Advice for First-Time Founders: What to Include in Your Pitch Deck

Hi everyone! This is my last post of the year. I’ll be taking some time off over the holidays to refresh, and then I have an exciting announcement coming in January! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season.

Here’s what I believe makes for a compelling pitch deck:

The problem — outline what problem or pain point your product/service is solving.

The solution — explain what your solution is and how it works. What additional development is in the pipeline?

Market size — how big is this market? Walk us through your calculations. We look for markets that are $1B+ in size and growing.

Competition — what does the competitive landscape look like? Most importantly, what sets your product/service apart? Why is it unique/different/better? Do you have any IP?

Team — Who are the rockstars on your team? Why are they the right team to build this with you? Who are your advisors? Who is on your board (if you have one)?

Existing Traction — this could be historical financials and financial projections (if post-revenue) or it could be the number of users or beta customers (if pre-revenue). It’s also important to share growth rates (revenue growth and/or user growth) if applicable.

Go-to-Market / Sales Strategy — How do you plan to enter the market? Will you leverage direct sales? Paid advertising? Are you hiring a sales team?

Exit Strategy —Where do you envision your company in 5 years? In 10 years? Who are some potential acquirers?

Investment — Last but not least, what are the terms of the investment? How much capital are you raising? What valuation are you targeting? Do you have a lead investor?

I hope you find this information helpful. Please leave any comments and questions below!