How to Build a Compelling Pitch Deck

As a founder and investor, the most common question I receive from other founders is: how can I build a truly compelling pre-seed or seed investor pitch deck? Having revie numerous applications and decks over the past two years, and having honed my own iterations at Paladin, I've discovered a handful of proven techniques that deliver a compelling presentation. In this article, I'll share my recommended deck layout along with tips, drawing inspiration from YC's excellent template. With these insights, you'll be well-equipped to craft a clear presentation that leaves a lasting impact on potential investors.

1. Title Page: Keep it simple: The title slide should just be your company’s name or logo, as well as a one line description of what you do.
2. The Problem: On this slide, you’ll want to clearly define the problem you’re solving from the user’s perspective. Any data you can share here about the magnitude of the problem (for example, $$ lost, # of users affected, % time lost, etc.) is helpful. You can also include some background on the macro issue, but it’s more important to clarify the part of the macro issue for which you’re solving. For example, at Paladin, the macro problem we’re addressing is the justice gap, but the product problem we’re solving is a manual and costly pro bono workflow.
3. The Solution: Here, share what you’re doing to address the problem in one sentence. Personally, I like to see product images if available, which should map to the concrete benefits you’re providing to users.
4. Validation/Traction: Investors want to know that people will use and ultimately pay for your service. You don’t need to have paying clients yet, but you should have metrics around market validation. For example, signups, waitlist numbers, an LOI, pilots, and/or prospective customer interview data are all great indicators. If you can, visualize this data in charts or graphs over time to demonstrate that interest is growing.
5. Business Model: Once you’ve proven interest in your product, include a business model that explains how the company will make money. Projections aren’t necessary at this point, but investors want to know you’ve thought about monetizing.
6. Market: Include information here about your target market and how big your company can get. The TAM-SAM-SOM model is good context to include, but make sure it’s logical for your business.
7. Differentiator: Add in a competition matrix to help explain why your product is unique. Include any other insights around what makes your product better.
8. Team: Early stage investors are often heavily betting on the founder and founding team! We want to know why you are uniquely situated to be successful in your industry with your product, and that you have the right people on board to complement your skill set. Brag away!
9. Use of Funds: Share how much you’re raising and how you’ll spend the money. It doesn’t have to be too detailed, and it should tie to hitting company milestones rather than extending runway.
10. Appendix: You can add additional slides here that deep dive on the above, or speak to something relevant that doesn’t align with a traditional outline.

Overall, a pre-seed or seed deck should be around 10 slides, with expanded sections only when needed. It should be clear and concise– pretend the investor knows nothing about your industry, problem, or solution. Good luck!

Kristen Sonday is a founding partner at LongJump and the Co-Founder and CEO at Paladin, a company whose vision is to increase access to justice globally by empowering legal teams to do more pro bono, more efficiently. Paladin has raised over $12M from investors including World Within, Mark Cuban, Hyde Park Venture Partners, the American Family Institute for Corporate and Social Impact, and Cleveland Avenue's CAST US fund.