Pitch Decks

1. Title Slide

Every pitch deck starts with a Title Slide. This is simple but important—it sets the stage for your presentation. It should include your company name, logo, and perhaps a catchy tagline that sums up your business. 

2. Executive Summary

Not all decks have an Executive Summary, but historically, a lot do. The point is to give a few sentence description as to the opportunity and the impact of your business. A lot of decks use an executive summary to “set the stage” for the rest of the deck, or provide some initial context for information that will be following. Be aware however, a lot of VC’s will skip past an executive summary on a first page flip, simply because starting with a wall of text can be quite boring. So your deck should stand alone without it, even if you choose to include one. 

3. Problem Statement

Most decks in recent years include a “Problem” (and subsequent solution) slide. This is where you clearly define the problem your company is solving. The best way to make this compelling is by using real-world data, customer pain points, or even a short, powerful story that illustrates the issue and provides context for the purpose of your business. Investors need to feel the urgency and significance of this problem. 

4. Solution

This is where you explain what your product or service does and how it effectively addresses the problem. Keep it simple and straightforward—investors should be able to understand your solution in just a few sentences.

5. Market Size/Opportunity

Investors want to know how big the opportunity is, so this slide should outline your market size. You’ll often see terms like TAM, SAM, and SOM—Total Addressable Market, Serviceable Available Market, and Serviceable Obtainable Market. These numbers help illustrate the growth potential of your business. Make sure to back this up with credible data. Note: investors want to be able to imagine massive returns, so this section allows you to tease that possibility. 

6. Competitive Landscape

Here you need to position your company relative to competitors, often using a visual chart or matrix. The key here is to show your competitive advantage—what makes you unique and difficult to replicate. This slide allows you to position yourself within the market, and clearly denote any distinctions between you and your competitors. If done properly, this slide can also serve as a proof of concept for your idea if there are other large businesses succeeding in the market already (albeit without your competitive advantage). 

7. Product or Technology

This is where you showcase how your product works. If you have screenshots, mockups, or even a short demo, this is the place to use them. If there’s any unique technology, intellectual property, or innovation behind your product, be sure to highlight it.

8. Business Model

This is arguably one of the most important slides. Here, you answer the fundamental question: how do you make money? Explain your revenue streams, whether that’s a subscription model, transaction fees, licensing, or something else. Be clear about pricing and how you plan to scale revenue over time.

9. Milestones & Roadmap

Investors want to see progress, not just ideas. This slide should highlight key metrics such as revenue growth, customer acquisition, partnerships, or product milestones. Charts or graphs can be very effective here. If you’re early-stage and don’t have much revenue yet, showcase other signs of momentum, or project key milestones you intend to hit with the provided investment. 

10. Go-To-Market Strategy

Having a great product isn’t enough; you need a solid plan to acquire customers. Here, you’ll explain your marketing and sales approach—whether through digital advertising, partnerships, direct sales, or other channels. If you have any early results that show traction, this is a great place to include them.

11. Financial Projections

Next, present your revenue and cost projections over the next three to five years. Investors don’t expect your forecasts to be perfect, but they do want to see a logical growth plan backed by realistic assumptions. Be prepared to explain how you arrived at these numbers. The following lesson will go over creating basic pro-forma financials for this purpose. 

12. Team

Investors don’t just invest in ideas; they invest in people. This slide should introduce key team members, their backgrounds, and why they’re the right people to build this company. If you have notable advisors or early investors, mention them here too. The team is a key component of your story, and this page should outline how each team member can contribute to reaching the company’s goals. 

13. Ask & Use of Funds

This is where you tell investors how much capital you’re raising and exactly how you plan to use it. Break it down into categories like product development, marketing, hiring, and operations. Investors want to see that you have a well-thought-out plan for their money.

14. Appendix

The appendix is where you can provide any additional information that might be pertinent to an interested investor without bogging down the core of the story. Things like additional articles for context, research and studies for your market or comparisons to your competition will fit here. 

A well-structured pitch deck tells a compelling story while providing the data and strategy investors need to make a decision. The key is clarity—each slide should be simple, visually engaging, and to the point. Not every deck will have each one of these bullet points, and sometimes they may be mixed around a bit in terms of order. But as a general framework, you’ll do well to have these be your initial slides. Take a look at the video on this page where we’ll go through a couple sample pitchdecks I’ve made for my own companies over the years, including one I’m currently raising for at the time of creating this course.