What to Include in Your Pitch Deck

Research indicates that investors spend less than three minutes reviewing a pitch deck before deciding to move forward with a startup or say “no thanks.” While this number can go up or down, depending on how many pitches investors receive, assume that an investor won’t spend longer than three minutes reading your pitch.

Keep your pitch deck to 10 – 20 slides. For face-to-face pitches, the fewer slides, the better because you will be there to fill in the gaps of information. If you are sending your pitch deck to investors to review on their own, you may want to include additional slides that provide more information.

Here are the slides you need to put in your pitch deck in a recommended order.

Slide 1: Cover

First impressions are everything. Your cover slide might be sitting on the screen for several minutes before your meeting gets started. Use the space to provide important information about your company, including your logo, founding team, and contact information (email, phone number, website, etc.). Add a catchy tagline that highlights what your business is all about.

Slide 2: Identify the problem

Keep this slide concise and limit it to one problem in the market. Don’t overwhelm your investors with a list of problems your customers face. Your problem statement should be easy to understand and relatable. It should be something that investors can identify with, either because they have personally experienced it or recognize the value of solving the problem.

Slide 3: Explain the solution

Your solution slide should be clear and concise, articulating your solution along with why now is the right time to deliver it. Your solution slide should also convey how you will scale your startup, especially if you are in the tech space. Scalability is vital for investors who want to see how their investment will yield greater returns.

Slide 4: Clarify the market

Investors typically look for businesses that will give them a 10X return in the next 5 – 7 years, so they will want to see that your business is in a growing market. Some investors may only want to be in markets that are $1 billion or more. Others see the value in investing in smaller markets for a higher ROI. Use research and data to articulate where your company fits in the market so that investors can decide whether you are the right company for their next venture.

Slide 5: Explain your product

Notice how your product is halfway through the deck. Include images of your product in action and reviews from happy customers to highlight your product’s use case.

Slide 6: Business growth

If your business has grown over time, include a graph showing it. Use metrics like revenue, client acquisition, and anything else that demonstrates how far you have come since you were first established. If your business is still too new to have growth, leave this slide out because it won’t benefit you.

Slide 7: Team

Introduce the founding team, highlighting what each member brings to the table. Include relevant education and experience that gives investors confidence in your ability to succeed as a company.

Slide 8: Competition

Detail what gives you a competitive advantage and how your brand compares with the competition. See Airbnb’s slide deck below for a great example of how to do this effectively.

Slide 9: Financials

Resist the temptation to overpromise on this slide. Be realistic about your projections for the next 3 – 5 years. This slide can be a high-level overview. Put more detailed information in a spreadsheet and distribute it to investors to review later.

Slide 10: Your ask

This is where you make the big ask for how much money you are seeking from investors. It’s a good idea to put a range, as many firms have limits for how much they can invest and will not move forward if they see a number significantly above their cap will For example if you want $10 million, list that you are seeking $7 million – $10 million