How to make a startup pitch deck: the slides investors expect and common mistakes
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A pitch deck is a short presentation that explains your startup to potential investors. Its job is not to close the deal on its own; it is to make someone want the next meeting. A clear, honest deck with a good story does that far better than a long or flashy one.
The usual 10–12 slides
There is no single correct template, but most early-stage decks cover the same ground in roughly this order:
- Title: company name, a one-line description of what you do, and your contact details. "We help small restaurants cut food waste with demand forecasting" beats a vague slogan.
- Problem: who has the problem, how painful it is, and how they deal with it today. Make it concrete; a real customer example helps.
- Solution: what you have built and how it solves that problem. Focus on the outcome for the customer, not a list of features.
- Product or demo: screenshots, a short walkthrough or a photo of the thing itself. Show, do not just tell.
- Market: how many potential customers there are and what they spend. Build it from the bottom up (number of target customers multiplied by what each would pay) rather than quoting a huge industry figure and claiming a small percentage of it.
- Business model: how you make money, your pricing, and if you know them, unit economics such as what it costs to win a customer versus what they are worth.
- Traction: evidence that it is working: revenue, users, growth rate, retention, pilots, letters of intent, waiting lists. At the earliest stage, customer interviews and early engagement count. This is often the slide investors look at most closely.
- Competition: who else solves this problem, including the "do nothing" or spreadsheet option, and why you win. Never claim you have no competitors; it suggests you have not looked or there is no market.
- Go-to-market: how you will reach customers, which channels, and what has worked so far.
- Team: who you are and why you are the people to build this. Relevant experience, skills and key advisers. Keep it to what matters for this business.
- Financials: a simple summary of projections for the next few years, with the key assumptions behind them. Investors know early projections are guesses; they want to see you understand the drivers.
- The ask: how much you are raising, what it will achieve (milestones, not just "hiring and marketing"), and roughly how long it will last.
Some founders add a "Why now" slide explaining what has changed (technology, regulation, behaviour) that makes this the right moment.
Tell a story, not a list of facts
The best decks read like a short narrative: here is a real problem, here is our insight, here is proof it works, here is where it goes next. A few tips:
- Lead with your strongest point. If your traction is remarkable, it can come earlier.
- One idea per slide, with a headline that states the takeaway: "Small restaurants bin food they paid for every night" is better than "Problem".
- Use real examples and numbers, sourced and up to date.
- Know your deck may be read without you. Many investors look at a deck sent by email before agreeing to a meeting. It needs to make sense without your voice-over. Some founders keep two versions: a sparser one to present and a fuller one to send.
Design basics
- Large text, few words. If it needs a paragraph, it belongs in the notes.
- Consistent fonts and colours, ideally your brand's.
- Simple charts with labelled axes; highlight the one number that matters.
- Good screenshots at a readable size.
- Send it as a PDF so it looks the same everywhere, and check it on a phone.
You do not need a designer for a first deck. Clean and readable beats elaborate.
Common mistakes
- Too long. Thirty slides signals you cannot prioritise. Put extra detail in an appendix.
- Burying the ask or leaving it out altogether.
- Inflated market size with no route to the customers.
- Hockey-stick projections with no assumptions behind them.
- Jargon and buzzwords in place of a plain explanation of what you do.
- Ignoring competitors or risks. Investors will find them; better that you address them.
- Numbers that do not match between slides or with your data room.
- Sending it to everyone. Research which investors back your stage and sector before reaching out.
Before you send it
- Ask a few people outside your industry to explain your business back to you after reading it.
- Rehearse presenting it in ten minutes or less.
- Prepare for the obvious questions: why you, why now, what could kill this, what the money buys.
Share your deck questions, or what feedback you have had from investors, in the comments.