How to make a pitch-deck and pitch anything in the world

16 min readDec 21, 2022

There are plenty of templates for pitch-decks on the internet. Each founder who made at least one pitch-deck is ready to give a bundle of pieces of advice. Each fund and accelerator has its template. But there is no still no answer to “How to make a pitch-deck to make an investor answer “yes!”

In this article, we will figure out

What should the pitch-deck contain
Pitch-deck structure for different stages
Does it need storytelling
Does pitch matter (or can your pitch-deck pitch it on its own)
And how to finally make it?

We aggregated for you all our four-years experience in this article to help you make a perfect pitch-deck. Why we are so confident talking about it? We made more than 100 pitch-decks covering all the geographies (the US, Europe, India, MENA, Asia, etc.). With our pitch-decks, startups were accepted to accelerators, and fundraised on pre-seed, seed, and Series A stages, with a total investment sum of more than dozens of million dollars.

And now we’re sharing with you all the secrets.

Basics

Pitch-deck — is a neat and exhaustive presentation about the project, aimed at fundraising or finding partners.
*Pitch-deck — is a medium of communication that can be used in any case where you need to deliver an idea or offer, convince, drive interest, explain, fundraise and find partners (once I even made a pitch-deck to invite my colleague for a date, believe me, that works!)

The deal process consists of three stages:

Investor understood what is your project about and what is your offer.
Investor liked your project: the problem you solve, the market, the team, the product, etc. (“investor liked” means that he/she sees a realistic scenario of how your project will bring him/her 10x within 3–5 years)
Investor believed that your team can execute everything that promises in the pitch-deck (it’s mostly an emotional component and depends on how you pitch, communicate with the investor, and answer his/her questions).

Pitch-deck musts:

Be clear: potential investor or partner understands from the pitch-deck what is your project about and what you want from him/her (if he/she doesn’t understand — they won’t invest for sure)
Tell the story, be consistent: investors hear and see dozens of pitches every day, and if you talk (and write in the pitch-deck) excitingly and easily, it can become your competitive advantage.
Cover core investors’ questions, to make it clear within several minutes if there is a fit between the investor and the project (are your stage, industry, and other specifics relevant for the investor)
And at the same time, contain a minimal enough amount of information (no one likes to read a lot, and investors don’t like as well)

More than 1000 pitch-decks are made around the world right now to fundraise. More than 99%will never succeed.

Right now we will tell you how to make an amazing pitch-deck easily and quickly.

Sorry, but it’s a joke!

It takes a lot of time, effort, and energy to create an amazing pitch-deck. That’s why right now we will tell you how to make an amazing pitch-deck taking into account that it will take a lot of time, effort, and energy and get the desired answer “yes, I will invest!”

Are you ready? Let’s go!

The only pitch-deck’s message is: give us $XXX right now, and we’ll make 10x within 3 years for you. Any information in the pitch-deck should prove to the investor that the startup will grow 10x if he/she invests $XXX right now.

Chapter I: core factors the investor is looking at

Market:
Huge enough: $1B+
Growing: it’s much easier to enter an actively growing market as in this case there is no need to fight for the market with the competitors. It’s significant to point to 2–3 core market growth drivers that matter for the next 3–5 years. These drivers also show how deep is your market understanding. 14% is assumed to be enough CAGR (market growth metric).
Team: Investments are given to people, not to projects or markets, to specific people that the investor believes in (at least up to the Series A, but in fact after the Series A as well).

All core competencies are covered by team members, and there is a clear understanding of how to fix the absent competencies. For example, for absent competencies, the startup can engage an adviser with huge experience in the specific industry. But again, it’s much better when all the core competencies are covered by team members.
Each team member has experience relevant to his role in the startup. The format is: specific numbers of the specific results, answering the question of what one has done instead of what he was doing. For example, exits, Revenue growth, number of users, turnover, GMV, everything that highlights that this person can generate great results.

3. Problem: if the startup’s team is solving a meaningful problem in a huge market, after several iterations it will finally pivot the product to the Product Market Fit (yes, it might take twenty pivots, but has anyone promised it would be easy?)

The problem should be clear to anyone: meaning to explain in one or two sentences without any technical details what problem you’re solving.
The problem should be supported by reliable sources: numbers, statistics, diagrams, opinions of experts, etc.

Example
“All platforms for plane tickets purchase are not user-friendly, my neighbor said it to me. We will build a user-friendly one” — this problem is subjective and non-validated (laugh all you want, but I see the statements so often: “It’s obvious that all solutions X are not convenient. We will make a convenient one!”.

An opposite example
“750 000 people die from low-quality MDMA annually” (source: Our world in data) — this problem is clear (in general no one wants to die) and validated (hundreds of thousands of people).

These three aspects, the market, the team, and the problem — are three ‘musts’ of any pitch-deck, for any stage and industry. Otherwise, there is no point in showing it. (Imagine that you come to view the three-room apartment, but you’re shown only one and a half out of three rooms. It’s weird, isn’t it?)

Chapter II: pitch-deck storyline

So, we want to tell a story about why investing in our startup right now is a brilliant opportunity that the investor wouldn’t like to lose. And we want to tell this story in a structured, clear, and inspiring manner.

Let’s start!

Cover. The ‘job’ of the cover is to explain in seconds what product we are going to speak about in this pitch-deck.
The investor spends 20 sec per pitch-deck on average. The cover is your chance to convince him/her to spend 3–4 min instead of just 20 sec.

What should be on the cover

Logo;
Very short and exhaustive descriptor;
Product illustration (a mockup, your client using a product, etc.)

Important: about the illustrations

Firstly, one clear picture is much better than any amount of words, because our brain assimilates visual information 65,000 times faster than text information.
Secondly, the illustration should be very straightforward. Meaning that no one will have any questions about why this picture is here or what it means. That’s why if you know how to explain with a picture in an obvious manner — you should use a picture. Otherwise, use the least sufficient amount of words.

Summary/current results: relevant to the startups with some traction.
Revenue, number of users and clients, partners (Letters of Intention work as well), and any current metrics that reflect the company’s current value for the real world.

Important: if this is a pre-seed stage and there are no tangible assets yet, you can just skip this slide.

Team: this is a teaser of the team’s coolness, not a detailed description of each team member’s working experience. As it was discussed above, we need quantifiable results relevant to the current project. Two or three bullet points per person will be enough.
If team members graduated from the top universities (Ivy League, etc.), pointing out education will add value. Otherwise, it doesn’t make much sense as the “no name” university doesn’t explain why you’re the best of the best in the world.

And again, the less information is on the slide, the easier it is to understand this information.

Important: if you have a brilliant team (or at least half of the team), it’s better to place the team slide at the beginning of the pitch-deck (for example, after the summary/current results slide). If the team doesn’t have catchy milestones (exits, FAANG background, Ivy League, etc.) — it’s better to place the slide closer to the end of the pitch-deck (for example, before the round details slide).

You might also add advisers to your team slide or create a separate slide for the Advisory Board if you have it. The goal of adding advisers is to explain how they will amplify your technological, business, and industry expertise.

The optimal amount of people on one slide (both for the team and advisers slide) is four people per slide.

Problem: it’s efficient to divide the problem into two slides: the first one will briefly explain the problem, and the second one will support this problem with numbers, statistics, and graphics, amplifying that this is a real problem for a sufficient amount of people or companies.

*”A real problem” means that people are ready to pay for its solution right now.

An example of an obvious problem: almost no one would like to die. So, everyone understands why it is a problem.

But in the case of more narrow products, the problem is not always so obvious, even if it’s a “real problem”. For example, if one makes a product for children, and the investor doesn’t have children, it can be a challenge for him to understand the significance of the problem from two or three sentences.

Important: if you pitch to funds and investors with a narrow focus, for example, they invest in hardware for kids only, there is no need to explain the problem and the market in detail. Because they are highly probable to know all about it (even if they don’t have children).

But if you’re targeting funds and investors with a wider focus and the problem you’re solving is not obvious to your Mom, it makes sense to explain in two or three sentences (and numbers!) why it is a problem.

In the example below we show the causality: as people go to the doctor in emergency cases only, a lot of diseases are detected at a late stage. Because of that the treatment is more expensive, takes more time, and the probability to get well is lower.

And then we add statistics: 70% of deaths are caused by chronic diseases, and 90% of these chronic diseases can be prevented if they’re detected on time and treated properly.

Context: sometimes beside the problem it’s reasonable to highlight that now is the right moment for the product.

In the example below we provide the context for the astrologists’ marketplace: 29% of adults believe in astrology, 50% of millennials read horoscopes regularly, and 73% is the Y-o-Y growth of digital astrological products.

And it doesn’t already matter if one believes in astrology on his own, what matters is that 50% of millennials are ready to spend money on it today (sorry for this pragmatic approach).

Product: very simple, very short, without technical details or details at all.

Exception: if your product is unique because of its technical characteristics (for example, you are building a quantum computer).

Even if your product is amazing and you’re ready to tell about it for hours, make your product explanation very very short and extremely clear for your granny.

From personal experience: very often it seems to the founder that their product is very easy-to-understand because they have been working with it for months or even years. However, for external people, it might still sound like rocket science. That’s why to tell about your product using a step-by-step approach: step one, step two, step three. If you can explain using a real use case this will be perfect.

In the example below we explain in three steps how the astrological app works.

Important: if there is an opportunity to use screenshots to illustrate how the product works — it will simplify the perception. But as in the case with pictures, the screenshots should be illustrative, so the viewer will understand in a second what is happening on the screen. Otherwise, it’s better to explain the product’s workflow in the least sufficient number of words (as in the example below).

Super features: not more than two or three features, answering the question of why the product is a game changer and 10x better than the competitors.
As an alternative: you can combine the problem and the solution on one slide, showing the comparison: how it’s traditionally done today and how it can be done with your product in a much better way.
Clients’ feedback and cases: this is the social proof that the existence of your product makes sense. If you started creating a pitch-deck, and you don’t have any social proofs yet and there is an opportunity to get these social proofs (conduct UX tests using demo, get feedback from early adopters, make a special offer for those who are ready to provide a review after the trial, etc.) — it’s worth spending additional time (even if it will take several days, even if you will make a figma prototype for this sole purpose), as social proofs are the superpower of the pitch-deck that makes it persuasive.

Market: its size today and growth forecasting for the next five years, two or three core growth drivers (discussed in detail in the first chapter).

Competitors: why you are so special?

Important: instead of looking at products-competitors, it’s better to look at alternative approaches to solve the stated problem.

It’s convenient to organize the analysis in a table, with competitors in a column and comparative characteristics in a row.
It’s enough to show two to four key advantages, that will answer the question of why you are 10x better than all these already existing solutions. There is no need to mention small features and secondary technical details (even if they are very cute and you like them).

If you have only two clear comparative characteristics, it’s convenient to use a two-dimensional diagram.

Business model: where and when your product will make money. What are your revenue streams and what is the share of each revenue stream.

The roadmap shows the investor that the founder has a strategic mindset and understands what the startup will do when the round is closed. For pre-seed and seed-stage startups, it’s enough to provide a roadmap for 1.5 years (quarterly). For later stages, it can be up to 3 years (where one period is half of the year).
The roadmap includes launching new products, new markets entry, huge promo campaigns, partnerships, huge hiring, the next round, and all the startup’s plans that will contribute to its growth.

Go-to-market strategy: what markets, what channels, what products.

From personal experience: I often see the approach “we will start with the US market, going to Europe in two years, and to Asia in four years”. However, there is no market like Europe, because Spain, Germany, France, and all other EU countries are separate markets and need to be entered separately. The same story is about Asia.

Important: the go-to-market strategy should be realistic and reasonable otherwise the investor won’t believe that the team can do it.

In the example below we’ve already said that this was one specific market and now explain the specific activities of the market entry.

Historical traction: Revenue, GMV, number of users or clients, engagement metrics (retention rate, session duration, etc.), number of partnerships, ARPU, ARPPU, etc.

Important: all metrics should be shown in dynamics by quarters.
Sometimes by years if the company has been in the market for a long time, and sometimes it can be by months if the company has been recently in the market but already has some results.
If there are periods when the metrics worsen (for example, there is a 3x revenue downturn), it’s nice to provide a comment explaining why it happened.

Revenue and Contribution Margins: revenue forecast for the next three to five years (usually based on a financial model), break-even point (if it’s supposed by the company’s strategy within this period).
Key revenue growth drivers (from two to four points):
Launching new products for the already existing audience
New markets entry
Specific growth hacking campaigns
Strategic partnerships, etc.

Important: revenue growth drivers are a tiny but very significant element in the pitch-deck. They should be very persuasive. Because even if the product is amazing, but the team doesn’t have a clear strategy of how to deliver this amazing product to the customer — it will be a failure with a 99% probability.

Unit Economics:
For B2C:
LTV (Life Time Value): what is your revenue from one client for the whole period
Important: if you have both paying and not paying users LTV calculation should include paying users only.
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost): how much does it cost to acquire one more user.

Important: if you use several channels for users acquisition and plan to use all of them for market entry and scaling, it makes sense to point out CAC for different channels separately.

LTV:CAC ratio: it’s a ‘well-known fact’ that the minimum sufficient ratio is 3. It’s not a golden rule for all investors, but it might be a kind of target value.

Retention rate — what share of users were back next period (relevant to the products with regular usage, for example, fasting mobile app).
Churn rate — what share of users wasn’t back next period.
Retention rate = 1 — Churn Rate, these metrics are substitutes, you can choose any of them.

Contribution margin = (Revenue — Cost of production per unit — CAC) / Revenue. It’s relevant if the product has high margins (it’s usually about software subscription products and has nothing to do with hardware and products with one-time payments).
For B2B
LTV — the same as for B2C. But if there are several types of clients, for example, Enterprise and SME (Small and Medium-sized enterprises), it is reasonable to show unit economics for each type of client separately.
Contribution margin — the same as for B2C (this metric is usually rather impressive for B2B software products with a subscription model).
Cash flow diagram: how much money will the company spend before the client will pay (and what will be the client’s lifecycle).

Round’s details: how much money the startup needs and what are the core expenditures.

Closing slide: contacts, call to action, inspiring phrases, etc.

A classical example:

An example of the closing slide of the project with founders-punks.

Important: there is no contact information on the slide below, as it was a pitch-deck for the offline hackathon. In all other cases contact info on the closing slide is a must.

Useful and harmful additional pieces of advice :

It’s very reasonable to show a ready pitch-deck to two or four investors and founders (with successful fundraising experience). But to show it to more than four people is a waste of time. Pitch-deck is a subjective product, and each viewer will provide new comments and you’ll review it again and again instead of fundraising.
Always and everywhere provide the sources. Without reliable sources all the numbers, statistics, and quotes are useless.
Don’t use crazy colorful designs. There is still nothing better than black text on a white slide.
Lifehack: if you’re dreaming about a presentation with crazy design — go to the hackathon. They will appreciate your creativity, it will be fun, and there is a chance to be rewarded with money.
It’s a never-ending dispute about the amount of text on the slides. Sometimes I get feedback like “too much text on the slide”. But choosing between “too much text on the slide” and no one understood anything, I choose the first option.
Because if the investor didn’t understand what are you doing at all, there is no chance to continue the dialogue. Not always, to be honest rather rare, but there are cases when we need some text to explain smth significant. So, please, don’t be afraid of text.

Now you know all the secrets of how to make a pitch-deck to get the answer “yes!”. But if this task still seems to be complicated, or you need a pitch-deck asap, or you aren’t sure that you can make an amazing pitch-deck right away — we are happy to help! We enjoy creating pitch-decks and have been working on them for more than four years 24/7. Feel free to reach out in tg @l_girll