The seed deck.

About 3 minutes to read. The highlight walks the deck at the pace a first read moves; click a slide for its notes.

Slide by slide

What goes on each slide

1. 0101Cover

   Cover

   [Company]: [what you do] for [whom]

   e.g. "Acme: fills the appointments clinics lose to no-shows"

   What goes on it

   • The name and one line a stranger could repeat
   • The round and the date

   Leave it off

   A tagline that sounds like a brand and explains nothing.

   100% of decks that went on to raise have oneusually about slide 1 of 14about 11 words on itSee it in Carta (slide 1), Uber (slide 1), Airbnb (slide 1)

2. 0202Problem

   Problem

   [Who] lose [what] every [period]

   e.g. "Clinics lose 18% of appointments to no-shows"

   What goes on it

   • Who has the problem, in one line
   • What it costs them, in money or time, with a number
   • How they cope today

   Leave it off

   A problem only you have noticed, or one sized in adjectives.

   36% of decks that went on to raise have oneusually about slide 5 of 14about 57 words on itSee it in Airbnb (slide 2), Revolut (slide 2), Replit (slide 5)

3. 0303Solution

   Solution

   [Product] [does what] so [result]

   e.g. "Acme predicts no-shows and refills the slot two days ahead"

   What goes on it

   • What you do about the problem, in one sentence
   • The result for the customer, as a number if you have one

   Leave it off

   A feature list. Features belong on the product slide.

   32% of decks that went on to raise have oneusually about slide 6 of 14about 52 words on itSee it in Airbnb (slide 3), Revolut (slide 4), ElevenLabs (slide 4)

4. 0404Product

   Product

   [How it works] in [n] steps

   e.g. "Connect, predict, refill: live in an afternoon"

   What goes on it

   • One screenshot or the flow in three steps
   • What the customer does and what the product does

   Leave it off

   Every screen you have built.

   55% of decks that went on to raise have oneusually about slide 7 of 14about 52 words on itSee it in Carta (slide 4), Uber (slide 25), Airbnb (slide 6)

5. 0505Why now

   Why now

   [What changed] makes this possible now

   e.g. "Scheduling systems opened their APIs in 2024"

   What goes on it

   • The change: technology, rules or behaviour
   • Why nobody could do this five years ago

   Leave it off

   "The market is growing" is not a why-now.

6. 0606Market

   Market

   [n] [customers] pay [amount]: a $[size] market

   e.g. "230,000 clinics at $4,200 a year: a $1B market in the US"

   What goes on it

   • The market bottom up: customers you can reach times what each pays
   • Where you start and where it leads

   Leave it off

   A top-down TAM from an analyst report with no route to it.

   63% of decks that went on to raise have oneusually about slide 7 of 14about 49 words on itSee it in Carta (slide 8), Uber (slide 4), Airbnb (slide 4)

7. 0707Business model

   Business model

   [Price] per [unit], paid back in [time]

   e.g. "$350 a clinic a month, paid back in under two months"

   What goes on it

   • Who pays, how much and how often
   • Margin, and payback on acquiring a customer if you know it

   Leave it off

   Five revenue streams. Show the one that matters.

   16% of decks that went on to raise have oneusually about slide 8 of 14about 48 words on itSee it in Airbnb (slide 7), Revolut (slide 5), Shopify (slide 23)

8. 0808Traction

   Traction

   [Metric] up [x] in [period]

   e.g. "ARR up 8x in a year, to $168k"

   What goes on it

   • One chart of the metric that matters, over time
   • Retention or repeat use beside it

   Leave it off

   Cumulative charts, vanity numbers, and no dates on the axis.

   27% of decks that went on to raise have oneusually about slide 8 of 14about 34 words on itSee it in Carta (slide 5), Bolt (slide 8), Shopify (slide 20)

9. 0909Go to market

   Go to market

   We reach [customers] through [channel] at [cost]

   e.g. "Sold through two scheduling partners; each group brings 8 to 30 clinics"

   What goes on it

   • The channel that works today, with its numbers
   • The next one, and how you will test it

   Leave it off

   Every channel at once: SEO, events, partnerships, paid.

   20% of decks that went on to raise have oneusually about slide 8 of 14about 46 words on itSee it in Docsend (slide 2), Vercel (slide 15), Shopify (slide 24)

10. 1010Competition

    Competition

    Why [customers] choose us over [alternative]

    e.g. "Reminders tell patients; Acme refills the slot"

    What goes on it

    • What customers use today, including doing nothing
    • The one or two things you do that they cannot

    Leave it off

    A 2×2 where you are alone in the top right, or "no competitors".

    22% of decks that went on to raise have oneusually about slide 8 of 14about 54 words on itSee it in Uber (slide 6), Airbnb (slide 9), Revolut (slide 7)

11. 1111Team

    Team

    [Why this team] wins this market

    e.g. "Ran a 60-clinic group; built scheduling at scale"

    What goes on it

    • The founders, and the one thing each has done that matters here
    • Key hires and advisers only if they change the odds

    Leave it off

    Logos of every employer and degree.

    47% of decks that went on to raise have oneusually about slide 8 of 14about 47 words on itSee it in Coinbase (slide 12), Airbnb (slide 11), Canva (slide 10)

12. 1212Financials

    Financials

    [Revenue] by [year] on [burn]

    e.g. "$1.2M ARR in 20 months on $2.5M"

    What goes on it

    • Revenue and burn for three years, by year
    • The two or three assumptions everything rests on

    Leave it off

    A full P&L in 10-point type. Send the model separately.

    15% of decks that went on to raise have oneusually about slide 7 of 14about 51 words on itSee it in Uber (slide 7), Airbnb (slide 14), Shopify (slide 19)

13. 1313The ask

    The ask

    Raising [amount] to reach [milestone] in [months]

    e.g. "Raising $2.5M to reach 150 clinics and $1.2M ARR in 20 months"

    What goes on it

    • The amount, and the runway it buys
    • The milestones it reaches, which set up the next round
    • Use of funds in three lines at most

    Leave it off

    An amount with no milestone, or "$1M to $3M".

    19% of decks that went on to raise have oneusually about slide 9 of 14about 52 words on itSee it in Bolt (slide 2), Revolut (slide 11), Docsend (slide 3)

14. 1414Contact

    Contact

    [Name], [email], [website]

    e.g. "Maya Chen · maya@acme.example · acme.example"

    What goes on it

    • A name, an email and the website
    • Nothing else: this is the slide left on screen

    Leave it off

    "Questions?" with no way to reach you.

    50% of decks that went on to raise have oneusually about slide 13 of 14about 46 words on itSee it in Carta (slide 12), Bolt (slide 13), Gusto (slide 32)

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