Overview
How to Create Your Pitch Deck
Here’s a step-by-step guide to creating your startup pitch deck. At the beginning stage of your entrepreneurial journey, the focus will be on telling a clear and concise story.
Please note: If you are creating this deck to be shared virtually, it needs to be able to stand alone. While design best practices may say to keep slides minimal, don't be afraid to be a little more text heavy. Your deck needs to explain everything about your pitch without you being there to voice it over.
A good test is to show to someone who's never heard your pitch and see if they understand clearly when reviewing on their own.
Slide 0
Introduction
This one is going to be straightforward. A title page with the name of your company and a one-line blurb of what you do will work nicely.
This is the only place in the deck where you really only need exactly 1 slide. For the other slides in this deck, 1-3 slides per section may be more realistic. If you have a ton of information to cover, it's better to split it up into two slides than crowd one slide with small text.
Slide 1
The Problem
State your problem next and discuss how this problem engages with an existing need or solves a pain point for people and businesses.
Slide 2
The Solution
Here’s where your solution comes in. Focus on the benefits of your solution described in an easy-to-understand, but concrete way.
Slide 3
Customer Discovery
Show off your traction with a graph or chart and add a little bit of context on what this means. Make sure the numbers you point out are clear and menaingful.
Slide 4
Competitive Advantage
What sets you apart from your competitor? This is where you can demonstrate your edge or provide unique insights into why this will be a success.
Slide 5
Business Model
Here, you’ll present your business model. This part is important, even if you don't know all the details yet. Tell us a little bit more about how you plan to make money, including a revenue model.
Slide 6
Future Growth
This is where your knowledge of the market comes in. What’s the ceiling on how much you can make on your idea? Prove that the market is big and convince the investor on how this idea will make a lot of money.
Slide 7
The Team
Do you have a team? Demonstrate a little bit about what makes your team particularly well suited for this idea, including the founder’s background if relevant.
Last but not least... Slide 8
The Ask
Make an ask on how much money you need and where it will go to grow your idea into a viable business. This can start within the timeframe of the next year.
