
This newsletter is brought to you by OpenVC.
OpenVC is a free fundraising platform used by 10,000 founders and 5,000 investors (VCs, angels, family offices). My favorite features are the fundraising CRM and pitch deck analytics (pass the test after reading this guide). Use the code: "EXPLOREā to get a 20% discount on OpenVC Premium. šš„
Here is how investors will react to your pitch deck.
Letās get started!
What it a pitch deck?
A pitch-deck is a brief presentation that gives an overview of your business. Founders use it when they need financing as they must convey their ideas to investors in a way that gets them excited.
āIdeas that you canāt clearly communicate to others are useless.ā
Why is it important?
There is less investors and capital available than there is startups in need for funding. The pitch deck is your pass to enter the world of venture capital investment.
Step by step guide
Crafting a deck is difficult, but here is a step by step guide that will help you.
As tempting as it is to open PowerPoint and start working on your deck, you should not do that now. Letās use the analogy of a race. You would not start running without a good warm up right?
A checklist to get started
First, letās make sure that you are VC fundable:
Are you a scalable business? š
Are you addressing a large market? š
Do you receive positive signals from customers? š
Everything is checked?ā
We can move on to the next stages.
Now letās get a bit more tactical:
First, letās pick the right slide editor (PowerPoint, Google Slides, Figma, Canva..). Youāll spend a lot of time on the tool, make sure you like it.
Then, find 3 decks that you love (Iāve shared some examples at the end of this newsletter). Get inspired, and feel a creativity spark. āØ
Finally, take a pen and paper and draft a table with two columns:
slide titles (Iāll give them to you in a minute)
key talking points for investors
Why are we doing this last step?
Because pitching is all about story telling, and we need to write the story first before crafting the deck to support this story.
Everything is ready? We can now start our race slowly.
But again you should not open the software yet!
Letās create your story
Now, we will fill in the piece of paper you have.
And we will give a great structure to the deck.
Why?
Because investors spend on average 2 mins on your deck. Most of them have a checklist to evaluate your idea. Therefore itās in your best interest to help them check the boxes.
Letās go slide by slide.
As you read this, you should pause on each section and fill in the two columns on your piece of paper.
Slide 1: Introduction
šÆGoal: communicate clearly and concisely what your business is offering.
After seeing it, investors should understand what your business is about.
A good intro slide has a logo and a sentence of 6 to 8 words that explains the business. No lingo or complex vocabulary. Make it accessible and simple.
A good example is Airbnb. š
Slide 2: Problem
šÆGoal: convince people you are solving for a real pain.
You need to show that people will be willing to pay for your solution. You need to make investors empathize with your target customer. They need to understand the rational, and emotional behavior that would lead to buying a product for this problem.
A good example is Revolut. Look at the slide, we can all relate. š
Slide 3: Solution
šÆGoal: present your offering and your unique value proposition.
By now investors understand what your business does. But you should emphasize the uniqueness and benefits of your offering. Talk about what makes your offering valuable to customers, and what makes it unique. Donāt go deep in features.
All you need is to show a simple and scalable solution.
A good example is YouTube. š
Slide 4: Market
šÆGoal: convince that your startup has high upsides.
Investors buy the future of your company and the potential results. You want to show the upside. A rule of thumb is that startups should have a chance to return 100x the investment. This is because of VC economics. Therefore, the market should be big enough to support this.
A good example is Square. š
Slide 5: Product
šÆGoal: to demonstrate your product.
This is your moment to show your product. Itās time to talk about key features (but donāt go too deep). Here itās all about making your story visual.
A good example is Quora (thatās one of 3 slides). š
Slide 6: Validation and Traction
šÆGoal: give evidence of product-market fit.
If you manage to ace this part of the presentation, you can be sure youāll sign a check.
Here you should show KPI that measures your traction, growth, and path to product-market fit. The best is to concentrate on one or two metrics. For example MRR and Users both in growth % and total value.
A good example is LinkedIn. š
Slide 7: Team
šÆGoal: show that you are the right people for the job.
Itās a common saying that a tech startup needs a hacker, a hustler, and a hipster.
Here you should get straight to the point. What experience do you have that proves that you have the necessary skills? Show founder-product fit, show why you are the best for this job.
A good example is Square (they were super strong). š
Slide 8: Competition
šÆGoal: clarify your competitive advantages
Donāt be afraid to show your competitors, it proves that youāve done your research and that there is a market for your product. Clearly explain how your offering is different, and why you have a competitive advantage.
A matrix is often super efficient.
A good example is Airbnb. š
Slide 9: Financial projections
šÆGoal: present a financial trajectory of the business.
This depends on the stage of your company.
For post-revenue, make a 3 to 5 years projections. Exponential growth is key to show ambition. You can let the compounding of month-over-month growth achieve big numbers. Itās also a place to express your future capital needs.
A good example is Square. š
Slide 10: The Ask
šÆGoal: what do you need and why?
I was about to write something and then I found a slide from Quora. Itās perfect.
Please note that you can add additional slides. For example you could talk about
Your exit Strategy
Strategic Partnerships
Other Investors:
Advisors and mentors
By now, weāre finally ready to run. Open your software of choice and letās get started with designing the perfect deck.
But before that, donāt forget to share this newsletter with another founder if it is useful.
Letās craft the perfect design
To design a great deck, I went to check the advice from the best accelerator in the world: Y Combinator. Here is their advice.
I've added my comments on top of the slide to guide you.
In designing your deck aim you should aim for making it legible, simple, and obvious. Avoid anything illegible, complicated or subtle.
Section 1: make it legible
font - use large type, bold text, simple font and contrast
placement - a text followed by an image gives better context
keep only what's relevant - a picture is a tool, not a constraint
Section 2: make it obvious
start by making a simple and legible slide (slide 10)
then make it explicit (slide 11)
then add context (slide 12 or 13)
Section 3: make it simple
keep only what's necessary - slides 15 and 16 have too much information
aim for one idea per slide - slide 17 or 18 are a great example
Congratulation - you just finished the race!
Youāve drafted the perfect pitch deck and you are now ready to pitch to investors.
If youāre still looking for some inspirations, here is my favorite decks alongside great resources to help you build your deck.
š My favorite deck - analyzing Airbnb
Here is the link to the full deck.
What makes this deck perfect in my eyes?
Cover Slide
Simplicity: Just the company name and tagline, avoiding startup jargon.
Clarity: A clear tagline that encapsulates Airbnbās service and target audience.
Problem Slide
Conciseness: 3 short statements that address the problems Airbnb solves.
Highlighting: Key phrases are bolded to catch attention quickly.
Solution Slide
Value Proposition: Focuses on the benefits to the customer, not just features.
Market Validation
Data-Driven: Uses statistics from Craigslist and Couchsurfing to prove market demand.
Credibility: Provides a real-world context that validates Airbnbās market opportunity.
Market Size (TAM)
Scope: Emphasizes the vastness of the travel industry with over 2 billion trips booked annually.
Authority: Backs up data with a credible source, reinforcing the market potential.
Product
Simplicity: Breaks down the product functionality into easy-to-understand steps.
Focus: Dedicates individual slides to important product features for better impact.
Business Model
Directness: Clearly states the business model with a one-liner about the commission.
Projection: Shows potential revenue with market capture estimates, highlighting scalability.
Adoption Strategy
Innovation: Describes unique customer acquisition strategies or āhacksā.
Competitive Edge: Explains how these strategies are more scalable and profitable than competitorsā.
Competition
Clarity: Uses a 2-axis diagram to position Airbnb against competitors effectively.
Differentiation: Visually conveys Airbnbās affordability and online convenience.
Competitive Advantages
Proactiveness: Anticipates questions and addresses them upfront.
Team
Relevance: Highlights the founding teamās entrepreneurial achievements.
Balance: Provides just enough information to establish credibility.
Press
Validation: Shows that credible sources find Airbnbās concept interesting enough to feature.
Credibility: Adds another layer of legitimacy through media recognition.
Users Testimonials
Endorsement: Uses customer reviews to confirm the productās value propositions.
Selection: Chooses impactful testimonials that speak to the core benefits of Airbnb.
Financial
Discretion: Advises caution with financial disclosures, suggesting a two-step approach for sharing details.
Clarity: Outlines the fundraising efforts and the āaskā in a straightforward manner.
šResources
I spent a lot of time recently reviewing pitch deck resources to write this article. Here is a list of documents that can help you craft the perfect deck. š
šØ Inspiration
ā¤ YouTube first pitch deck
https://lnkd.in/e_3HkzU5
ā¤ Quora's Series A pitch deck
https://lnkd.in/e2WATN2m
ā¤ Square First pitch deck
https://lnkd.in/e2YWnnAf
ā¤ Dropbox's pitch deck
https://lnkd.in/ePcM7Mwq
ā¤ LinkedInās Serie B pitch deck
https://lnkd.in/ePcM7Mwq
ā¤ Coinbaseās pitch deck
https://lnkd.in/ePcM7Mwq
ā¤ Uberās pitch deck
https://lnkd.in/ePcM7Mwq
š§ Resources
ā¤ Sequoia pitch deck template
https://lnkd.in/edsa78YQ
ā¤ Seed deck template by YC
https://lnkd.in/ebatde-k
ā¤ Designing a pitch deck by YC
https://lnkd.in/eWdjUT2y
ā¤ Y Combinator series A guidelines
https://lnkd.in/eCcrpbx9
ā¤ A slide you must add to your pitch deck
https://lnkd.in/e5ySkJS5
ā¤ Storytelling template to build your pitch deck
https://linkd.in/hugorauch_pitch-deck-story-telling-template
If this was useful share this newsletter with another founder. And please reach out if you have any questions!
Hugo š