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How to Effectively Pitch a Business Idea

• 27 Aug 2020

You’ve identified an underserved need and validated your startup idea . Now it’s time to talk about your business to potential investors. Yet, how do you effectively communicate your idea’s promise and possible impact on the market?

Pitching a business idea is one of the most nerve-wracking parts of any entrepreneur’s journey. It’s what stands in the way between your vision and the financing needed to turn it into a reality. Although daunting, there are steps you can take to ensure a greater chance of success.

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What Makes a Great Pitch?

To make a successful pitch, entrepreneurs must exhibit several characteristics to convince investors to fund their innovative ideas .

Every entrepreneur needs an intricate understanding of their idea, target market, growth strategy, product-market fit , and overall business model . This differentiates your business concept and solidifies the steps needed to make it a reality. The perfect pitch shows investors your proof of concept and instills confidence that they can expect a return on investment .

Another crucial component of a successful pitch is understanding the venture capital (VC) ecosystem.

“It’s critical for entrepreneurs to understand the background and motivations of venture capitalists so when entrepreneurs seek them out to help fund their venture, they know what to prioritize in a firm and how to build a strong, trusting relationship,” says Harvard Business School Senior Lecturer Jeffrey Bussgang in the online course Launching Tech Ventures .

To secure funding and support, here are essential steps to ensure your pitch is effective.

How to Pitch a Business Idea

1. know who you’re pitching.

Some entrepreneurs try to get in front of every investor, despite their industry expertise or firm’s investment stage. Consider that, when you accept an investment, it’s about more than money; you enter a partnership. You must perform your due diligence and research potential investors before making your pitch.

When researching, ask yourself:

What industries do they invest in?

A VC firm’s industry focus depends on what the partners’ niche is and where their passions lie. Some firms specialize in a particular sector, such as financial technology (fintech) or education technology (edtech).

For example, Rethink Education is a venture capital fund that invests in early- and growth-stage edtech startups, while Blockchain Capital is dedicated to financing companies innovating in the crypto market. Others are generalists and span several industries.

Knowing the types of companies the firm invests in can help you tailor your pitch and zero in on their presumed priorities.

What stage do they invest in?

If you’re in the earliest stages of business development, you won’t receive growth equity, which is reserved for mature companies that need capital to expand operations, enter a new market, or acquire another business. Before making your pitch, have a rough estimate of the money and resources you need to launch, and then align yourself with investors who can help at that particular stage.

What’s the investor’s track record?

Dig deeper into the investor’s experience and investment history to determine the types of companies they typically finance, the background knowledge they might already have, and whether your personalities will mesh. This information will enable you to modify your pitch and determine if this is the right person or fund to partner with.

“The best venture capitalists become trusted partners and advisors to the founders and team,” says HBS Professor William Sahlman in the online course Entrepreneurship Essentials . “They help recruit key employees. They introduce the company to potential customers. They help raise subsequent rounds of capital. In some cases, they signal that the firm they've backed is a winner, which helps make that assertion true.”

Given the benefits and high stakes, the more you know going into a pitch, the better.

2. Consider How You Present Yourself, Not Simply Your Idea

Although your ideas and skills matter , your personality is equally as important. According to research published in the Harvard Business Review , venture capitalists’ interest in a startup “was driven less by judgments that the founder was competent than by perceptions about character and trustworthiness.”

Investors also want to know they’re entering a partnership with the right people. Jennifer Fonstad, co-founder of Aspect Ventures , acknowledges in Entrepreneurship Essentials that her investment firm “thinks about team and team dynamics as being very critical.”

Investors want to know whether the founders have worked together before, if your startup’s early hires have complementary skill sets, and whether you’ll be flexible, open-minded, and willing to embrace different perspectives.

Think about this as you prepare your pitch. If investors poke holes in your idea, will you get defensive? When they ask for financial projections, will you exaggerate the numbers? Hopefully, your answers are “no”—firms want to partner with founders they can trust who are open to guidance and mentorship—but if you’re second-guessing your reactions, consider what you might be asked and practice your responses.

As Sahlman reinforces in Entrepreneurship Essentials : “Most experienced investors look at the people first and the opportunity second. Even when a team is young and inexperienced, an investor depends on them to make the right decisions.”

3. Tell a Story

When describing your business idea, zero in on the problem you address for your target audience and how you solve it better than the competition. You could do this by presenting a real-life scenario in which you describe the pain point a current or prospective customer faced and how your product or service fixed the issue. This can help engage investors on a personal level and inspire them to see your idea’s potential.

By complementing your spreadsheets and charts with a compelling story, you can paint a fuller picture of your startup’s future and more effectively highlight its business opportunity.

4. Cover the Details

While it’s important to set the stage, you also need to cover the specifics. In your pitch deck, concisely define your value proposition and share a memorable tagline for investors to leave the meeting with.

According to Bussgang in Launching Tech Ventures , every pitch to an investor should contain the following:

• Intro: Focus on answering important questions like who you are, why you’re asking for funding, and what your founder-market fit is.
• Problem: Talk about your ideal customer’s pain point and how you plan to solve it.
• Solution: Explain how your idea is a compelling solution and why it’s better than existing solutions.
• Opportunity and Market Size: Provide your total addressable market (TAM), serviceable addressable market (SAM), and serviceable obtainable market (SOM) through research.
• Competitive Analysis: Understand your unique differences in the market that can help you sustain a competitive advantage.
• Go-to-Market Plan: Clarify how you’re going to reach your customers.
• Business Model: Describe how you’re going to make money.
• Financials: Define what your financial projections are and how you’re going to provide returns for investors.
• The Ask: Detail how much funding you need, how long it will last, and what milestones you hope to achieve.

“VCs will expect entrepreneurs to clearly define the milestones they need to achieve with each round of funding,” Bussgang continues. “Entrepreneurs should know what experiments they will run to reach these milestones and what they expect the results will be.”

5. Show the Roadmap

Although you’re in your business’s early stages, investors want to know how they’ll cash out in the end.

“To truly understand the motivations behind VC firms, remember that they are professional investors,” Bussgang explains in Launching Tech Ventures . “Their objective is to generate the maximum return for their limited partners with a dual fiduciary duty to their investors and the company.”

To clinch your pitch, highlight your exit strategy and the options available.

The most common exit strategies include:

• Acquisition: When one company buys most or all of another company’s shares to gain control of it
• Merger: When two existing companies unite into one new company
• Initial Public Offering (IPO): When a private company issues its first sale of stocks to the public and can start raising capital from public investors

Related: What Are Mergers & Acquisitions? 4 Key Risks

3 Kinds of Pitches for Entrepreneurs

While all effective pitches share foundational elements, you should use different types depending on the scenario. To increase your chances of success, tailor your pitch to your audience and the available time frame.

1. The Elevator Pitch

This is one of the most popular pitches. Use this when you need to communicate their startup’s value in 60 seconds or less.

An effective elevator pitch should be concise, convincing, and convey your startup’s value proposition and differentiators. For tech business ideas, mention the innovative technology that sets your concept apart. At the end, include a call to action, such as the amount of capital required to launch.

2. The Short-Form Pitch

You should portray your business idea’s value to prospective clients and investors as efficiently as possible. This means summarizing the most important elements of your idea in a way that makes them want to hear more. Highlight the market size, how you’ll create barriers for competition, your plan to monetize the business, and how much financing you need.

Short-form pitches can run from three to 10 minutes; if you’re pitching in a competitive setting, note any length requirements. These shorter pitches can pique investors’ interest and earn you the chance to present a long-form pitch.

3. The Long-Form Pitch

Sometimes, you’re fortunate enough to have more than a few minutes to pitch your idea. If this opportunity presents itself, it’s crucial to make the most of your time and address every aspect of your business plan.

“You’re not just trying to start any business,” Bussgang says in Launching Tech Ventures . “You’re trying to create a business that’s profitable, sustainable, and valuable.

Zero in on your story and share a real-life scenario. Detail the market size to illustrate demand and clear examples of how you’ll attract and retain customers, particularly in light of competitors. This will show you’re planning for—and ahead of—future challenges.

You should also have a blueprint for testing product-market fit and early results, along with a detailed monetization plan. Lastly, share your exit strategy and the amount of capital needed to, one day, achieve it. Your long-form pitch should communicate your business concept clearly and concisely, open the possibility for follow-up questions, and capture the investors’ interest.

Consider preparing all three pitch lengths to be ready for any opportunity. It’s important to stay agile so you can modify your pitch to fit specific length requirements.

Landing the Pitch

Every investor prioritizes different data and information. Yet, if you start by choosing the right investor and then align their needs with your proposed market opportunity, value proposition, and exit strategy, you have a chance at landing the pitch.

“In some ways, startup success depends just as much on whether your hypothesis about the future is right, as it does on whether your idea is a good one,” Bussgang explains in Launching Tech Ventures .

As a result, it’s important for you to do your due diligence before pitching your business idea to investors.

If you’re interested in learning more about what investors look for and how you can create value, explore Entrepreneurship Essentials and Launching Tech Ventures , two of our entrepreneurship and innovation courses . Not sure which is the right fit? Download our free course flowchart to determine which best aligns with your goals.

This post was updated on July 28, 2023. It was originally published on August 27, 2020.

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How to Make a Successful Business Pitch: 9 Tips From Experts

You’ve just had your lunch, and you’re about to get back to work. 

While making your post-lunch tea (or coffee), you can’t stop thinking about being your own boss. 

You wonder if it’s about time for you to turn your side hustle into a full-time business and become an entrepreneur. 

Or perhaps you want to propose the idea of a four-day workweek to your CEO. 

If you want to introduce investors and prospects to your business idea and convince them to take the plunge with you,  you need a strong and persuasive business pitch. 

How to create a persuasive business pitch according to experts 

The good news — it’s possible to craft a convincing and successful business pitch. 

Even better news: This Piktochart business pitch guide shows you how. 

Grab your drink of choice and take notes as we explore the different ways to pitch business ideas (from a sales-style elevator pitch to an innovative workplace pitch), as well as understand what makes a great business pitch. You’ll also get a glimpse into our business pitch templates, and learn expert advice from those who have pitched their way to success (and failure too). 

You can also watch the video below if you don’t have time to go over this guide. It’s also easier to follow along if you sign up for a free Piktochart account and edit the templates yourself (learning by doing).

What is a business pitch? 

A business pitch is a presentation of a business idea to a group of people who can help turn your idea into a reality.

You can pitch to: 

• Investors who can help fund your idea
• Potential customers who will pay for your product or service
• Advocates who will support your idea

In some cases, a business pitch doesn’t have to be all about presenting a new idea. You could be asking for more funding or continued support for an already established business venture. 

Whether through an investment, purchase, or advocacy, a business pitch becomes successful if you can convince people to believe in your idea or pique their interest and get them to learn more. 

Now that you understand what a business pitch is, let’s take a closer look at the different types of business pitches. 

Types of pitches in business

Your business pitch can be narrowed down to the following five types of presentations: 

1. Investor pitch

In this type of business pitch, you present a  persuasive presentation or pitch deck to a group of potential business partners and/or investors. 

Sign up for a free Piktochart account to get started on creating professional-looking pitch deck templates that you can edit in minutes.

An investor business pitch should typically last for 45 minutes . The best practice for this type of pitch is 20-30 minutes of presentation followed by discussion or a Q&A afterward.

Alternatively, business pitch competitions follow a different best practice. These presentations should last around five to 10 minutes and focus on pitching to investors.

Lastly, the most stringent type of business pitch is most commonly referred to as an ‘elevator pitch’, and should only last around 30-60 seconds.

Let’s dive in so you can learn how to make the perfect business pitch!

2. Sales pitch 

The goal of a sales pitch is to answer the question “What’s in it for me?” from the lens of the potential customer. 

The best and most effective salespeople can make a sales pitch in as short as one minute. Also known as the ‘ elevator pitch ‘, this type of business pitch should be able to be delivered in a single elevator ride (30-60 seconds on average). In this format, a short sales pitch should include four key components:

• Your unique product name and category
• The specific problem you are trying to solve
• The innovative solution you offer
• the unique selling point of benefit to your solution

3. Product pitch 

A product pitch is similar to a sales pitch, however, the spotlight should be on the product and/or solution itself. 

For example, a sales pitch for an email automation software will highlight one or two of its benefits. Meanwhile, a product pitch of the same automation software will focus more on its features, how it works, and how you can integrate the software into your existing setup. 

In a product pitch, you should aim to:

• Explain your product or offering clearly and concisely
• Identify and address the target audience and/or industry your product supports
• Specify the problem the aforementioned faces and how your solution can solve it
• Provide a realistic example of your solution in action
• Make sure to use accurate facts backed up by relevant and recent data

4. Job pitch 

If you’re applying for a job or internship and you’re wondering how you can stand out from the crowd (consisting of your peers and other qualified applicants), consider pitching yourself to a prospective employer. 

Applying the same logic used for a sales or product pitch deck; sell yourself!

A job pitch or personal summary pitch should be concise, personalized, and consistent. In a job pitch you should include:

• A brief introduction to you
• An explanation as to why you’re a great fit for the company and role
• Relevant experience and achievements
• Your goals and career aspirations

“It’s not about bragging or showing off — it’s about giving the other person evidence that you can actually do what you say you can do,” assures Starla Sampaco , TV news anchor at KCTS 9 and founder of Career Survival Guide .

5. Workplace pitching 

Do you have an idea or initiative that will help your colleagues and help boost the company’s profitability?  Pitch it internally within your workplace, to your team or boss! 

For example, you can pitch a  remote-first culture  or the four-day workweek to your HR, and/or the rest of the leadership team.

Another workplace pitch example? Maybe you might want to propose the creation of a new role in your team which can help advance your career and address a challenge in the organization at the same time. 

To do this, simply create a pitch deck including your main points, the benefits, and proposed next steps to turn your idea into a reality. Piktochart’s workplace pitch decks can help you get your point across through our workplace templates.

The structure of a successful business pitch 

If creating a business pitch sounds intimidating, the team at Piktochart has your back. 

You can address this worry by making sure that you have a business pitch structure that is sure to succeed, using our tips & templates. 

When you have a formulated pitch deck structure, template, and agenda, you’ll know exactly what you’re going to say next, taking the bulk of the stress out of presenting. Additionally, these best practice presentation structures make your business pitch more memorable to your audience and leave a lasting impression. Statistically, it turns out that people retain structured information up to  40 percent more accurately  than information presented in freeform. 

The WHAC Method

Whether you’re pitching to a group of potential investors or you’re selling real estate, use the WHAC method when structuring your perfect business pitch. 

The WHAC method is introduced in  The 3 Minute Rule   by Brandt Pividic, an award-winning film director and television producer. He wrote the book to detail his experience and tips as he made hundreds of pitches in Hollywood. 

This well-known WHAC method stands for: 

What is it and what do you offer? 

You start your business pitch by answering the questions: what is it, and what do you offer? 

At this point, you share your business plan and quickly outline the problem and solution you offer. For example, let’s say that you want to pitch the idea of having a UX researcher on your product team. 

You list down existing problems and challenges that your team and/or organization are currently experiencing without a dedicated UX researcher. Afterward, you propose your solution — hiring someone who can step in and do user research. 

How does it work? 

Next, explain your proposal. Provide a quick summary of the benefits of your solution. In our example, share how the UX researcher will help the product team accomplish its objectives.

It can be tricky explaining how your business idea works. Figuring out how to deliver this information in an entertaining and simple manner can turn potential investors into partners, as we’ve seen from some of the best startup pitch decks .

Since you don’t have much time and attention spans are short, the key is to boil down how your idea works into a few key points. Explain how it works from a high-level overview and weave this in as part of your compelling story.

Are you sure? 

Once you have provided the solution, the people listening to your elevator pitch are likely saying to themselves, “will it really work?”

This is the point where you have to provide solid proof in your pitch. You can use testimonials, a short case study, or statistics.

You should also mention financial projections in order to leave a positive impression. If your manager or potential investors will provide funding for your idea, they’ll want to know what the ROI is.

Can you do it? 

The final part of your pitch should answer this question.

Now that your audience has heard you talk about the problem, solution, and proof that it works, you need to show them how you’re going to implement the solution. Think of this point as the “actionable” part of your pitch. You can even provide steps to break down how this can be achieved in a certain timeframe.

“Show how you have thought about how to turn your idea into a commercial outcome or true partnership. This is really an opportunity to start or continue building trust and showing that you care about creating real value for the people in the room is the best way to put you on the right foot,” shares Michael Rosenbaum , CEO of Spacer ,  one of the biggest parking marketplaces in the U.S. 

Like any good sales pitch, you need to show how achievable the results are. At this particular stage, you need to tie in any additional information to show what resources or specific and unique skills are required to make it happen.

Being transparent about what’s required can build trust with potential investors.

How to persuade your audience with your business pitch 

Now that you know the best practice structure of a successful business pitch, take note of the following tips to help make your business pitch more interesting, relatable, and most of all, convince your audience to say “yes”. 

1. Understand what your audience wants from you 

It’s standard advice across all facets of industry to “know your audience”.  

However, if you’d like to become better at your business pitches, go the extra mile by understanding what your audience wants from you. 

There’s a  difference between understanding and knowing  your audience. Instead of just  knowing  where your client comes from, try to  understand  their pain points, goals, and motivation. 

How do you do this? 

Talk to them in advance, read about the things they publish online (tweets, blog posts), and understand what excites them. By doing so, you’ll be able to tailor your business pitch to their needs, wants, and preferences. 

For example, if you’re pitching to potential clients and investors who are eco-conscious at the same time, it makes sense to highlight how your idea can positively impact the environment. 

Stephen Keighery , CEO of Home Buyer Louisiana and Founder of Bald Eagle Investments USA, shares this tip when it comes to customizing your pitch to your audience: 

“Learn ahead and research about the company or the client you’ll be pitching to, just be sure that every information you obtain is for public knowledge. You can also observe their behavior and their words during the transaction; and perhaps while pitching, use the jargon they use to establish connection and a favorable impression to them.”

2. Have your elevator pitch ready 

Imagine this. You just bumped into Mark Cuban of Shark Tank at the airport lounge, and you can’t believe that you’re sitting next to him! He looks at you and asks you about yourself and what you do. 

This is when you need your elevator pitch handy! 

The Asana team recommends the following  elements of a good elevator pitch : 

• Introduction
• Value proposition
• CTA (call to action)

You don’t have to follow the exact formula. You can mix it up based on the situation, your personality, and the audience you’re pitching to. 

It’s also worth noting that you might not immediately notice the benefit of your elevator pitch.  Think of it as an opportunity for you to make a great first impression. 

3. Use visual aids

If you have the chance to present beyond the elevator pitch, you should never pitch with a presentation that’s filled with texts, numbers, or endless rows of data. 

As humans, our  brains are hardwired to love visuals   — from photographs to infographics to icons. 

When pitching an idea, product, or service, get your audience’s attention (and support!) by telling a story visually and adding a bit of creativity to your PowerPoint slides. 

Images trigger empathy  which in turn can make your audience understand your pitch better. 

The more they understand your idea, the greater the likelihood of angel investors, venture capitalists, and potential customers supporting or advocating for you. 

Another added benefit is that  visuals can elicit emotions  and emotions play an important role in decision-making. 

Watch these 10 legendary pitch decks for visual inspiration.

4. Explain your business model clearly

When pitching to investors, imagine them asking, “what’s in it for me?”. 

After learning about how your idea can help solve a problem, they’re interested in how you’re going to advertise to your target market and generate revenue consistently. 

Johannes Larsson , CEO of  Financer.com  explains that being able to articulate their business model was what made them successful in getting business partners on board. 

“We were relatively unknown in the industry, so it took us quite a few tries before we signed our first deal. After that, however, things became much easier — not just because we were building up a name for ourselves but also because we improved our approach. We learned that being able to clearly explain our business model was the key to earning potential partners’ trust. Once we mastered that, we focused on providing proof of fruitful partnerships. It was obvious that this information was what our affiliates cared about, so we made sure to gather evidence of our success and present it in every pitch.”

5. Weave your passion or story with your pitch

Your business pitch doesn’t have to sound like you’re reading it straight from a script that someone else wrote for you. 

When appropriate, add a bit of your personal touch.  In short, humanize your pitch and slide deck. 

It will not only improve your relatability factor but also make you feel less nervous. After all, you’re talking about something that you’re passionate about. 

Take it from Debbie Chew, an SEO Specialist at  Dialpad .

“As part of my hiring process, I had to pitch a marketing campaign idea. I started brainstorming a list of potential ideas and their projected impact to decide which one to go with. While doing this, one idea kept coming back to me, and I realized I was most passionate about pitching a campaign related to video meetings. People now spend so much of their time in video meetings, but how much time? And how can we have better meetings? So I built my pitch around this concept and really enjoyed pitching my idea (which also helped me feel less nervous),” shares Chew.  If you can share a personal story or something you’re passionate about in your pitch — while also tying it back to your audience — they won’t forget it. And yes, I got the job!” 

6. Put the spotlight on benefits

Once you have your audience’s attention, circle back to how your product or service will address customer needs and benefit business partners. 

For  Carsten Schaefer  of  Trust.io , it boils down to being able to share the benefits of your product or service from the get-go. 

“When I first had to get funding for my product, I had to deliver a sales pitch in front of a board of investors. It didn’t succeed, and I learned a lot from it. “Investors want cold, hard facts and the benefits to the end-user. In the end, they want to see if it makes money for them or not. I’m glad I failed because I learned that for an effective sales pitch, you really need to put yourself in the shoes of someone thinking about profit and pure common sense from a business perspective.

Create a successful business pitch

Select a template that sparks your imagination. Clone, add or delete blocks. Visualize concepts, processes, lists, timelines and data. Use charts and graphs. Sync them with spreadsheets. Export the visual in PDF or PNG format. Start for free.

7. Highlight why you’re different from the competition

Your business pitch is also an opportunity for you to explain what sets you apart from other businesses or organizations, and essentially explain your unique selling point. What makes your idea different? Why is your business model unique? 

It also helps to address relevant competition head-on in your pitch. For  Brogan Renshaw  of Firewire Digital, this tactic shows clients and investors that you’re an expert on what you are talking about, giving them confidence in your offering.

“I notice that this is a part of my business pitches that completely wins the client over because it answers their questions and concerns on the market position of competitors,” says Renshaw. 

8. Share the story behind your team

Investors and business partners are also curious about the people, employees, as well as the team behind your idea. When creating this presentation slide in your pitch deck, don’t forget to include information highlighting your team and each team member’s relevant skills. 

“Investors want to know whether the founders have worked together before, if your startup’s early hires have complementary skill sets, and whether you’ll be flexible, open-minded, and willing to embrace different perspectives, “  writes  Lauren Landry ,  associate director of marketing and communications for Harvard Business School Online.

9. Have an impressive one-pager

As its name implies, a one-pager is a one-page document outlining your business plan and mission. Think of it as a business brochure . With Piktochart’s online brochure maker , you can easily create one within minutes.

Imagine that an investor or client is too busy to listen to your pitch, you can simply email or hand out your one-pager; your entire business pitch in an easy-to-digest format.  

According to Greg Cullen , Sr. Account Executive at Dialpad, your one-pager should have these three components: 

• What is the business pain?
• How the solution you’re positioning can solve said business pain
• The value of the solution accompanied by the resulting positive impact by moving forward with the platform

“This one-pager condenses everything that is important succinctly into an easy-to-digest easy to digest format for everyone to read – and it ensures that all parties are on the same page. And most importantly, this can be used by the champion you’re working with to sell this internally, whether it’s to the CEO, procurement, etc. The better you make this one-pager, the better the result you’ll have,” recommends Cullen. 

Get funding, win clients, and gain support with Piktochart’s pitch deck creator 

While it may be nerve-wracking, particularly if it’s the first time that you’re creating a business pitch, use the expert tips above as your guideposts for a successful pitch. 

You’ll eventually find your very own unique style and approach to business pitching as you do it more frequently.

If you need help creating any type of business or personal pitch deck, create your pitch deck quickly with Piktochart’s pitch deck creator. The first step is to get your free Piktochart account .

Want additional insight on how to better prepare and deliver a business pitch that you’ll be presenting online? Go to our guide to stress-free, engaging Zoom presentations .

We’re rooting for you and your business!

Kyjean Tomboc is an experienced content marketer for healthcare, design, and SaaS brands. She also manages content (like a digital librarian of sorts). She lives for mountain trips, lap swimming, books, and cats.

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Creating the perfect pitch deck and business plan: Examples and best practices [2022]

• January 7, 2022

I know you’ve probably been told that a good pitch deck and business plan are essential in the world of startups. It’s true — they are — but there is a LOT of conflicting advice out there on how to create them. (Hint: There isn’t just one right way.) I want to share some ideas based on solid research and real-world experience so you can create something that works for you.

What is a pitch deck?

What is its purpose, do you need a pitch deck and a business plan, who should create the pitch deck, how do you create a pitch deck, what is a financial model, what is a financial forecast, how accurate does a startup financial model need to be, what to include in an early-stage pitch deck, what should i avoid putting into my pitch deck, slide #0 – title, slide #1 – executive summary, slide #2 – trends, slide #3 – problem, slide #4 – solution, slide #5 – business model, slide #6 – market, slide #7 – competition, slide #8 – go to market, slide #9 – traction, slide #10 – team, slide #11 – investment proposal (the ask), keep it simple, stick to a consistent layout, make it easy to read, use a pitch deck template, beautiful.ai, key takeaways.

In this article, I’ll discuss what a pitch deck is, explain its purpose and its importance in the outreach process, give you tips and practices to create your perfect pitch deck, and what to include in it. We’ll also look at an example of a pitch deck template, using slides from startups that have raised hundreds of millions from VCs. We’ll also explore why you must build a financial model alongside your pitch deck.

Before we get started, remember that pitching on stage and building your pitch deck are two very different things. Pitching is a form of art. Anyone can present a business plan or startup idea to another person, but only a few pitches are memorable and truly capture the interest of investors.

Practice makes perfect, and the better you get at pitching, the more likely you are to succeed. So sign up to pitch competitions, put yourself out there, and get feedback. The more you pitch, the better you will become at it. It’s better to make mistakes when it doesn’t matter than pitch unprepared to critical investors and risk disaster.

Now let’s dive into what it takes to build a great pitch deck!

Pitch decks are an essential document for every founder to master, but there is a lot of conflicting information out there, and no one-size-fits-all template.

To help you get started, we’ve pulled together pitch deck examples and best practices for new founders and early-stage startups.

Using this information to guide you, you’ll be able to create a pitch that will wow investors and get you the funding that your business needs.

A pitch deck is a condensed business plan that communicates your business idea to investors or partners. It should be clear, concise, and well-organised so that it promotes a conversation, not just information that needs to be digested. The pitch deck is used as an elevator pitch during your outreach process and should highlight the key aspects of your startup in a way that gets investors excited about working with you.

The pitch deck itself isn’t going to fund or run your startup — it’s just one piece of the puzzle — but it’s an important one. As Guy Kawasaki, Chief Evangelist at Canva, former Chief Evangelist at Apple, and author of The Art of the Start puts it .

The purpose of a pitch is to stimulate interest, not to close a deal.

While the pitch deck is an information-packed overview of your startup, it should be more than just numbers and figures. A winning pitch deck also captures the imagination by telling a story and getting the audience emotionally involved. People don’t buy products, they buy stories — pitch decks help people to see your startup as a compelling narrative instead of just an idea on paper.

A pitch deck helps you generate interest from investors so that they will fund or work with your company in some way. It is a way to quickly pitch your business idea and get feedback, without having to go through the entire business plan. The pitch deck should be used as a tool to start a conversation with potential investors so that you can get their feedback and determine if they are interested in what you’re doing.

For an early-stage startup, the pitch deck and financial model are the business plan. There are too many uncertainties to waste time writing a 100-page business plan. Founders should use tools like the Lean Canvas to help them think through the different aspects of their business, but a pitch deck and financial model are essential when trying to raise money and get investment.

The pitch deck should be created by the founder or co-founder of the company. They are the ones who know the most about their business and can best pitch it to investors. Remember, the pitch deck isn’t what wins you the investment, but it will start the conversation and get people interested in what you’re doing.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer for this question, as the pitch deck needs to be tailored to your specific startup and its investors. However, there are some best practices that you can use to make sure your pitch deck is as compelling as possible.

Financial Model

The pitch deck should always include a financial model, typically as a supporting document, that shows financial projections for the next three to five years. This will help investors understand how you will manage the financial risks associated with your startup.

A financial model is a document that shows how your business will make money and what kind of return investors can expect on their investment. It includes projected revenue, expenses, and profits over a specific period of time.

Investors will expect to see a three to five-year financial forecast, broken down by year and month.

The financial model should also include a section on the startup’s burn rate – how much money the company is spending each month and how long it can continue to do so before running out of funds.

A financial forecast is a projection of future income, expenses, and profits. It typically covers a period of three to five years and breaks down revenue, expenses, and net cash flow by month.

The financial model doesn’t need to be complex, but it should show a realistic understanding of the numbers behind your startup.

It is important to remember that venture capitalists and angel investors do not expect your financial forecasts to be 100% accurate – they simply want to see that you have put thought into your business, that your operational plans are accounted for, and that you understand the basics of financial forecasting.

Pitch Deck Structure

As a founder, you’ll quickly learn that you’ll need more than one pitch deck. Different pitch decks are used for different purposes, and you may end up using a pitch deck that is specific to your target investor, the stage of investment, or the format in which you’ll be pitching.

This means that there is no magic formula for your pitch deck structure. However, there are a few essential slides that should be in every business pitch deck.

• Title or cover slide
• Market size and opportunity

These slides will give the pitch deck a good structure and focus on the key elements that you want to talk about. There may be more slides depending on your company, but those are the main ones that should always appear somewhere in every pitch deck.

Early-stage startup pitch decks are used to spark interest in your idea and the founding team. Venture capital firms and angel investors will be comfortable with greater uncertainty and higher risk in this pitch deck, so there is more leeway to experiment with different ideas and concepts. This doesn’t mean that you should just throw in everything without a thought though!

At this early stage, there will be multiple unknowns that you are setting out to solve, including exactly how you’ll build your solution to the problem, how you’ll find your scaleable route to market, and maybe even how you’ll convert users to paying customers.

It’s normal to not have all the answers to these questions, and that’s OK! It doesn’t mean that you should pitch an idea if you don’t know how it will work yet. All of this is just a reality check for potential investors — they need to see that you have a realistic idea of what you need to do and a plan for how you might do it.

It’s a common mistake for first-time founders to try to put too much information into their pitch decks. This can include everything from detailed financial models to a full history of the company’s founding story. While it’s important to have all this information ready, it’s best to save it for when you’re actually speaking with investors.

Your pitch deck should be focused on your idea and the current state of your company. It should be set up in a way that clearly lays out who you are, what problem you’re solving, and how you plan to solve it. You want investors to see the actual value in investing in your startup so avoid including anything that’s not absolutely necessary for them to understand this concept.

– Do not include unnecessary information or graphics

– Keep your pitch deck to a maximum of 20 slides

– Stick to clear and concise language

– Make sure all the data is accurate and up to date

Be cautious about adding in anything that doesn’t support your pitch deck theme or the key points you want to make. If it isn’t relevant, remove it! You don’t have time for extra fluff when pitching investors; be direct and focus on what matters most.

Early-Stage Pitch Deck Example

The following pitch deck template is a good example of how you can tell a story that builds investor confidence in your startup idea. Using this format will set a great first impression and can help you with raising capital.

This is the most important slide in the whole deck, you need to grab the attention of the investor with a title slide that convinces them to keep reading. Your title slide must:

• Showcase your logo and brand name.
• In one phrase, state your value proposition.
• Engage the reader by promising them an interesting pitch.

It’s important to make your startup feel credible and trustworthy. Just as people will judge a book by the cover, investors will judge your pitch deck in less than five seconds, so make sure you have a strong first impression!

A common mistake that founders make with the title slide is not making the most of the opportunity. Taking inspiration from other industries, a prize-winning sticker on a book cover or a wine bottle has a tremendous impact on sales. What can you do to make your pitch deck stand out?

After catching your audience’s attention, you should include a company summary on slide one. Investors are unlikely to know anything about you or your company, so this is where you need to tell them what you do, where you’re going, and why they should care.

In just a few sentences, you should be able to concisely state the following:

• What your company does
• The stage you’re at
• The traction you’ve made so far
• Where you’re heading

If the title slide is about grabbing attention, the executive summary is about keeping it.

You need to get investors hooked and hungry for more information.

With the investor’s attention now captured, it’s time to give them some context. What industry are you in? What trends are happening in that industry?

Trends are the market conditions that you have zero influence over. But, by showing how you understand them and how they impact your startup, you can demonstrate that not only is your startup inevitable, but that the risk of failure is also reduced.

Your goal with the trends slide is to show that your startup idea isn’t some crazy gamble, it’s obvious and inevitable, and that the market is about to change in a big way.

In the context of startup ideas, the important things to consider about trends are whether they are weak or strong, societal and cultural, or technological.

Weak Trends: These are usually easy to spot and include things like the aging population, increasing internet penetration rates, or a growing demand for a new product or service.

Strong Trends: These are hard to argue against. They will be big and happening quickly. They could be something like the rise of mobile payments, a technology reaching critical mass, or a new way of thinking about an old problem.

Technological Trends: These trends focus on the development of new technologies. For instance, the rise of drones, Web3, and artificial intelligence technologies are all technological trends that would be relevant to an investor pitch deck when combined with a startup idea.

Societal and Cultural Trends: These trends are about the way people are living their lives, and integrating new technologies into them. A good example of this is the trend towards health and wellness. This could be anything from the increasing popularity of mindfulness to people taking more interest in their food.

It’s important to consider societal trends alongside advances in technology, just because a technology is possible, doesn’t mean that people will want to use it (remember Google Glass?).

Building into emerging trends can lead to you raising millions without even having a pitch deck , like Hopin, or still whilst the world is in lockdown and your app is still in beta – like Clubhouse.

Now that you’ve got the pitch deck rolling, it’s time to talk about your startup idea. What problem are you solving? What is happening right now? What are people not happy with?

When it comes to the problem slide, be specific. Don’t just say that there is a problem. Tell them what it is and make your audience feel the pain; they should be able to recall having had it themselves or easily empathise with those that do.

As a founder, you need to prove that you have a deep awareness and understanding of the problem you’re solving. You need to demonstrate that you can stand in the shoes of your customers and see the problem as they do.

Ideally, you should be able to summarise all of this into a problem statement. This is a simple one or two-sentence explanation that describes the problem, identifies the pain points, and explains why it needs solving.

Providing data to back up your problem statement is also important, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. You’re not trying to show the size of the market, just the severity of the problem.

Having built up an understanding of the problem, you now need to explain how you plan on solving it. What is your solution? How will your startup solve this problem? What makes your product or service different?

Your solution slide should be clear, concise, and easy to understand. You should have a brief paragraph explaining what your startup does, followed by supporting information in the form of screenshots, images, or diagrams.

Remember, during live pitching or conversations, you may be able to talk about your solution in more detail – maybe even showcase a live demo – but in your pitch deck, you need to keep it simple.

If you’re having trouble boiling down your complex solution then consider how you would sell it to a potential customer. If you can pitch it to them in a way that they understand and see the value, then your pitch deck will be able to do the same.

With the problem and solution explained, it’s time to move on to your business model. This is a critical slide for any pitch deck as it demonstrates how you plan to make money from your startup idea. It’s showing your investors that you understand the business side of things and that you have a plan for growth.

This slide can be a little tricky to get right, as you don’t want to overload your audience with too much information (especially at idea stage, when you don’t have a fully formed business model). However, you need to convey that the unit economics make sense and that there is a path to profitability.

There are lots of different ways to structure this slide, but the most common model breaks it down into a one-paragraph pitch of your business model, followed by one or two diagrams showing the relationships between your costs and revenue. By using simple visuals, you can convey complex ideas far more effectively than words alone.

Unfortunately, pitch decks don’t have the space to explore every aspect of your business model. It’s a good idea to create a separate document for this, which you can then share with interested investors or partners.

Now it’s time to move on to the all-important question of market size. Market sizing for early-stage startups can be a contentious issue.

Many entrepreneurs think that they need to show huge total addressable markets (TAM), and pitch themselves as the next billion-dollar startup. However, most sophisticated investors how that for most early-stage startups this is not appropriate.

Pitching a large TAM isn’t going to impress investors, they’ve seen it all before, but pitching yourself as the best company in your segment will demonstrate that you have a great understanding of your industry and the opportunity at hand.

It’s most important to be able to show that there is a market for your product or service, that it’s growing, and that there is room for you to compete. You don’t need to pitch yourself as a billion-dollar company, just pitch that you have a good understanding of the market segment, that people are spending money solving this type of problem, and that you’re going to be one of the best companies in your space.

For example, if your idea is to launch the next big analytics platform, don’t pitch a market size that includes every business in the world. Instead, focus on a specific industry or sector and show how behaviours in that industry are changing, paving the way for your product or service.

Again, you don’t need to go into too much detail in your pitch deck. A one-paragraph pitch of your market size is usually enough, followed by a simple diagram showing the trends that are opening up opportunities for your startup.

This is another key slide for any pitch deck, as it demonstrates that you have done your research and that you understand the competitive landscape.

Start by defining the market segment you are targeting, and then show the key points of differentiation when compared to your primary competitors.

Describe how they fit into the customer’s perspective of the market, show where their strengths and weaknesses lie, and how you plan to compete with them.

This isn’t the place for a full analysis of your competitors, but you should be able to pitch yourself as the best company in your space, with a clear understanding of how you’re going to win.

There are two common ways to visualise your competitor analysis, the magic quadrant (or 2×2 matrix) and a comparison table.

The magic quadrant is a way of plotting your competitors on two axes, based on two factors that you’ll pluck from thin air. These visualisations are rarely credible unless you have a lot of experience in the market you are analysing, or they’ve been produced by large consultancies like Deloitte or Gartner.

On the other hand, comparison tables can be very effective as they’re easy to digest, position you alongside recognisable brands, and allow you to highlight the key differences between your company and your competitors. By comparing factors that are demonstrably important to customers, you’ll come across as more credible and able to back up your pitch with cold, hard facts.

Now it’s time to talk about marketing and sales strategy, or how you’re going to get your product or service in front of customers. This is where you’ll pitch your go-to-market strategy. Your go-to-market slide should include the following elements:

• The channels you will use to reach your target audience
• The actions you will take to put your product in front of potential customers
• The milestones you will hit as you progress through your go-to-market plan
• The resources you will require to reach your target successfully

Start by describing your target market and how you plan to reach them. This might include explaining your distribution channels, sales strategy, or marketing approach. You can also use this slide to talk about any partnerships you have in place, or how you plan to leverage them.

Next, explain the actions you will take to reach your target audience, and how you plan to measure success. These actions should fit within each of the channels that you’ve already identified. For example, if you’re using digital marketing, your actions might be things like website development, SEO, or social media campaigns.

Lastly, list the key milestones you will hit as you progress through your go-to-market plan, and identify the resources you will require to achieve them. You can include your team, budget for marketing activities, or specific assets like signage.

As a startup, traction is key. Investors want to see that you’re making progress and that your product is resonating with customers. This slide is often one of the trickiest for startups at idea-stage, as it can be difficult to show commercial progress and it will be too early for product-market fit.

There are a few different ways to pitch traction, and you need to choose the one that works best with your company and the stage you’re at. Some options include user base, revenue growth, or market validation.

If you’re focusing on your user base, you’ll want to pitch a clear and compelling story about your customer base. If you have a small data set, it’s worth showcasing your first 100 customers as this makes the numbers seem more real.

If you have a large customer base, pitch your exponential growth in terms of percentage or absolute figures. For example, pitch how many customers you signed in the past quarter or year.

Revenue Growth

If you’re focusing on revenue growth, pitch your current (or projected) sales figures. You can also pitch the average ticket size or value of your deals. Alternatively, pitch your revenue growth (in terms of percentage or absolute figures) over the past year.

Market Validation

If your product is still at idea-stage and still has a long way to go before it’s ready for market, pitch your progress in terms of real-world validation. For example, pitch the number of people who have registered to use your product or service, or pitch the number of companies that have expressed interest during interviews.

Most importantly, be honest about your progress. If they are interested, investors will dig into your traction claims and you’ll need to back them up with data – if it turns out that you’ve lied or embellished the facts, you’ll not only lose trust and credibility, you’ll probably lose the investment too.

Having set the scene in which your startup operates, it’s time to introduce the management team behind your startup. Investors will be keen to learn about who is leading your company and how they will transform your idea into a profitable business.

The focus here must be you and your co-founders. People invest in people, so you’ll need to show how you have the vision, experience, and motivation required to deliver on your pitch.

Keep your team slide short and sweet. You’ll want to include the founding team, highlighting their relevant experience in the industry or field that you’re operating within.

Pictures help to make your presentation more personal, so make sure you have a good quality headshot of each team member, consistently formatted so that everyone appears the same size and in focus.

The team slide should only include the founding team, though it is acceptable to include key team members, as well as notable advisors or investors if beneficial. If you do this, ensure that there is a clear visual separation between the two groups.

This is the big one. The pitch deck wouldn’t be complete without a clear proposal of what you’re asking for from your investors. This slide should clearly state the amount of money you’re seeking, as well as what you plan to do with it.

It’s important to remember that investors are looking for a return on their investment (ROI), so your proposal must be realistic and demonstrate how you will use the funds raised to reach key growth milestones.

To convince investors, your “Ask slide” will need to answer these three questions:

• How much are you seeking to raise?
• What will you do with the money?
• What do you intend to accomplish with the funds?

Always remember to pitch the ask in terms of how it benefits the investor – not just you. For example, if you’re seeking a £100,000 investment, explain how that money will help you reach a specific milestone that will create value for your investors.

Be specific about how much you need to raise, and where you plan to deploy the money. This will show that you’ve done your homework and understand how you will grow your business.

A simple pie chart with the breakdown of how you plan to use funds can go a long way towards demonstrating to investors that you’re serious about using their money wisely. For example, if 25 percent goes towards marketing spend, 30 percent for technology development, and 45 percent for new hires, that’s a good indication you have your priorities straight.

It’s unlikely that you will be profitable before the next round of funding, but it is usually worth highlighting the key numbers from your financial projections to give investors an idea of the scale and trajectory of your business.

Perhaps the most important factor in your investment ask is demonstrating that you understand how much capital you require to hit key growth milestones without requiring further funding rounds for at least 12-18 months. This is something that almost every investor will expect you to have a solid plan for.

Pitch Deck Design

Whether you’re sharing your deck by email or presenting on stage, the design of your pitch deck matters. However, you can’t afford to hire a professional pitch deck designer to help. So, what do you do?

KEEP. IT. SIMPLE.

Your pitch deck is not the place to show off your design skills – or highlight any lack of expertise in this department! The only goal of your pitch deck is to communicate information clearly and concisely so that investors understand what you’re pitching and can get excited about it.

Keep your presentation simple, use bold typography, highlight key information, and stick to a maximum of two or three colors. Resist the urge to use lots of graphics and animations, as these can be distracting and take up valuable space on your slides.

How to design a better pitch deck

There are a lot of things to consider when designing your pitch deck presentation. Below are some tips on how to make your pitch more effective:

The average investor has a short attention span, so keep your deck concise and easy to follow. Use clear language, avoid complex graphs and charts, and stick to a maximum of 15 slides.

Use the same fonts, colors, and layouts throughout your pitch deck to create a cohesive look.

Slides that are crowded with text and images will be difficult for your audience to read and comprehend.

A pitch deck template is a great way to ensure that your pitch deck looks professional and follows the proper design guidelines.

Pitch deck design tools

Today, there is a huge selection of online design tools and no-code builders to help you build your perfect deck. Below are just a few of the design platforms that can help you craft your pitch.

An easy-to-use platform that allows startups to build a beautiful slide deck without any special design skills. Start from scratch or create your slides using predefined pitch deck templates.

https://slidebean.com/

Offers a wide range of design tools and templates for creating professional pitch decks. The free version includes limited features, while the paid plans start at $12/month.

This pitch deck design app is great for startups and entrepreneurs who need to create a pitch deck quickly. The basic plan starts at $12/month (billed annually) but there is a 14-day free trial.

https://www.beautiful.ai/

The tools provided by Pitch allow you to quickly produce a high-quality pitch. Even if you’re not a designer, you can create a strong pitch deck that looks great. The basic plan is free, but you’ll need to upgrade to the paid plans for more features.

https://pitch.com/

While these design tools can be extremely powerful, it still pays to follow the same basic guidelines to ensure that your pitch deck is easy for investors to understand; Keep it simple, avoid animation, stick to a consistent layout, and make sure your text and images are easy to read.

When you’re trying to capture investors’ attention and raise equity funding, you need to show them that you have a good plan. But startups aren’t traditional businesses and they don’t use traditional business plans.

like the Holy Grail, the business plan remains largely unattainable and mythological. Most experts wouldn’t agree, but a business plan is of limited usefulness for a startup because entrepreneurs base so much of their plans on assumptions, “visions,” and unknowns. Guy Kawasaki

This is why pitch decks are the perfect approach to sharing a startup business plan.

Fundamentally, your pitch deck is used to share your vision, attract investors, and start conversations. As a founder, you should be prepared for investors who may not “get” your pitch deck right away — this doesn’t mean that they aren’t interested in what you’re doing.

Be prepared to answer questions and have an engaging conversation about your startup. Investors want to see that you have a clear understanding of your business, the problem you’re solving, and how you plan on making money. They also want to know that you’re capable of executing your vision.

Remember, pitch decks are just one part of the overall investment process. If you’re able to create a pitch deck that effectively communicates your idea and leaves investors wanting more, then you’re on the right track!

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The Secret to Pitching Your Business Plan in Just 10 Minutes This outline breaks down a business plan pitch minute by minute so you can stay on topic and build the necessary interest and excitement.

By Mike Moyer • Apr 1, 2022

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Delivering a good pitch is as much about conveying emotion as conveying information. If you get the opportunity to pitch in front of a live audience , both of those objectives should be top of mind. The phrase, "They don't care what you know until they know that you care," is sage advice and is the basis for starting a 10-minute pitch.

Startups are hard work. If you do not particularly care about the market or the problem you are solving, you may bail out when the going gets tough. Investors need to know this is more than just a business.

Related: 4 Powerful Communication Strategies to Win Any Sales Pitch

Minute 1: Personal Introduction

Let the audience know that you, personally, care about the people and the problem you are trying to solve. Use the word "I" instead of "we." I know you are representing your team and your company, but for now concentrate on establishing your passion and commitment. Tell a quick, personal story about how you stumbled upon the business you are pursuing and what made you realize it was where you wanted to focus most of your waking hours.

Your slide(s) should be simple. They are just there as a backdrop to your opening monologue and should make you look good. I, personally, like to show photos of me and/or customers experiencing the problem first-hand. The focus should be on you and your message.

Step forward to the audience, make gentle eye contact and engage them on a personal level as much as you can. The goal is for them to trust you, have confidence in you and to like you.

Transition out of the personal introduction into the overview of the problem you are trying to solve. Your job is to describe the problem as one that goes well beyond just you and your experience. A nice phrase is, "When I started looking around, I realized that I'm not the only one with X problem. Lots and lots of other people have it too!"

Minute 2: The Problem

Remember to keep an emotional appeal included in your description of the problem. People with this problem are: struggling, irritated, angry, disenfranchised? Keep human emotions real. Break down the problem into its component parts accompanied by a diagram.

Your slides during this minute are simply visual aids that help explain the problem. Like in the introduction, photos can express the human factor, but diagrams can help explain how the problem is experienced by people.

Keep close to the audience and help them empathize with those who experience the problem. As you move into the solution, physically back away from the audience, smile and spread out your arms to make bigger gestures. Your job is to bring up the excitement level in the room.

Related: 4 Ways Emotional Intelligence Can Improve Your Sales

Minute 3: The Solution

At this point, you are going to maximize the crescendo. Show excitement and passion for your businesses solution. Transition to "we" instead of just "I." Walk the audience not only through how the solution works, but also through the great benefits of the solution.

You need to position your body in front of the room and make it as big and bright as you can with big arm movements, a bright smile, confident voice and lots of eye contact. The audience should begin to share your excitement for your business.

Your slides are visual aids and diagrams. They should contain little to no text. Keep them simple as possible as complexity will only suck the energy out of the room. You don't have to explain everything your company does, just the main points. Remember, you only have 10 minutes.

It's good to show images or screenshots of existing products or beta releases and other hard evidence of your execution, but overexplaining the solution will make the presentation less compelling, and it will take too long. You want to leave the audience wanting more.

Once you have your audience feeling great about the solution, it is time to talk money.

Minute 4: Business Model

There are several money-related topics you'll need to touch on during your pitch, including how you'll make money, how much money you will make and how much money you will need. Keep these parts separate so they are easier to digest.

Now is the time to tell the audience how you will make money. There are literally dozens of possible business models, including selling the product, selling a subscription, taking a processing fee, licensing and so on. Explain how you are going to charge people for the solution you are offering.

On your slide is an outline of the customer unit economics for your chosen business model — the price they will pay and basic terms of a typical contract. Explain how you will "do the deal" with customers. Whenever you show numbers, stand close to your presentation screen and point to the numbers you are talking about. Numbers are hard to follow. Pointing as you talk will help people stay engaged.

If the business model is attractive, as it should be, you will have to explain who else is going after the customer's money.

Related: Tips to Follow When Re-Fitting Your Business Model to the New Normal

Minute 5: The Competition

There's no such thing as a business without competition, and implying that you have none is a major red flag for investors and even potential partners or customers. Whatever problem you are going after is being addressed somehow, maybe not very well, but people experiencing the problem are trying to solve it, and the resources they access to cobble together a solution is where you will define your competition.

The key here is not to avoid the notion that competition exists, but how your company is different . The existence of competition validates the market. Do not talk about how you are "better," focus on "different." Your attitude towards the competition gives the audience a peek into your business soul. Are you dutifully respectful of their presences and power or are you arrogant and naïve enough to think your little startup will have no problem beating them? Err on the side of humility.

Your slides should depict your differences from the main competitors. Feature comparisons or positioning charts , for instance, can be effective tools. Many of the questions you will get from the audience will stem from what you say during this minute of your pitch.

Be clear and respectful before you transition to your sales and marketing plan.

Minute 6: Sales and Marketing

During you description of the competition, you struck a respectful tone. It's now time to amp up the room again as you talk about how many potential customers are out there and how you're going to get them. Show excitement and confidence as you walk the audience through the market data, your chosen point of entry and your communication strategy.

Slides will depict data, charts, and graphs which you will want to point to as you explain. Images of web sites, brochures, trade show booths in action, etc. are fair game here, too, and will help build excitement in room.

It is important to tie your sales and marketing plans together so it doesn't look like you are shooting a scatter gun of one-off tactics. Show the logic and flow of lead generation to final sale and how your team plans to take the prospects through the buying process and into the customer experience.

End this minute by translating the marketing sizzle into numbers. It is time to talk about money again!

Minute 7: Money

Earlier, you explained how the business is going to make money. Now, it's time to tell the audience how much money you are going to make. This is the good part. Your description of the deal shows the unit economics of a single customer (price), and your market description shows how many potential deals are out there (quantity). Armed with this information, you can describe how revenue builds over time.

Break it down for the audience. Show income and expenses in graphical format. Nothing beats a good bar chart, and pretty much anything beats a screenshot of a spreadsheet. Back up to your presentation slide and point to information like the weatherperson points to a weather map on TV.

Keep the tone upbeat and engaging. You'll want to exude as much confidence as you can. To this end, avoid showing different scenarios in your forecast. Pick the scenario that you think is most likely to happen, and be prepared to defend your assumptions.

To make the business believable, the audience will now need to meet your team.

Minute 8: The Team

It may seem a little strange to wait until towards the end of your pitch to introduce your team, but waiting has benefits. It's important to introduce your team in the context of the business so the audience understands why it is what it is. If you introduce the team upfront, you will have to circle back to describe their roles later, which wastes time and can get redundant. A 10-minute pitch must eliminate redundancy.

As you introduce the key players on the team, you can highlight what function they will perform and brag (yes, brag) about how great they are at their function and how lucky you are to be working with them. Talk about yourself with humility, and talk about your team like they are the best team in the world.

Rather than showing headshots and bullet points, show images of the team in action or in a group. You want to make sure the audience sees a team , not a collection of individuals.

Next, you will explain the great work this great team has accomplished!

Minute 9: Proof of Concept/Traction

A team without results isn't much more than a cocktail party. To get investors or customers, you need to show results. What has the team accomplished? Have they launched an MVP? Does the company have revenue? Are the customers happy?

The more traction you can show, the better. This, more than just about any other minute of your pitch, will demonstrate your team's ability to pull off this business in the real world. Display customer testimonials and read them out loud. Show pictures of your solutions in action. Maximize the excitement in your voice and facial expression. You're almost at the end of your pitch, so be sure leave it on a high note!

You have one minute left. It's time to ask for the money.

Minute 10: Ask

Assuming you are pitching your business for the purpose of raising money, you will spend the last minute asking for it. By now, your audience has everything they need to know if they are interested, or not, in working with you. You must paint a clear picture of what you need from the audience and what investing with you will look like.

Investors want their money to be used for growth, not exploration. Show them that everything is in place to grow, you just need to fan the flames.

Many founders aren't sure how much money they will need and to what terms they will be willing to accept. They are keen to keep things open-ended. In my experience, however, investors want a starting point. Give it to them.

You already showed them how much you are expecting to make. This financial objective is based on many assumptions, not the least of which is how much outside funding will be required to execute the plan. Break it down for the investor. Do you want one main investor or a number of smaller investors?

If, for instance, you are raising $1 million, you could break it into 10 chunks of $100,000 each and say, "We are raising $1 million from up to ten investors in $100,000 units in exchange for a convertible note. How many units do you want?" Your slides can show the breakdown and the high-level terms of the note. This makes the deal easy to understand. An interested investor will not walk away from the deal based on your initial offer, they will counteroffer, and you'll be off to the negotiating table — mission accomplished!

Express enthusiasm for their participation in your business. Keep the energy levels high.

The trick to delivering a compelling 10-minute pitch is to let the story flow logically and to avoid repeating yourself. It's not logical, for instance, to introduce the team before anyone knows what kind of team is needed. Likewise, it's not logical to talk about progress and traction before talking about how the business works.

Each topic in the above outline neatly flows into the next, allowing you to build your story and maintain the energy level in the room. A good pitch lets the story unfold naturally and doesn't force things together. In this pitch, you may notice that there is no "money" or "financial" section. Making money is simply part of the flow of the story, so it is touched on multiple times during the pitch.

Perfecting the pitch means practicing the pitch. It's much more than what you say. It's also about when you say it and how you say it.

Related: Why You Need a Million-Dollar Pitch Before Your Start a Business

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Business Pitching Guide — Elevator Pitch, Pitch Deck, & More

2 min. read

Updated January 4, 2024

Can you describe the value of your business in just a few sentences? Do you have a story for why you started in the first place? If not, then you need to work on your business pitch.

In many ways, the pitch is your passport to funding. It’s more than just a speech and a fancy PowerPoint—it’s a story that needs to resonate, convince, and compel. Crafting a quick but captivating elevator pitch, designing a pitch deck, facing investors; these aren’t just tasks, they’re opportunities on your path to business growth.

This comprehensive pitching guide will ease you through the process, offer tried-and-true strategies, and help you better understand what makes a good pitch. We’ll delve into alternative methods, show you how to shine in pitch competitions and share the secrets of winning over investors.

It’s time to pitch with confidence.

• Guide to pitching your business

There are many ways to pitch your business and different aspects of the pitch you’ll need to nail. Check out the resources below for in-depth guides on developing an elevator pitch, creating a pitch deck, and participating in pitch competitions.

How to craft the perfect business pitch

You have very little time to convince potential investors that your idea is worth funding. That’s why you need to create, practice, and refine your presentation until you have a tight and captivating elevator pitch.

How to create your pitch deck

While it’s crucial that you nail what you say during an investor pitch, it’s just as vital to have something to show. Learn how to transform your business plan into a visual deck that compliments your verbal pitch.

Business plan and pitch competitions

A great way to practice your pitch is by participating in business plan pitch competitions. Learn the basics and how to successfully win one of these events.

• Elevator pitch and pitch deck resources

Resources and templates to help you successfully pitch your business idea.

Free investor pitch deck template

Visualize your business pitch and wow investors with this free pitch deck template.

Download Template

Pitch deck example gallery

Check out our library of industry-specific business pitch examples to help inspire your own presentation.

Explore Pitch Decks

Free business plan template

Back up your pitch with a detailed and investor-ready business plan. Get started with our fill-in-the-blank business plan template.

Pitch and plan with a single powerful tool

Create and share your investor-ready plan, pitch, and financial forecasts with LivePlan.

Create a business plan that maximizes your chances of securing funding

Kody Wirth is a content writer and SEO specialist for Palo Alto Software—the creator's of Bplans and LivePlan. He has 3+ years experience covering small business topics and runs a part-time content writing service in his spare time.

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30+ Best Pitch Deck Examples, Tips & Templates

By Ryan McCready , Jul 04, 2023

A startup is, by definition, a fast-growing company. And to grow you need funding.

Enter the pitch deck.

Haven’t created a winning pitch deck before? No worries. You’ll find a ton of pre-made pitch deck templates and designs inspired by the examples throughout.

Then, use Venngage’s Presentation Maker to easily edit the templates — no technical expertise required.

A well-designed pitch deck is vital to convincing investors that your company has massive growth potential, so you can get the resources you need to scale.

In this post, we’ll look at the best startup pitch deck examples from heavy-hitters such as Guy Kawasaki, Airbnb, Uber and Facebook. We’ll also uncover the secrets of their successful startup pitch decks, and how you can leverage them to attract investor dollars, bring on new business partners and win new client contracts.

 Table of contents (click to jump ahead):

• What is a pitch deck?

What is the purpose of a pitch deck?

What makes a good pitch deck, best pitch deck examples & sample pitch deck templates, what is the difference between a pitch deck vs business plan, pitch deck faq, create a pitch deck in 4 easy steps, what is a pitch deck .

A pitch deck is a presentation created to raise venture capital for your business. In order to gain buy-in and drum up financial support from potential investors, these presentations outline everything from why your business exists, to your business model, progress or milestones , your team, and a call-to-action.

The best startup pitch decks can help you:

• Prove the value of your business
• Simplify complex ideas so your audience can understand them (and get on board)
• Differentiate your business from competitors
• Tell the story behind your company to your target audience (and make that story exciting)

What is a pitch deck presentation?

A pitch deck presentation is a slideshow that introduces a business idea, product, or service to investors. Typically consisting of 10–20 slides, a pitch deck is used to persuade potential investors to provide funding for a business. It serves as a comprehensive overview of your company, outlining your business model, the problem you solve, the market opportunity you address, your key team members, and your financial projections.

The purpose of a pitch deck presentation can be to generate interest, secure funding, form partnerships or gain clients. A well-crafted pitch deck can greatly support a pitch deck presentation by effectively conveying the key messages, engaging the audience , and enhancing the overall impact of the presentation.

Great. Now let’s take a look at the elements of a good pitch deck.

To summarize, some of my favorite pitch deck design tips include:

• Adding icon headers to your most important insights
• Use similar charts and graphs for easy comparisons across slides
• For longer pitch decks, switch up the slide layouts
• Pick a consistent theme for your presentation background images
• Don’t just list your ideal users, create visual personas
• Use a timeline to show how your company has grown
• Always do the math for your audience

Now let’s take a look at some of the best startup pitch deck examples out there. 

1.  Sequoia capital pitch deck

How much did they raise? Sequoia Capital is actually a Venture Capital firm. According to TechCrunch , they’ve raised almost $1B for later-stage U.S. investments.

Key takeaway : “If you can’t tell the story of the company in five minutes, then you’re either overthinking it or you haven’t simplified it down enough.” – Mike Vernal, Sequoia Capital

VC firm Sequoia Capital has its own  10-slide pitch deck format to rival Guy Kawasaki’s famous example that we’ll take a look at a little later on. Its highly-curated, clarified format shines a spotlight on innovative ideas.

As the video above suggests, effectively communicating your mission, not just listing features, is key. Below is our take on the Sequoia Capital pitch deck example; you’ll find it clean, clear and easy to create.

Design tip : Click the blue background and select a new color from our color wheel (or one of your own brand colors via My Brand Kit, available with Venngage for Business ) to create a pitch deck with your branding.

Related:  How to Make Successful Financial Pitch Decks For Startups

Blue and pink iconics pitch deck

Ready to try it for yourself? Add a pop of color to your version of the Sequoia pitch deck template with this pink and blue slide deck. The contrasting colors will make your information stand out.

2. Airbnb pitch deck

How much did they raise?  $20k at three months and $600k at eight months (seed), according to Vator .

Key takeaway: A large marketplace, impressive rate of traction and a market ready for a new competitor are the factors which made Airbnb stand out early on, says Fast Company. The organization’s slide deck clearly demonstrates these points.

Your pitch deck should explain the core information in your business plan in a simple and straightforward way. Few startups have done this as well as Airbnb.

We’ve re-designed Airbnb’s famous deck as two light and airy sample pitch deck templates. The focus here is on engaging visuals, with minimal text used.

Airbnb fundraising slide deck

This type of deck is also called a demo day presentation .  Since its going to be viewed from a distance by investors while you present, you don’t need lots of text to get your message across. The point is to complement your speech, not distract from it.

Another great thing about Airbnb’s fundraising slide deck format is that every slide has a maximum of three sections of information:

As one of the most popular presentation layouts , the rule of three design principle has been drilled into my head. And for good reason!

Here’s one of the slides that demonstrates why this pitch deck design tip works:

VIDEO TUTORIAL:  Learn how to customize this pitch deck template by watching this quick 8-minute video.

Minimalist Airbnb pitch deck template

This simple sample pitch deck template is clean and incredibly easy to customize, making it perfect for presentation newbies.

Don’t forget to insert your own tagline instead of the famous “Book rooms with locals, rather than hotels” slogan. Hint: your tagline should similarly convey what your business offers. Airbnb’s pitch deck offers up tantalizing benefits: cost savings, an insider’s perspective on a location and new possibilities.

Design tip : Click the text boxes in our online editor and add your own words to the pitch decks. Duplicate slides you like, or delete the ones you don’t.

Related:  How to Create an Effective Pitch Deck Design [+Examples]

3. Uber pitch deck

How much did they raise? $1.57M in seed funding in 2010, reports Business Insider .

Key takeaway : Successful pitch decks clearly highlight the key pain point (the inefficiency of cabs) and a tantalizing solution (fast, convenient 1-click ordering).

Uber co-founder Garrett Camp shared the company’s very first pitch deck from 2008 via a  Medium post .

While there’s a surprising amount of text, it still manages to hit on every major part of their business plan succinctly — including key differentiators, use cases and best/worst-case scenarios.

Want something similar? We’ve updated the classic Uber pitch deck template with a sharp layout:

Uber investor deck

Many of the best pitch deck presentations out there are rather brief, only covering a few main points across a handful of slides. But sometimes your deck needs to provide more information.

There’s nothing wrong with having a longer investor pitch deck, as long as you switch up the slide layouts throughout — no one wants to see basically the same slide (just with different metrics or points) 25 times over.

This sample pitch deck template we created based on the infamous Uber deck has 20 or more slides and a diversity of layout options:

Design tip : Replace the photos with your own or browse our in-editor library with thousands of free professional stock images. To do so, double click any image to open our “replace” feature. Then, search for photos by keyword.

Blue Uber slide deck

In this navy version of the Uber pitch deck template, we’ve added bright colors and creative layouts.

Again, it’s easy to swap out the icons in our online editor. Choose from thousands of free icons in our in-editor library to make it your own.

Related : 9 Tips for Improving Your Presentation Skills For Your Next Meeting

4. Guy Kawasaki pitch deck

How much did they raise?  Guy Kawasaki’s Garage Capital raised more than $315 million dollars for its clients, according to one estimate .

Key takeaway : Avoid in-depth technical discussions in your pitch deck. Focus on the pain point you’re solving, how you’ll solve it, how you’ll make money and how you’ll reach custvomers.

Guy Kawasaki’s 10 slide outline is famous for its laser focus. He’s renowned for coining the 10/20/30 rule : 10 slides, 20 minutes and no fonts smaller than 30 point.

While you may be tempted to include as much of your business plan as possible in your pitch deck, his outline forces you to tease out your most important content and engage investors or clients within a short time span.

We’re recreated his famous outline in two winning templates you can adapt and make your own:

Gradient Guy Kawasaki pitch deck

This clean pitch deck template has all the sections you need and nothing you don’t.

Kawasaki’s format steers you towards what venture capitalists really care about : problem/solution, technology, competition, marketing plan, your team, financial projections and timeline.

Read our blog post on persuasive presentations for more design and speaking tips.

Design tip : Quickly add in charts and graphs with our in-editor chart maker. You can even import data from Excel or Google sheets.

Blue Guy Kawasaki pitch deck

This more conservative pitch deck template design keeps all the focus on the core information.

Remember: opt for a 30-point font or larger. This will force you to stick to your key points and explain them clearly. Anything smaller, and you’ll risk losing your audience — especially if they’re busy reading while tuning out what you’re actually saying.

5. Buffer pitch deck

How much did they raise?  $500k, according to Buffer’s co-founder Leo Widrich .

Key takeaway : The traction slide was key for Buffer: it showed they had a great product/market fit. If you have great traction, it’s much easier to raise funding.

What’s interesting about Buffer’s pitching process was the issue of competition, as that’s where many talks stalled. Investors became confused, since the social media landscape looked crowded and no one was sure how Buffer differed.

Eventually, they created this slide to clear the air:

To be frank, I’m still confused by this addition to the Buffer pitch deck, but perhaps their presentation would have cleared things up.

In any case, we’ve recreated Buffer’s pitch deck with its own traction, timeline and competitor slides, plus a clean new layout and some easy-to-customize icons:

Design tip : don’t forget to add a contact slide at the end of your pitch deck, like in the business pitch example below.

Because sometimes you’re going to pitch to a small room of investors. Other times, it will be to an auditorium full of random people in your industry. And I can guarantee that not everyone is going to know your brand off the top of their head.

You should make it extremely easy for people to find out more info or contact your team with any questions. I would recommend adding this to the last slide, as shown below.

Alternatively, you could add it to the slide that will be seen the longest in your pitch deck, like the title slide. This will help anyone interested write down your information as event organizers get things ready.

Related:  Creating a Pitch Deck? 5 Ways to Design a Winner

6. Facebook pitch deck

How much did they raise? $500K in angel funding from venture capitalist Peter Thiel (first round).

Key takeaway : If you don’t have revenue traction yet, lean heavily on other metrics , like customer base, user engagement and growth.  Use a timeline to tell a story about your company.

The best pitch decks tell the real story about your company or brand. You should not only want to sell the audience on your product but also on the hard work you’ve done building it from the ground up.

Design tip: Try data visualizations to relay a company or product timeline . Since people are familiar with the format and know how to read them quickly, you can convey the information impactfully and save room while you’re at it.

Here, Facebook’s classic pitch deck shows the incredible schools that’ve already signed on and describe when future launches will happen.

The sample pitch deck template featured below shows another example of a company or product timeline . This would have been a great fit in the Facebook pitch deck, don’t you think?

Plus you can summarize a ton of information about your brand on a single slide. Check out how well the timeline fits into this pitch deck template below:

If the designer wouldn’t have used a timeline, the same information could have been spread over five or six extra slides! Luckily, Venngage’s timeline maker can help you visualize progress across a period of time without any design experience required.

7. TikTok Pitch Deck

How much did they raise? $150.4M in funding in 2014 (back when TikTok was called Musical.ly), says Crunchbase .

Key takeaway : Use icons as visual anchors for written information.

(The full slide deck is available to Digiday subscribers , though you can view some of the key slides in this Medium post . Keep in mind: this TikTok pitch deck was created for potential advertisers, not investors. No other TikTok pitch decks are publicly available.)

What TikTok does really well in the above example is use icons as visual anchors for their stats. (I could write a whole article about using icons in your presentations correctly. There are so many ways you can use them to upgrade your slides.)

If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, just look at the slide deck template below.

Each of the main points has an icon that gives instant visual context about what the stat is about to the audience. These icons draw the eye immediately to these important facts and figures as well.

Design tip: Remember to use icons that have a similar style and color palette. Otherwise, you run the risk of them becoming a distraction.

8. Y Combinator pitch deck

How much did they raise? This startup accelerator has invested in over 3,500 startups to date, according to the company website . They state their combined valuation nears $1 trillion.

Key takeaway : Create clear, concise pitch deck slides that tell a story investors can understand in seconds.

The classic Y Combinator pitch deck is incredibly simple, and for good reason. Seed stage companies can’t provide much detail, so they should focus on telling a story about their company.

That means your slides should tell a story investors can immediately understand in a glance.

Note that one of Y Combinator’s key components is the problem (above) and solution (below) slides.

Explaining how your startup is going to solve a pain point is a vital part of any slide deck. According to Y Combinator , startups should use the problem slide to show the problem your business solves, and how this problem currently affects businesses and/or people. Additionally, if you’re starting a new startup, forming an LLC could be a great choice to launch your business in the right direction.

Without that information, investors are going to be left with more questions than answers.

The solution slide should show the real-world benefits of your product/service. I recommend using data visualization to show traction, like the chart above, with a couple of notes for context.

To ensure your problem and solutions slides are easily understood, use a similar layout for both, as shown below.

This will help the audience quickly recall the main problem you want to solve, and connect it to your solution (even if the slides are separated by a few other points or ideas).

9. Front pitch deck

How much did they raise ? $10M in Series A funding

Key takeaway : Use a simple flowchart to visualize a problem your product/service solves.

Not everyone is going to be able to explain their problem and solution as succinctly as the previous examples. Some will need to take a unique approach to get their point across.

That’s why I want to highlight how Front masterfully communicated the problem to be solved. They likely realized it would be a lot easier (and cleaner) to create a flow chart that visualizes the problem instead of text. (Did I mention you can make your own flowcharts with Venngage?)

Also, I really like how they distilled each down to a single phrase. That approach, combined with the visuals, will help it stick in investors’ minds as one of the best pitch decks.

Here’s another example pitch deck that uses a chart to convey their problem/solution:

It splits the competition slide right down the middle to illustrate the differences. It also shows exactly how the processes differ between the two entities using mini flowcharts.

Helping the audience make the right conclusions about your company should be an important part of your pitch deck strategy. Without saying a word, the visual choices you make can greatly impact your message.

10. Crema pitch deck

How much did they raise? $175K in seed funding .

Key takeaway : Choose background images carefully — making sure they have a similar color palette.

The best pitch decks keep things consistent, mainly because there are so many moving parts in any presentation. You want each of your slides to feel like they’re connected by a singular feeling or theme. An out-of-place presentation background image can throw that off.

Keeping things consistent when you use a solid background color or pattern isn’t hard. But things can get tricky if you want to use different photos for your backgrounds.

However, if you pick presentation background images that have a similar color palette, you’ll be fine. Check out the images Crema used in their startup pitch deck below:

If you’re struggling to find exactly the same colored photos, you can use a color filter to make things more uniform.

11. WeWork pitch deck

How much did they raise? $6.9M in seed funding in 2011, says Crunchbase .

Key takeaway : Put your metrics on display.

The behemoths at WeWork still have one of the best software pitch decks, despite recent troubles (layoffs, and a valuation that dropped from $47 billion to $2.9 billion).

In fact, this investor pitch deck actually helped them raise money at a $5 billion valuation.

My favorite thing from this is how their key metrics are on the second slide. They waste no time getting down to business!

A lot of the time brands hide these metrics at the end of their presentation, but WeWork made sure to put it front and center in their slide deck.

This approach puts the audience in a positive state of mind, helping them be more receptive to the pitch.

12. Crew (Dribble) pitch deck

How much did they raise? $2M in seed funding

Key takeaway : Start your presentation with a simple statement to set the tone.

Sometimes you have to set the mood of the room before you jump into your slide deck. A simple way to do this is by adding a powerful statement or famous quote at the beginning of your slides.

This may sound cliche, but the creatives over at Crew (now Dribbble ) used this approach well in their pitch presentation.

By claiming that every business is an online business, they instantly change the way that people think about the business sector.

Additionally, the designers used this straightforward statement to set up the rest of the presentation. In the next few slides, the potential market is explained. Without the statement, I don’t think these numbers would be as impactful.

Let’s take a look at the graphs and charts the Dribble team used in their slide deck. In the below business pitch example, you can see that the line charts use the same color palette, size, and typography.

One of my favorite tips from my presentation ideas roundup article states you should never make the audience do the math.

You can also use this mantra when you’re adding data visualizations to your slides. Make each slide extra easy to consume, as well as, easy to compare to other visualizations.

Below the pie charts use the exact same color palette, size, and typography as well:

If the designers would have used a different example, the audience would be distracted trying to decipher the information.

But consistent design across multiple visualizations will ensure your audience can make comparisons that lead to the right conclusions.

Pro Tip: You can use a comparison infographic to summarize key points you’re comparing.

13. Aspire Food Group pitch deck

How much did they raise? $1M from the Hult Prize in 2013 to scale their project.

Key takeaway : Simple graphics clearly illustrate the problem (food security), the size of the market and Aspire’s unique farming project (spoiler alert: it’s insects).

Nonprofits pitching donors or social enterprises pitching for funding have a slightly different challenge than other organizations. They need to present a unique solution and  make an emotional connection to their audience.

Aspire’s simple pitch deck graphics allow investors to grasp their unique business idea at a glance. Plus, by introducing the audience to one of their customers and describing how insect farming has impacted her food budget, the concept is made relatable to many.

Another simple design hack is to choose a unique background for your nonprofit or social enterprise pick deck. Take this sample pitch deck template:

There are millions of stock photos out there for you to pick from, so finding one that will work shouldn’t be too hard.

However, when you’re picking your presentation background images , it’s important to make sure it matches your message or brand.

In the above example, the pitch deck’s slightly crumpled paper background fits an eco-friendly startup well.   Especially because eco-friendly living and minimalism share similar tenants.

Another great example is this sponsorship pitch deck above. It elevates the message by opting for a simplistic background choice.

With a beautiful yet minimalistic slide deck like this, who wouldn’t want to donate?

Most of the time your pitch deck background images are supposed to be used in a supporting role. However, you can also design your presentation around the background images to create some of the best pitch decks out there.

As you can see in this pitch deck template, we added written content to the white space in each of the stock photos:

Plus no one can really copy your pitch deck layout, so you will instantly stand out from other companies.

Be sure to pick photos that share the same color palette and theme. Otherwise, the benefits of using these presentation backgrounds will be lost.

14. Mattermark pitch deck

How much did they raise? A total of $17.2M so far, says Crunchbase .

Key takeaway : Use screenshots in your pitch deck to show the problem you’re solving.

Highlighting digital problems is tough when you have limited space and time…like when you’re pitching your new digital product to a room full of investors.

That’s why some of the best pitch decks include screenshots of the problem being solved.

As you can see above, the people from Mattermark used screenshots to show how unorganized SAAS reporting was. At that time it was spread over a ton of different sites, with different reporting standards and values.

It would be difficult to sell an investor on their product just by talking about the market. Mainly because not a lot of people have experience in that specific niche.

But with a handful of screenshots, they were able to highlight the product potential almost instantly.

In terms of design, the team at Mattermark stuck to the rule of three (see slide below). This rule will help you keep your team from overwhelming the audience with a flood of stats or figures.

They also decided to make these figures easier to consume by highlighting them in different colors

Compared to a boring list of figures, it’s a lot easier to remember three distinct colored numbers. Plus because the background colors darken as they go, it naturally guides the reader’s eyes down the slide.

15. Dwolla pitch deck

How much did they raise? $12M in funding as of 2018.

Key takeaway : Give the reason your company was founded in one quick sentence.

In many of our own presentations, we talk about how Venngage started from humble beginnings before undergoing tremendous growth in just a few years.

That’s because people love origin stories — they help your audience connect with your brand and appreciate all the work put into it.

Take a look at the pitch deck slide from Dwolla above. In a single sentence, they outline their reason for doing business, and what they hope to solve.

Just be sure to talk about your company founding in the first few slides of your pitch. Otherwise, it won’t have the same impact.

On another note, as a design company, we always love to see people create great visualizations in their pitch decks — particularly when these visuals communicate key information well….like when it comes to your ideal users!

I have seen a lot of brands just talk about their users, but I recommend creating visual user personas instead. Our persona guides can help you with this!

As you can see above, Dwolla visualized their user personas for each use case.

These visual user personas allow audiences to put a “real” face to your user base. And if you have many ideal users (like Dwolla), it helps keep each group organized.

16. Kickfolio (App.io) pitch deck 

How much did they raise? $1M in seed funding.

Key takeaway : Go for huge graphs! The bigger, the better.

Be proud of your brand’s growth and metrics in your slide deck.

You worked hard to grow a company from nothing, and that’s a big achievement! So why would you want to make that growth hard to see?

However, I’ve seen a lot of people inadvertently hide their key metrics by using small graphs or charts.

The only solution to this problem is…get bigger with your graphs! And I mean huge, like the ones App.io deployed in the pitch deck above. Their graph is so large and imposing, every audience member could see it clearly.

Venngage’s  graph maker can help you do this for your own pitch decks too.

17. Yalochat pitch deck

How much did they raise? $15M in Series B funding, says TechCrunch.

Key takeaway : Use icons as illustrations to add instant context.

Icons have been making a comeback in the design world over the past few years. According to recent reports on graphic design trends , they’ll continue to be popular.

This presentation from Yalochat is one of the best examples of how to use illustrated icons correctly.

Each icon perfectly illustrates the point being made on each slide, giving instant context. They will definitely catch the eyes of any audience member.

Just remember to follow their lead and  use consistently designed icons !

18. Brex pitch deck

How much did they raise? $1.5 billion to date.

Key takeaway : Include a single slide about your team and highlight what makes them truly exceptional.

Another important part of your story is the people who helped you build your company. These people are the lifeblood of your brand, and what helps it stand out from the competitors.

Corporate card startup Brex does this well by using team member photos, and including their titles and company affiliations to build credibility. You can download the Brex slides for free, thanks to Business Insider .

Let’s tale a look at a sample pitch deck that employs a similar philosophy.

I’m guessing you already planned on adding something similar to your pitch deck. Again, I would recommend using only a single team slide like they did.

You can use a team photo if you want to talk about the whole team, or add an organizational chart instead. Alternatively, like Brex, you can highlight the most important individuals, like this business pitch example:

Whatever you choose to do, don’t forget to talk about your team on a team slide, and highlight the people who make your company truly great.

Read More:  12+ Organizational Chart Examples and Templates

19. Purple Go pitch deck

How much did they raise? Undisclosed.

Key takeaway : Use a contrasting hue to draw your audience’s attention to key information.

Color isn’t just about making your designs look good — it can also draw your audience’s attention to important information.

For example, take a look at this simple pitch deck from Purple Go . They contrast deep purple with white to help certain sentences pop.

This is a simple way to make your slides have a lot of impact; pick colors that contrast boldly with each other.

20. Mint pitch deck

How much did they raise? $31M to date, according to Mint.

Key takeaway : Add visual cues, such as illustrations and icons, to help explain your brand to investors.

I’m guessing your pitch deck is already going to touch on how you stand out from the competition. But just listing a few things that set you apart may not be enough on your slide deck!

You may need to add some visual cues to help the audience out.

We decided to redesign Mint’s original deck for a contemporary take on this.

In this minimalist pitch deck template, our designers used visuals to make the main company stand out even more. And best of all, it doesn’t distract from the minimalist theme.

This simple addition to your slides will help your information jump off the page, providing a rewarding visual break from related companies.

21. Park Evergreen (Plot) pitch deck

How much did they raise? $400k in seed funding.

Key takeaway : Give each metric its own slide.

Generally, slide decks are full of important metrics that you’re supposed to remember. But not all of those numbers are presented in a way that would make them easy to.

Some are hidden in long paragraphs, while others are smashed together with less important findings.

That’s why I’m a huge fan of how Park Evergreen (now called Plot ) included important numbers in this slide deck. As you can see below, each metric is given its own slide:

With this approach, the audience members place their full attention on that number. And they’ll be able to recall the information a lot quicker.

It may look overly simple to some, but the best pitch decks use this tactic a lot.

22. Hampton Creek (Eat Just) pitch deck

How much did they raise? $1.5M in Series A.

Key takeaway : Create a minimalist title slide to build anticipation for your presentation.

You probably know that presentations don’t always run as smoothly as planned. With long breaks and technical problems, the time between presentations can end up running rather long.

Translation: you might spend more time looking at the title slide than the actual presentation itself.

So if you really want to build some anticipation for your pitch, create a minimalist (some might even say, mysterious) title slide. As you can see, the team at Eat Just (once known as Hampton Creek) did just that.

The lack of information makes spectators want to learn more about your brand, effortlessly engaging them.

The only negative is that no one is going to know the name of your company — yet.

23. Sickweather pitch deck

How much did they raise? $2.6M to date, according to Crunchbase.

Key takeaway : Pull out the main metrics from your graphs and charts to make your slide a snap to understand.

Remember when I said: “Don’t make your audience do the math”?

Yeah. That’s because people hate doing math — so you never want to make investors try to calculate your data themselves. Especially when dealing with millions of dollars, tiny percent changes or other complicated numbers.

Out of all the tips in this article, this one might be the most important. Mainly because forgetting this idea all but guarantees your failure.

That’s why I recommend you “do the math” on every slide where you include a graph or chart — like how Sickweather did above.

By pulling out the main growth metrics from the graph, they made this slide a lot more consumable, and showed the audience exactly what they should pay attention to.

24. Dutchie pitch deck

How much did they raise? $35M in 2020, according to TechCrunch .

Key takeaway : Set the tone by putting your most impressive stat(s) in the introduction.

Dutchie, an all-in-one technology platform for eCommerce, POS and payments, wastes no time coming out the gates with one impressive insight: “10% of all legal cannabis in the world” is purchased through their product.

Now I don’t know about you, but that’s pretty tantalizing.

So it makes perfect sense they would pull it out from their market share figures and feature it in their introduction. By doing so, investors get an idea how successful and established Dutchie is right off the bat.

25. Studysmarter pitch deck

How much did they raise?  $15M according to TechCrunch .

Key takeaway : Illustrate your vision over several slides.

Rather than dedicate one slide to their vision for the company, digital learning company Studysmarter continuously brings up how their product will be understood in the future — as “the world’s central hub” for “lifelong” learning, becoming the “largest learning platform in Europe” by 2021.

While this visionary sentiment is not new to the pitch deck industry, it makes sense Studysmarter would want to focus much of their presentation slide deck on this idea: the idea of an unlimited target market and use cases.

Design wise, their illustrations are consistent, using visuals to illustrate their message and various target demographics.

These graphics build off the sleek, modern interface Studysmarter’s brand image invokes. It also illustrates what they want investors to envision for the future of the brand.

26. Clearbanc (Clearco) Pitch Deck

How much did they raise? $70M in series A funding, according to TechCrunch.

Key takeaway : Use flow charts to communicate complicated processes.

As a company that offers startups “growth capital for the new economy” through non-dilutive revenue-share agreements, Clearco (previously known as Clearbanc) wins big by communicating how the process works in less than a slide’s time.

That’s right: the company uses a flowchart .

For complicated business processes that would normally take several slides of text to communicate, a flowchart is a smart way to visualize a process while saving space and keeping your audience engaged.

Particularly for a company like Clearco, this is key for getting investors up to speed. Then you can move on to the other facts and figures they’ll surely want to hear.

27. Foursquare Pitch Deck

Key takeaway : Show how the end-product looks in your presentation.

Okay look, I get it. This slide deck from 2009 is certainly behind on times when it comes to design tips in this current day and age…

BUT take it back to more than a decade ago, and you’ll see why Foursquare’s pitch deck won big with investors.

As one of the first businesses to employ gamification, the company lets this selling proposition shine by using an iPhone graphic to show how the app’s points and badges look to the end-user. These visuals communicate the appeal by showcasing exactly how consumers will interact with, and understand, the product.

In essence, it takes the guesswork out of their pitch.

So while the text-heavy aspect of this sample pitch deck isn’t exactly ideal, their use of visuals can teach us a lesson.

28. TalentBase pitch deck

How much did they raise?   $330K to date.

Key takeaway : Let the numbers do the talking.

Rather than take up a ton of slide space in this pitch deck example, TalentBase, an affordable payroll solution , focused their real estate on the real deal-closers: the numbers.

While this won’t work for every business, as you may need to add more slides to truly explain the environment your organization exists in and your processes, TalentBase uses their positioning to drive forward a captivating narrative.

And this narrative utilizes only numbers to connect the dots in the mind of potential investors about the value TalentBase offers, in terms of market capture.

29. Peloton pitch deck

Key takeaway : Discuss both the tangible and intangible benefits your product offers.

In 2018, back before the real pandemic hey-day of this tech unicorn, Peloton dazzled in a funding round and managed to capture in $550M funding.

Part of this can be attributed to Peloton’s emphasis on the benefits it brings customers.

Across multiple slides, the exercise equipment and media company highlights how customers’ lives are improved in various emotional and functional ways. Since this connection lays the groundwork for long-term B2C relationships, investors can immediately identify the value encompassed by this modern fitness tool.

Looking to try something similar? Check out the below Peloton sample pitch deck, reimagined by our Venngage design team.

EDIT THIS PITCH DECK

30. Ledgy pitch deck

How much did they raise? $ 10M in September 2021.

Key takeaway : Cut down on space with text and graphics that follow a clear logical narrative.

In just seven slides, the equity management and investor relations platform, Ledgy, was able to convince their audience that their product was worth investing in.

By putting their mission first, and following it up with engaging visuals, the company tells a story despite using minimal text.

Yoko Spirig, CEO and co-founder of Ledgy, echoed this sentiment in an interview : “Starting with the ‘why’ lets you build the business case for the product, and create a logical narrative that investors can follow.”

That’s why, design-wise, this is one of the cleanest pitch deck examples in the bunch. It’s one of the shortest too.

I also appreciate how their brand colors are used in conjunction with white to keep everything consistent (something that Venngage’s automated branding feature My Brand Kit can help you out with).

A pitch deck and a business plan serve different purposes in the world of entrepreneurship, each playing a crucial role in showcasing and strategizing a business venture. The main distinction lies in their format, level of detail and intended audience.

Pitch decks typically consists of a series of carefully crafted slides, highlighting key aspects of the business such as the value proposition, target market, revenue model, competitive advantage and team expertise.

The goal is to pique interest, generate excitement and secure further engagement or funding opportunities. A pitch deck emphasizes storytelling, persuasive visuals, and concise messaging to create an impactful impression.

On the other hand, a business plan is a comprehensive and detailed document that provides an in-depth roadmap for the entire business venture. It outlines the company’s mission, vision, goals, market analysis, marketing strategies, operational details, financial projections and risk assessment.

A business plan serves as a strategic blueprint, guiding the entrepreneur and internal stakeholders in executing the business idea effectively. It tends to be more exhaustive, often spanning several pages or even chapters, and is typically presented in a written format.

What should a pitch deck contain?

A well-crafted pitch deck should contain key information that effectively communicates your business concept, value proposition, and growth potential. While the specific content may vary depending on your industry and target audience, here are the essential elements that a pitch deck should typically include:

• Problem statement
• Market opportunity
• Business model
• Competitive analysis
• Marketing and sales strategy
• Team members
• Financial projections
• Milestones and timeline
• Investment opportunity

Not a graphic designer? No sweat — creating your own pitch deck is a breeze using Venngage’s Presentation Maker . (We’ll go over the basics here; for a more in-depth look, check out this article .)

Step 1: Sign up on Venngage for free using your email, Gmail or Facebook account. If you already have an account, log in to access the platform.

Step 2: Browse through our selection of professionally designed pitch deck templates and select one that suits your needs and preferences.

Step 3: Once you’ve selected a template, start customizing it to match your branding and content. Venngage’s drag-and-drop editor allows you to easily modify every aspect of the template, including colors, fonts, images and layout. Replace the placeholder text with your own content, such as your company information, product or service details, market analysis and financial projections.

Note: there are hundreds of templates available that you can design and share for free. If you want to access certain designs, take advantage of in-editor features like My Brand Kit/Team collaboration .

Step 4: Once you’re satisfied with your design, you can download it in various formats such as PDF or PNG. Alternatively, you can use also Venngage’s sharing options to present your pitch deck directly from the platform or share it with others via a generated link.

To leave a lasting impression on your audience, consider transforming your slides into an interactive presentation. Here are 15  interactive presentation ideas  to enhance interactivity and engagement.

Now that you know how to create the best pitch decks to communicate your ideas, present your startup or raise venture capital, take action and start designing your own pitch deck today!

And if you want to learn more, there are a ton of other presentation design resources you can take a look at next:

• 20+ Business Pitch Deck Templates and Design Best Practices
• 120+ Best Presentation Ideas, Design Tips & Examples
• 15 Presentation Design Statistics to Know For 2019
• 7 Tips for Designing a Persuasive Presentation [Presentation Design Guide + Templates]
• 20+ Consulting Proposal Templates