How to Structure Your Pitch Deck
The art of company story telling
Hope you enjoyed our March series on Sales Comp. In April we begin our series on Network Effects. In the meantime, enjoy this fan favorite on the perfect pitch deck.
There’s an art and a science to telling your company’s story. Here’s the formula I’ve used to raise millions in my career, as well as some potentially controversial things I believe about the pitch process (outlined at the end).
Below you’ll find the exact sequence I’ve used, along with tips for conveying your message, plus real life examples. This is my go-to flow.
Please steal it:
What We Do
Key Operating Figures
Our Category
Quantify the Larger Problem
Old Way / New Way
Product Slide
Secret Sauce
Total Addressable Market
Partner Ecosystem
How We Make Money
Customer Success Stories
Cohorts
Competitive Landscape
Financial Profile
Financial Forecast
Team
Why Now
What We Do
Make a declarative statement about your category and the problem your company solves.
Mostly advice: You should be able to explain it to a five year old.
Key Operating Figures (splash slide)
Hit them over the head with a few of your top metrics. This is meant to serve as a hook to make the audience stick around. You want people to perk up, lean in, and pay attention. Nothing more. You’ll get to how you actually make money later.
Mostly advice: Flash your traction numbers early on - but only give an appetizer. The entrée (financial forecast) should be left towards the end (more to come on that).
Our Category
Define where you play and why you have the right to own the space. The best companies don’t just live in an existing category; they create a new one.
Mostly advice: Investors want to underwrite a BIG vision. You should articulate a Unique and clear Vision, and demonstrate your AMBITION to “become” or “be” THE xyz of xyz space…
Quantify the Larger Problem
What secular shifts do you benefit from? A rising tide lifts all ships. It’s even better if you can include numbers that quantify the situation you find yourself in.
Mostly advice: Lean on 3rd party statistics to bolster your case. But not just any numbers - Gartner and Forrester are more respectable than Statista or Wikipedia.
Another option - I’ve also literally screenshots of Wall Street Journal headlines. It’s a cool visual touch.
Old Way / New Way:
How did people (attempt) to solve the problem you fix before you were around? Why is the old way broken? Juxtapose this with “the new way” you’ve made available.
Mostly Advice: Use language like “we flip the traditional model on it’s head” or “we are the first to solve from the [xyz] user’s perspective” etc.
Product Slide
Give a glimpse into your platform or product. This slide is always better when you can use real screen shots, and potentially even embed a short video (30 seconds or less). Bring the product to life. Don’t just use your cartoons or words; show the real thing.
Mostly Advice: What’s hard about this slide is it needs to show your tech, but can’t be overly technical (not all investors know what a Git repository is). I’d recommend you use this slide to demo a key workflow that you solve for to make it real.
